Nath, Author at The Wheelchair Traveller

Day 4 (Athens) – A General Wander

The noise of said dual carriageway was replaced by the sound of music emanating from the nearby Athens Concert Hall last night, what better way to fall asleep than listening to a bit of Greek music?

As mentioned yesterday, the plan for today was to head down to Piraeus (again!) on the M3 to take a stroll along the waterfront taking in the sights of Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. However, you may be wondering also what is happening with the Acropolis situation? After several attempts, the hotel managed to contact said attraction last night who informed them that the elevator had been fixed but only for a few hours before braking again! The thought then crossed my mind, what if I get stuck up there with Superbunny and have to wait hours on end until it is fixed, do I really want to to take that risk? Rather not!

Anyway, the M3 was, again, successful in transporting us down to Dimotiko Theatro (which is located in Piraeus) to make a connection with the tram. This metro line has been invaluable for the past few days taking one from the airport, down to the ferry terminal and connecting with the trams. I think Athens may have given a calling as the latter two stations only opened in October 2022!

The tram stop is located adjacent to the metro station elevator and is like any other modern tram network with level access etc. Some lines go up to near the Acropolis but we decided to take a journey along the waterfront. What one thought was the stop for the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center was actually the one for the Peace and Friendship Stadium, still an architectural marvel nonetheless…

It needs to be said that the area around the stadium and waterfront is a story of two tales; on one hand you have a thriving harbour dotted with restaurants offering a variety of Mediterranean cuisine (including grilled squid) and on the other you have half constructed and abandoned apartments, perhaps as a result of the Greek financial crisis? Oh and a bridge over a waterway with planks either missing or bodged with wooden boards…not for the faint hearted!!

As usual, trusty Google Maps decided to take us on a tour of Piraeus before heading back to the M3…who knew it could be so hilly…

Tomorrow we head back to old Bristol via Athens International, question is will they look after Superbunny?

(Oh and if you are in Athens, you need to try the cakes at ΑΤΤΙΚΑ Αρτοποιεία!)

Day 3 (Greece) – The Accessible Island of Aegina

In order to put the rest of this post into context, let’s begin by talking about this semi-accessible hotel. Now, on the Hotels.com website, it states that The Athinais Hotel has all the accessibility features one could ever need, this is certainly not the case!

Even before reaching ones room, the elevators have been designed for a maximum of 2 people (unsure if this was intentional) hence Superbunny can only just fit in with millimetres to spare. Once you have reached said hotel room, one is pretty sure that the majority of wheelchair users would have to rearrange the furniture to suit as there isn’t enough room to even turn around! Oh and try to sit comfortably on this toilet…

As I mentioned yesterday, the hotel is situated along a busy dual carriageway so, common sense says that some kind of sound proofing would be required…not here! As in any major city, traffic in Athens is 24/7, who needs sleep anyway!

The relentless noise of traffic and motorcycles using said road as a racetrack at 2am meant that only 2 hours of sleep was achieved by 6.30am and, regardless of the amount of sugar intake, it is impossible to function on that short amount hence the Crete idea was dismissed. When researching for things to do prior to visiting, I noted that it is possible to visit various Greek islands by car ferry from the port of Piraeus located within the city boundaries and accessible from the M3 metro.

As there are many companies operating to and from Piraeus, one decided to take the risk and bring Superbunny praying that one ferry would be accessible. The thought then struck me after years of travelling, if vehicles are allowed on these big ferries, surely a ramp is present regardless? After visiting the ticket office, we managed to secure tickets on a vehicle ferry to the island of Aegina which is a 75 minute journey from Piraeus…

Although slightly complex, ramps and elevators were present enabling one to reach the passenger deck…

You can then simply disembark with the vehicles, genius! One will definitely remember this method of transport for the future…

When researching the accessibility of Greek islands, the majority of posts discussed how inaccessible such places are bar the ‘main’ ones i.e. Crete. As a result, one really didn’t know what to expect, especially as the island of Aegina was chosen purely at random at the ticket office!

During the first few minutes of being on the island, it was clear that accessibility had been considered as ramps and level access into shops and restaurants were noticeable (putting Athens to shame!). Even drop kerbs are painted…

Now, this is me we are talking about and everyone knows how I like to stray away from the tourist areas and attempt to gain an insight into daily life hence a wander around the immediate neighbourhoods was necessary…

Even the local cafés/hangouts had level access, come on Athens! After sampling some Greek cuisine and wandering around more arachnology, it was time to head back to the ferry, however I would highly recommend making a trip if you find yourself in Athens. I was also told to give a shout out to Saronic Ferries for their accessibility features so there it is!

The good news is that one has managed to switch to another hotel room over the other side of the building so hopefully normal sleeping hours will resume!

Tomorrows plan is to visit the waterfront area including the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre.

Day 2 (Athens) – Greek Mythology and History

Whilst temperatures are currently in the high 20Cs back in the UK, one received multiple drenchings in Athens…OK that is slightly OTT but you get the message, it was a little wet! Anyway, we headed out on our mythological quest regardless.

