Nath, Author at The Wheelchair Traveller

Day 2 – A trip on the Beijing subway network and the Olympic Tower

Today we took the Beijing subway with the vision of attending the majestic looking Olympic Park where the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics were held.

As I said yesterday, I did some prior research finding out what stations are accessible or not. Normally a city would have some kind of accessible map which you can download but no not for Beijing! As a result it it took a couple of You Tube videos as well as zooming 500 % into several images. The line that we wanted to go on (Line 8) is of course the line going to the Olympic Park so it would is a kind of given that it’s accessible. As usual, the lift at Nanluogu Xiang station (which is the terminus of the line) was located down the side passage, I’m sure countries do it on purpose to lead you down dodgy passageways!

The station part for Line 8 was fully accessible plus the modern rolling stock meaning that there is only a little gap between the platform edge and the train similar to the Jubilee line on the London Underground. The trains themselves were spacious (like the new trains on the Circle, Hammersmith and City lines), the wheelchair space consists of a belt that you could pull down and wrap around a wheelchair to secure it during transit…..

We managed to exit the station at the Olympic Green station without a problem to be greeted by the magnificant sight of the Beijing Olympic Tower (which is 246.8 metres). However, the first aim was to walk to the iconic Birds Nest and Water Cube. It was pretty easy to find after exiting the station and climbing up a ramp…..

The Olympic park is centred around a main boulevard of which the Beijing Olympic Tower, which was our second aim, is situated at the opposite end to the Birds Nest, so it was quite a walk to get to it, however they had a Chinese sounding Celine Dion soundtrack playing so you could have been in Disneyland!

The tower itself only cost £20 each which I thought was good value for money as there were several observation decks (all accessible) which you can visit plus a glass floor….

The plan for tomorrow is to a guided trip outside Beijing to visit The Great Wall of China😃

Day 1 and 1.5 in China – Planes, Beijing traffic and underpasses.

Well I would of started by saying Hello in Chinese but I don’t think the Chinese alphabet is on this iPad so Hello from Beijing will have to do! I have named this post after several things that have occurred since the last 36 hours and this is why…..

We started at, what I like to call the epicentre of the UK (London Heathrow) where the check in process worked well as usual (why can’t Bristol learn lessons from London…..they get on my nerves!). As we made our way towards the departure lounge as we were flying Business Class, after 2 hours of talking to some random Australians from Sydney (I learned that Australia has camels…fun fact). We made our way towards to the Gate which was situated in one of T5 satellite terminals, which can be accessed either by walking or by a Rapid Transit system, of course this made me ecstatic due to my love for all things trains! Basically, it comprises of a system similar to the DLR in London which is automated. As with the Heathrow Express, the train was level with the platform making it easy to get on and off . It was then time for our lovely 9 hour flight…..

We flew with BA in Business Class and, I don’t know if you know what it’s like but the best way to describe it is that your seats are in a little pod and basically you can turn it into a bed… quite a good idea for long haul flights!

On arrival in Beijing airport, I was amazed at the speed that I was able to get off the plane as the time it took for the baggage handlers to bring up my wheelchair….about 10 mins (sometimes we are waiting for 30 mins even at the biggest airports!).

Unfortunately my charm didn’t seem to work as we queued for security so that took a while until we were spotted by a young police lady on the 72 hour Barrier free line who beckoned us forward….what a nice person. this wasn’t the end of our terminal adventure because, as it turned out we landed at T3E and the exit was of course in the main Terminal leading to another Rapid Transport system ride….how exciting !

Its worth mentioning that I have to take my manual wheelchair because someone thought it would be a good idea to hide a bomb in an electric wheelchair leading to a ban on bringing them into China.

At Beijing airport we were met by the Trailfinders rep who escorted us through a mountain of traffic to reach to Peninsular Hotel, Beijing. Here are some photos of what greeted me in an accessible room.

As accessible rooms go it is the best I’ve stayed in yet with a good connecting room (I thought the wet room at the Hilton Doubletree Heathrow was impressive but this is way better). They actually have a proper shower chair.

The room itself is entirely controlled by touch screens from the lights to opening and closing the curtains! There is plenty of room to manoeuvre a wheelchair.

