Touchdown at Germany

In 2012 I was given a chance to participate in an exchange program between my university and the University of Magdeburg, Germany. Took me some effort to get all the documents and other stuff, but most of them were settled with the help of many nice people.

On 14 March 2012 I took off from the Toronto Pearson International Airport and flew to Leipzig. This was the closest I could get to Magdeburg, the rest has to be done by the famous train system of Germany.

But, there wasn't any direct flight to Leipzig either, I had to stop by Frankfurt and take an 1 hour connecting flight.

I've heard different stories about the Frankfurt International Airport. Various custom checks, the long passage one has to go through... etc. In fact there is a forum thread dedicated to this:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles-more-lufthansa-austrian-swiss-other-partners/982019-beginners-guide-connecting-fra-fra-connection-thread.html

But it turned out to be easier than I imagined. As long as you pay attention to the gate displays (they change the gates from time to time, so don't trust your boarding pass if you print it ahead) and the directions (they have German and English most of the time), you will be fine.

The looong passage from international terminal to domestic terminal in Frankfurt International Airport, ~350 steps from end to end.

Gate A25, connecting flight to Leipzig.

As mentioned the gate of my connecting flight was changed (from A21 to A25), which was only shown in some of the gate displays. I arrived at this gate at about 8:15am and the boarding time was 8:55am, so there was still time.

My first impression of Germany is quite good. Things are tidy and clean (Japan is still the best I've seen, but here is good enough), people are in general helpful, polite, and quiet.