When I booked this semi-accessible hotel, the attraction was (in addition to said M3 metro) that it is situated along one of the main roads into the centre meaning that the majority of things are in walking distance. What one didn’t bargain for was that it is a busy dual carriageway and the drop kerbs are either in a pothole or non existent (even though a wheelchair sign is painted on the floor a metre away from a giant pavement stone…just how is that accessible?)!

The first sight that we stumbled across was the first ever stadium built for the modern Olympics. You have to pay to get in but what we didn’t realise until later is that disabled individuals and one carer receive FREE access to attractions including this and The Acropolis…

As I say, the majority of the sights are in walking distance so a short walk through the park led us to the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch. There are ramps around the sites, however they could do with some work but alternative ways are available!

Now to follow the tourists to The Acropolis! However, to access the elevator up to the top, you have the additional delight of trudging up a hill only to be told that the thing is out of order and to come back another day therefore the plan is to call on Thursday and see what is occurring…

As we wound our way through the picturesque Plaka neighbourhood with it’s multiple alleyways i.e. stairways and steep roads, the clouds began to form…

Despite all our best efforts to seek an accessible restaurant for Superbunny and with the deluge showing no signs of stopping, we retreated back to the hotel.

Day 1 (Athens) – What is going on Bristol?

Well, round two of ones 2023 travels has begun, this time in Greece! Flying out of Bristol, it is clear that the rapid expansion is having an effect as one, now has to arrive at the airside assistance point ONE HOUR before departure to enable said individuals to provide the necessary equipment to board the plane. Despite this, we were sat on the airfield for 30 minutes in the Ambulift as someone decided to let all passengers on before muggins which is always great fun…

Anyway, 3 hours and 45 minutes of flying and circling later, one touched down at Athens International airport. For those of you who wish for a fun fact, Athens International was constructed in the early 2000s in preparation for the 2004 Olympic Games! As it is located just outside the city, it allowed space for an extensive transport network, even the suburban railway stops there in addition to the M3 metro.

Factors such as the time of our arrival (20:00) may have influenced the efficiently of the airside assistance, however, we may have just set a new world record for the time between physically landing and exiting the airport.

Of course, if there is a metro or a train from any airport in the world to the city, one just can’t resist giving it a go! The M3 runs from the airport through the city and out to the cruise terminal (quite a nifty idea!) and departs every 30 (or less) minutes. As usual, I booked a hotel a few minutes walk away from a station. One good thing about the Athens metro is that the majority of stations have elevators giving you a little more choice. As the M3 is relatively new, the majority of stations in the centre provide level access from the train to the platform. However, going out to the airport is a different story after the M3 joins the suburban railway, the gaps are very large bar at the airport station.

49 minutes later and we arrived at our semi accessible hotel! Speaking of tomorrow, we plan to head down and take in the world famous sights such as The Acropolis, Temple of Zeus etc.

Day 4 (Malta) – Rough Seas and The Malta Airport Experience

As mentioned previously, we began the day by heading over from the hotel and boarding a 90 minute cruise around the harbour and the ‘creeks’ around Valletta. As I simply booked whatever was available yesterday, the boat wasn’t accessible whatsoever, however, there are a few ‘Hop On, Hop Off’ cruises from Sliema with wider gangways although one still has the issue of getting down to the mooring.

Anyway, the cruise is a great way to see what Valletta offers from a distance (including Popeye’s restored ship) despite the rough seas of the Mediterranean (which I always envisaged to be calm!)…

Heathrow was then calling as we disembarked hence we headed back to the hotel to catch the booked airport taxi. As I predicted, the company began by sending an ordinary taxi. Luckily, the accessible taxi was available at that time meaning a smooth journey out to the airport. As we queued up for check in, assistance spotted us and, very helpfully, completed the relevant paperwork with us all the way to the plane. Only thing was a delay of 80 minutes.

As we know, its common for LHR to take their sweet time to unload Superbunny, not this time, it was the first thing out of the hold and rushed up to the airbridge to greet us…perhaps the heavy rain had something to do with it? Think it may have set a new record for getting out of said airport!

On the 12th June, one will be returning to Southern Europe, this time to Athens in Greece where I will also be hopping over to Heraklion (Crete) for the day.

Day 3 (Malta) – Gozo? Appears not…

The plan for today was to catch the bus (500m from the hotel) up to Cirkewwa where it is then possible to board the ferry over to the island of Gozo, however this is me that we are talking about!

I made the decision to take Superbunny today as Gozo is a little more accessible than Valletta thus we began the day by walking to said bus stop. The bus arrived on time (every 30 minutes), however, in true style, a pushchair was already occupying the wheelchair space refusing to move. Now, when I am travelling across the UK, one experiences this issue regularly so it is second nature to me simply to wait for the next one hoping to god that the space will be free. However, a local took it upon himself to begin arguing with the driver and had to be escorted off said bus. Sadly, he didn’t achieve anything but it was definitely an eye opener into ones life for the PAs at least.

It was then so that the bus drove off into the distance and then we waited…waited and waited…the bus never showed. By this time, it was past 12 meaning that we would not arrive at Gozo until 3pmish rendering it a little pointless. The alternative plan was to catch a harbour cruise, however the majority leave in the morning rather than at 2pm. The good news is that we have secured a spot for tomorrow morning before we leave for the airport!