After a brief nap we spent the rest of the afternoon out and about around the Forbidden Palace, Tiannamen Square and the rest of downtown. As usual I’d done a bit of prior research and noted that, as a result of the 2008 Paralympics, the access of the city has dramatically improved and it’s good to see when we visited the Forbidden Palace …

Saying that, on our way back to the hotel we had to cross a 6 lane road with no accessible crossings apart from at Tinnamen Square. It was fine going down a ramp to the underpass but the other side was significantly steeper and resorted to an aided walk up the steps with mum and a helpful Chinese cyclist pushing the wheelchair up the ramp. I guess the lesson learnt was to ensure you get on the right side early enough before you head out of town!

On our return to the hotel we we’re greeted with this lovely cake and champagne as it was my 25th birthday yesterday, don’t know who it is from yet but we have a suspicion! (Actually we just found out that Damian at Trailfinders dropped some hints to the hotel)

The plan for tomorrow is to go to the Olympic park whilst attempting to navigate the accessible metro stations (which I’ve planned by watching a few you tube videos of the guys that have an obsession with elevators!). The park also has a few observation decks up a tower which should be thrilling.

Finally, I have found out that Twitter and Instagram can’t be accessed here but Facebook can so I will upload all the photos onto Twitter when I get back. 😄

Day 4.5 and 5 – Rolling around in Copenhagen and homeward bound.

So I wanted to start today’s post by returning to yesterday evening when I decided to take a stroll around Copenhagen on my own to get a real feel of the accessibility. As I said a few times during interviews, I enjoy taking walks on my own as its a completely different feel as opposed to when I’m with various PAs. I also wanted to see how Danish people would interact with me without anyone to assist even though I only know two words of their language!

I began my wander going down to the waterfront where the Copenhagen mall is situated and journeyed through some of the surrounding housing areas. It is surprising how many houses and apartments had step free access but I guess that is Scandinavian design! I continued by a desire to find out whether the metro network was accessible. I didn’t actually find the proper metro rather the suburban one. I don’t know if all the stations have been elevated either but this one had so I went down to have a go. Talking of Danish people, I was approached by a few as I was attempting to push the lift button. Although I didn’t have a clue what they were saying, I gathered that they were asking to help, why can’t Londoners be like that when I’m using the underground?? From what I gather after watching the train for a while, there is a designated disabled with a massive logo representing it, however there is a step up into it! Maybe it’s better at other stations or they have ramps but who knows.

After checking out the hotel this afternoon, we headed down to Copenhagen main train station to catch a train out to the airport. After our successful trip to Malmo on Wednesday, I thought it would be a simple process getting super bunny on and and off and it was apart from I decided to get on the wrong train (heading to the depot) and it wasn’t until one of the dispatches came running and signalled for me to get off that I realised! The train from the main train station to the airport is probably the cheapest and efficient option as it takes you to beneath terminal 3.

The he usual airport process went surprisingly according to plan and, for once, security talked to me like an actual human being and not some child. Although our flight was delayed by half an hour, we were escorted into the scissor lift early for some unknown reason and then sat on the airfield for half an hour waiting for the plane to come in, rather odd!

After a rather windy touch down, we had returned to good old Bristol for exactly a month (we will be in the air this time next month!) before we head to China to visit Beijing, Xian (to visit the terracota warriors) and Shanghai.

Folow ow us from the 28th (which is coincidentally my birthday!) 🙂

Day 4 in Copenhagen – Traffic!!

As you know, I don’t stick to any plans that I have made and as such today we caught the hop on and hop off bus for a tour around Copenhagen. The concierge informed us that some of the buses were not wheel chair accessible and would have to ring ahead to check the bus. To make life easier, we just decided to take my manual wheel chair and it was a good job too!!

Luckly, the bus we caught was accessible, however they didn’t have any tie down straps available (it must be a requirement on Danish buses) and as such the driver didn’t like the idea of me staying in the wheel chair although my PA sat in it instead. The tour took us around various land marks such as The little mermaid which you couldn’t see from the bus but hey! The main issue arose when we were told to get off the bus and get on older one to continue the tour. The bus was not accessible at all so it was a good job that we were able to carry my manual wheel chair on board and fold it up other we would have been stuck for 40 minutes!

We have just come back from the Copenhagen mall were we discovered an ice parlour which meant I got fat haha! We have nothing else planned for the rest of the afternoon apart from going to the pool yet again before we flight back to good old Bristol tomorrow.

Oh and I thought you might like to know that the sushi we had for dinner yesterday in the hotel cost over £150!!

