Flights? Booked. Here's how we'll get to Erfurt

Morgantown, WV -- We've got our flights booked now, and by now students attending SPICE 2018 should have received emails with their flights. If you didn't, let me know and I'll get that over to you right away.

Arriving in Germany

As you can from the flight schedules, you'll be arriving in two waves of students between 7:20 am and 9:20 am (Dr. Dillow and I will be arriving with the 9:20am flight)—so long as there's no delays. For your information, the two incoming flights are:

• For IAD, we’re taking UA989, which departs at 5:20pm on Sunday 10 June and arrives in Frankfurt (FRA) at 7:20am on Monday, 11 June. 
• For EWR, we’re taking UA960 which departs at 7:40pm on Sunday 10 June and arrives in Frankfurt (FRA) at 9:20am on Monday, 11 June.

Everyone will leave the US on Sunday 10 June and arrive in Germany (Frankfurt) on Monday 11 June. When you get to the airport (a .pdf of the airport, here), your main tasks will be:

• Claim your bags (all signs are in English and you can simply follow the masses, but you'll be going to the "Gepackausgabe"). 
• Clear customs, where they will ask you a few questions about your stay and then stamp your passport. Remember, we're in Germany for less than 90 days, so if you are a US citizen then you do not need a student visa. Also keep in mind that with enhanced security, be prepared to answer several questions about yourself, your classmates, and your recent travel to other countries. Don't be nervous ... often times, the way you answer a question is more important than the answers themselves. 
• Make your way to the "Airport City Mall" (the escalators from the main floor of the airport will take you there, it's on Level 0) where you'll find restaurants and shopping, some German bakeries and even a *HUGE* McDonalds. You'll also find ATMs here, for taking out Euros as needed. If you don't have your security deposit, this would be a good time to secure that money (we estimate that you'll need around 200 euros; I might take out around 500 euros just to cover your first week or so in the region). 
• Validate your Eurail passes. This can be done in the DB Travel Center (the Deutsche Bahn ReiseZentrum), which is located near the middle of the Airport City Mall. When you get there, you'll want to present the clerk with your official passport as well as your train ticket. Ask them to help you fill it out (so you do it correctly), and they should "activate" the pass by putting a rubber stamp on it. You'll have to get this stamp before you can continue your journey.

After you've validated the passes, I'd prefer that the students who arrive earlier wait for the later students to come in. The Airport City Mall is rather comfortable, and there are several places to sit and relax. Across from the McDonalds for example are a series of large white benches and tables. You'll also have free wireless at the airport, so you can check up with family and even chat with students incoming. I would expect everyone to have their passes validated and be ready to head to the long distance train station "Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof" by around 10am. 

Trains to Erfurt

So, everyone has their train tickets validated and our students are together and/or accounted for. Awesome! Your next task is to get to the train station, the "Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof." Good news? It's attached to the airport. Basically, from Airport City Mall, you'll need to make your way up and around to the Skywalk, and then proceed to the Fernbahnhof (NOTE: Fern = long distance, bahnhof = train station, fernbahnhof = long distance train station). The train station is gorgeous, and your view on arrival (after walking across the Skywalk) will look something like this:

The main arrival of Frankfurt Fernbahnhof, when walking in from the Skywalk. Notice the center-right of the screen, where train arrival and departure times are listed. You can also notice another "DB Reisezentrum" (DB Travel Center) just below them, the dual silver-roofed buildings. You can ask the clerks here for any train assitance - they will often have English-language staff.

You'll be on the third floor, and the trains are down on the first floor. Depending on when you arrive, and how much time you want to spend at the train station, we'll hope to make one of two trains: The ICE 1559 at 11:01 or the ICE 1651 at 13:01. Both trains are direct Inter-City Express trains to Erfurt, and both take just over 2.5 hours to arrive; they both leave from Platform 4, so it should be easy enough (I'll check these times, as we get closer to our travel dates). We'll hope to make the 11:01 train, as it would put us in Erfurt just after lunchtime, at 13:38. Quick note? You can always use the German DeutscheBahn web page to check train times, even if you're not buying tickets). 

Some tips for the train: 

• To be safe, I'd be on the platform 15 minutes before the train's scheduled arrival. Why? You'll want to make sure that you're boarding the proper train (there will be LED displays with train information) and you'll want to make sure that you're boarding a 2nd Class Car "Wagen"—all of this information will be available on the platform itself. There is a small chance that the train will already be on the platform—this is rare, but awesome. If this is the case, go ahead and board (you can ask for English-language assistance in finding a seat). If not, then you'll need to board when the train arrives. 
• For boarding, it's a bit fast and furious. I'd suggest breaking into two small groups of 5 or 6, and helping each other get your bags on-board. You don't have to immediately find a seat on the train (you can walk around once it gets moving), so be sure to secure your bags (either overhead, or in the designated baggage areas—all of this will be labelled for you). 
• Stow your bags, and then find an empty and unreserved seat. This can be a bit tricky, so a few things to remember:
• You have a train pass for any open, second-class seat on the train. Make sure that you're not in a first-class car or "wagen" (this will be clearly marked). 
• When finding your seat, look above the seat and you'll see some sort of LED display - something like:

Reserved seats on the DB trains are marked with red LEDs, suggesting that a passenger
has reserve this seat for the Part of the journey displayed on-screen. 

• In this example, both of these seats (46, the window seat; 48, the isle seat) have been reserved. for German train reservations, DB (the train company) doesn't list the passenger's name but rather, the arrival and destination (in part, for privacy reasons). If you see something like this displaying above your seat, then you can't sit there. 
• Instead, look for a seat with a blank LED display. That is yours. =) 
• Last thing? Those train passes. You'll need to fill out some information about the train you're on, and you'll need to have a conductor stamp your train pass. All of this information should be contained in the packet that I gave you, when you first got the passes. If you're confused? Simply ask the conductor for help. They might be frustrated with you, but they'll help if you ask nicely.

Now? Relax. For either train, you've got about two hours, thirty minutes to collect your thoughts and enjoy the countryside. The trains have a restaurant and bar "Bordrestaurant" so you can get a "hefeweizen" and "Prost!" each other, en route to Erfurt. While you're on the train, you'll be able to check how many stations or stops are between Frankfurt and Erfurt, and you an also check this information on the DB web page. For example, here's a screenshot for the train schedule of ICE1559: 

A sample train timetable, from the DB web page. You can generate a similar timetable at http://www.bahn.de/. 

How do you know how far away Erfurt is? In the two images above, you can see important information:

• "Erfurt Hbf - arr" This is the expected time of arrival in Erfurt, as well as the train platform at Erfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station). 
• The cities in between Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbf? Those are the intermediate stops that the train will take. You can use this as a "guide" for preparing to arrive in Erfurt. By preparing, I would suggest that about 10 minutes before the scheduled arrival time, students start getting up, gathering their bags, and making their way to the train doors. This will help you depart the train quickly, because they don't give you more than two or three minutes to get off! 

After that, we'll meet our German SPICE colleagues, and we'll rest up. =)