Day 2: Vancouver to Markranstadt

August 28, 2023

Condor had configured the plane with eight seats across in a 2 4 2 pattern. This left aisles too narrow for people coming from opposite directions to pass each other, without getting really friendly. Still the 2 part of the 2 4 2 was quite ideal for us, since it gave us our own little section. The seats had also been squashed front to back, so that when the lady in front of me reclined her seat, it put the seat back screen practically on my nose! Otherwise, it was fine!

We had allowed two hours to get from the plane in Frankfurt to the train that would take us to Leipzig, where our friend Juergen would pick us up. Since the train station is right at the airport, getting off the plane and to the train would take only about half an hour. But Condor contrived to arrive an hour and fifty minutes late. That left us no practical way to get our train. Interestingly, passenger rights legislation provides for compensation if a flight is delayed by more than two hours. Condor came in at one hour fifty minutes, so they were just lucky, or they knew the legislation.

After a warm and glitch free welcome from an immigration officer, we walked over to the long distance train station, the Fernbahnhof. At the Deutsche Bahn ticket office, we learned that our purchased in advance 60 euros for two tickets would now cost 180 euros. However Dodie must have said something right to the lady, because she just changed the times (and seats) on our previous (unchangeable) tickets - no charge. Nice lady!

The station, like many in Europe, was filled with little bakeries, offering mainly sandwiches made with seedy baguettes. This is the kind of stuff that we expect to mainly live on during the trip. The quality is always so high! We bought two and headed for our track. Everything was so clean and well marked, it was a real pleasure. On the train, our reserved seats were at a table, and together with the onboard wifi, I am typing this in total comfort.

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