Day 3 – Swedish Excursion (Malmo)

as we planned it, today we viewed Malmö in Sweden which is just an hour train journey from Copenhagen main train station. As ever, I was intrigued as to the access ability of the Danish train network. It turns out the train we court had a lower section so that the floor was almost flush with the platform (much like the TGV trains in France) making it simple to get on and off, I think even super bunny could have got over the same gap present with a run up! The carriages were spacious with designated wheel chair spaces ( although they were taken up by pushchairs as usual)……

The one thing that struck me as we came out the elavator (which by the had a little seat with in it) was how clean everything was even compared to Copenhagen….

The main objective was to found our way to the majestic turning torso (apparently it is named after the shape of a mans torso which we learn duing a half an hour presentation in fluent Swedish!!!!) and seeing weather it was possible to go up to the top. Dismissing Google map, we followed the invisible beam of light that the tower presented. Along the way, we pasted various land marks such as the boat warehouse where the Eurovision song contest was held a couple of years ago! It took a while to discover weather it would be possible to go up the turning torso, however it turns out that they do tours at a resenable cost. This tour included going up to the 54th floor with panoramic views of the city plus a half an hour presention in pour Swedish……very enjoyable indeed!

After half an hour if a Swedish lesson, we sampled so moose at a local resteurant before heading back to the train station. It is worth noting that the platforms at Copenhagen are at different gradients and as such the train back was lower than the platform so a ramp was require.

Tomorrow, we don’t have any plans as yet perhaps visit the zoo, see what happens😄

Day 2 in Copenhagen – Truffles!!

So what has happened since we last spoke about 12 hours ago?

Well, like we planned we set out after breakfast with the vision of visiting Tovoli Gardens. Which is situated roughly in the centre of Copenhagen (sort of). On the way, I was able to get a feel of the accessibility of the city in general. As I had imagined, being in Scandinavia it is still a high standard with dropped curbs everywhere and wheelchairs being taken into account most places that you go.

After finding our way through various crowds, we reached the majestic entrance to Tovoli Gardens (however you pronounce it). It has now become a favourite place as I got free entry!

I don’t really know what to make of the place, I guess you could call it part theme park/part something else, however, one of my PA’s has visited the Christmas markets and said it was amazing so perhaps I should go back at Christmas. Some off the theme park theming was glamorous…

Oh and we found the toilets…

We also found this amazing café which sells truffles and tea which me and my PA’s found highly sensational “#best treat ever” according to the PA who is writing this (Hi).

On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at the main train station in Copenhagen to find out how the Danish train system works in regards to booking assistance. It seems that they have a similar method to the UK in that you have to ring up 24 hours before, however, when we asked how the Swedish system works (as Malmö is in Sweedon). They do not know which is rather strange seeing as it’s only an hours train journey over the bridge!! Anyway we are opting for the safer option in taking the manual wheelchair tomorrow to avoid as many complications as possible (basically my PA’s pushing and carrying me all day haha).

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the pool before heading up to the sky bar after tea to have some civilised whiskey whilse admiring the cityscape of Copenhagen…

As I said the plan for tomorrow is to catch the train to Malmö to go exploring and, visiting the turning torso ( which is a skyscraper) amongst other things.

Day 0 and 1 in Copenhagen- Are you confused?

well I was going to begin by saying hello in Czech but now we are in Copenhagen so hej! Basically we arrived at the airport on Sunday in the knowledge that the flight was going to be delayed by a couple of hours, however as we were eating dinner the flight became canceled and the next flight to Prague from Bristol is on Friday.

After a evening of looking around different places to go around Eurpoe, I decided to go with Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. We had a more successful trip to bristol airport, as usual we got talked down to by assistance simply because we didn’t check in….One day they will get the message!! The flight was surprisingly quick being one hour forty five minutes arriving at the marvellous terminal three at Copenhagen airport…

We requested a wheelchair accessable taxi, you would expect a standard taxi that has a ramp or a lift but not in this case. It seems that the only accessable taxisthat were at the airport was a sprinter van…the ones that you would book if you wanted to travel in style! It wasn’t so stylish when I found out that it had cost me about £58 for a ten minute journey! Definitely getting the train back on Friday!

For the price of the hotel, the rooms aren’t that special at the Tivoli Hotel, it see,s that they have put the effort into decorating the hotel but not the actual rooms, however I guess it could be worse…

The plan for today is just to go for a walk around, perhaps visiting Tivoli Gardens plus the TRAIN STATION to find out what we need t do in order to get the train across to Malmo in Sweden tomorrow which is only about a hour train journey…Hopefully!!

It’s gallivanting the world time once again – 2017 Travels

Can you believe that it’s been nearly a year since Miami and that Caribbean cruise…time flies when your having fun (or in my case setting up a new party business!).

Anyway, this years travels begin on Sunday when we catch an Easyjet flight from Bristol (got to love Bristol Airport…they do know what they are doing really!) to Prague in the Czech Republic for a few days (well…until Thursday night). Earlier in the year, I was torn between visiting Tirana (in Albania), Bucharest (in Romania) or Prague, however, let’s just say that the accessibility in Albania and Romania isn’t the best (hence would require some more planning than usual) so I opted for the easy option this time! The time will come for Albania and Romania, those will definitely be fun adventures for sure.

By now, you have probably gather that I can’t go a year without visiting somewhere out of the ordinary so this year it’s…wait for it…CHINA!!!!! The best part, however, is that I spend my birthday at my favourite place and also the epicentre of the UK….London Heathrow airport (actually spending a few days there beforehand on a training course, an irrelevant fact for you). Of course, I’m joking, we are flying to Beijing for a few days visiting The Great Wall of China (on my bucket list!) and The Forbidden City. From there, we catch the Bullet Train (another one on the list) to Xian to visit the Terracotta Warriors before flying to the bright lights and TOWERS!!!! For this trip, it’s solely me and the parents, just so you know who will be helping me to type this sarcastic blog. Anyway that adventure begins on the 28th August.

Back to Prague, on the agenda are all the usual’s, TOWERS and TRAIN STATIONS and, of course, marvelling at the Gothic architecture. A fun fact for you, Lasgo filmed her music video to ‘Something’ (watch it here) at one of Prague’s train stations…exciting!!!! Oh and the hotel has a spa, don’t you know 🙂

Day 11 – Miami transportation system and its my birthday!

Yesterday was my 24th birthday and the plan was to celebrate by visiting the Cheesecake Factory at Dande Land mall which I believe is in South Miami. The journey consisted of catching the metro-mover (which I knew was accessible) from my wonder around the day before and then travelling on the conventional Metro (one of which has just gone past my window…how exciting!)

The Miami metro-mover and metro has to be one of the best in terms of accessibility that I have visited thus far, as all the stations have elavators and the metro train themselves have a low floor so you can just roll on and off! I was particularly impressed that they actually tell you in advance when a elevator is out of order as supposed to London underground where you are meant to have psychic powers.

Anyway, me being me we got off at the wrong stop (well they had a North and South station and I went for the North well and in fact it was the South that we needed to get off at). After doing a little shopping and buying presents, it was time to visit my favourite place, the Cheesecake Factory and no it’s not like the one Penny works in, in the Big Bang Theory! But its awesome all the same.

My PA that was off shift yesterday had been busy preparing a surprise for me with the help from Cristina from the Hilton Downtown for which the other two PAs did well to keep it quiet, well sort of! When I returned to the hotel, I was lead into the bar area to be greeted by a spectacular welcome by the other PA and all the catering staff! There was a violent attack of confetti and horns in my ears followed by a happy birthday song from everyone, a glittery hat on my head and a birthday medallion thrown around my neck, it was a lovely touch to the end of an awesome holiday, one of the best so far on my travels.

It is now time to return to Miami International Airport for a lovely flight to Heathrow (oh I do love night flying!!)

Day 10 – I’m in Miami girl!

Finally back to proper wifi!!

It was an early start this morning as we were informed that we had to vacant our cabin by 0700 only to wait 3 hours in order to disembark at the port of Miami. It was rather smooth process until this point until one of my PA was not able to locate his luggage.

Like at the airport it was sort of easy to find accessibly taxis (well better than in the UK!) to take back to the Hilton Downtown hotel where, funny enough, I am in the same room once more, overlooking towers!

After ordering room service I decided to go for a stroll by myself catching the metro-mover into downtown Miami to visit the financial district. I liken the metro-mover to the Docklands Light Railway in London in that it is fully automated plus it is completely accessible with lifts at every station and level access onto the train. The best part is that it is free unlike the conventional metros which has to be a plus.

One thing that I like about American cities is that they have massive sidewalks so it is easier to roll around the streets within worrying that you are going to fall off the curb and the drop curbs are easy to find as well.

Tomorrow is our last full in Miami and also my 24th Birthday (I’m getting old)! So to celebrate we are heading to the Dande Land Mall to go to the Cheesecake Factory which I discovered the last time I came to America and is now my favourite place in the world!! To get there we will be using the metro-mover again and the conventional Miami metro which should be intriguing.

Nath