Now at a loose end, it was agreed that another trip over to Valletta was in order, at least it was a little quieter than yesterday…

Let’s see if tomorrow is more fruitful before heading back to Heathrow…

Day 2 (Malta) – A Hilly Valletta

Who’s idea was it to come to Malta in the Easter holidays in the knowledge that a large proportion of tourists to said country are British?

Anyway, the plan for today was to hop over the water by boat to the tiny capital of Valletta. The decision to confine Superbunny to the hotel room was two fold; I didn’t fancy the idea of getting run over on the streets of Valletta plus I was unsure of how accessible the boat was (we also know that, after Russia, small boats and Superbunny aren’t compatible!). The latter was soon answered after the 5 minute trudge from the hotel to the Sliema ferry crossing over to the picturesque capital that is Valletta. Now, you would have thought that, seeing as it’s a vital link between said places, the infrastructure would be a little more than a simple mooring point but no, it was exactly that. After negotiating a steep ramp i.e. a concrete slab, you are faced with a rather big step up to the gangway, Superbunny would have no chance!

In a matter of minutes, the ferry docked in Valletta after providing panoramic views of the walled city…

If you do decide to catch said ferry (rather than busing it which is most likely what one would have to do in an electric wheelchair), there is an optional and accessible (if parked properly!) shuttle bus which eliminates the need to walk up a steep incline from the harbour by dropping you off at the bottom of the Barrakka lift. This lift is a direct entrance into the Upper Barrakka Gardens and subsequently the historical centre…very convenient (and something that was on my ‘to see’ list)…

Of course, it was also accessible…

As I mentioned previously, one decided to book this trip to coincide with the Easter holidays in the UK hence the main city sights such as the City Gate and Republic Square were overrun with crowds…

One of the attractions that I also wanted to visit was Fort St Elmo, one of the many forts scattered around Malta and the associated National War Museum which takes you through the various roles it played from its inception to the present day. It seemed as though the flocks of tourists seen in the centre do not venture out as we had the place nearly to ourselves. The majority of the place is accessible for wheelchair users and, as its a fort, also provides views over the Mediterranean Sea and Valletta…

Valletta is very hilly by nature thus it takes some strength to push a manual wheelchair both up and downhill so it was decided that we would continue our jaunt back down to the harbour whilst seeking out a restaurant (with inside seating of course!) which certainly didn’t come to fruition whilst missing the turning in the process. Luckily, a local saw us and informed us to walk down an unassuming lane and an ominous back alley which took us to the harbour and the Sliema ferry.

To avoid faffing about with buses to the airport on Friday, our hotel is currently arranging an ‘accessible’ taxi (which I am slightly dubious about given the situation we had in Portugal), see how that pans out.

Tomorrow, the plan is to catch the bus and subsequent ferry over to Gozo!

Day 1 (Malta) – The Google Maps Faff

It is so that ones travels for 2023 have commenced! Now, for those that follow my globetrotting, you have gathered that I just love flying from London Heathrow. partly because I know that Superbunny is mostly safe with the baggage handlers…unless the piece of equipment that is needed is unavailable which is indeed what happened on this occasion at T4…nothing that a little manpower couldn’t resolve. One will therefore be shocked to learn that Malta is the only trip that I have planned this year which utilises LHR, what is going on!

Anyway, as mentioned above, we flew out of T4 which used to handle the majority of British Airways operations before the mighty T5 opened (fun fact for you right there), however, since BA vacated, it has somewhat become a little of a ghost terminal with only a handful of daily flights compared to the others. This suited us nicely as it meant a fluent journey to the plane…should use T4 more!

After a 2.5 flight high above Europe with a spectacular view of the Alps and Sicily, we touched down in Malta which Superbunny was quickly disembarked in one piece and was reunited on the scissor lift as airbridges are no where to be seen at said airport.

Taking Superbunny here was a last minute decision i.e. last week as I was in two minds whether it would be worth the faff considering the accessibility of Malta, but hey, why not give it a go! The issue is that I had pre-booked a conventional taxi (instead of an accessible taxi which are, as usual, quite scarce) on the pretense that Superbunny wouldn’t be joining and then by the time muggins changed his mind, said accessible taxis were booked meaning trusty public transport (bus) it was. Before coming to Malta, I researched the X2 bus route which brings you just minutes from our hotel (115 The Strand), however I decided to also put faith in Google Maps…not a wise idea! First, it took us on a scenic walk of the airport and the associated road network ending up in a petrol station followed by a bus which took us to a completely different area resulting in a 2km walk to the hotel.

In recent years, buses, particularly in Europe seem to have gained an universal design in terms of accessibility with either an electric or manual ramp accompanied by a wheelchair space hence one could have been traveling around Bristol…even asked a fellow buser to assist with clearing the area forgetting that they may not speak English.

The 2km walk to the hotel provided a great opportunity to assess the accessibility of the wider city area. I had previously read that the best way to get around in a wheelchair is straight down the road due to the narrow pavements, advice of which we used on many occasions…

Although the hotel was booked on the cheap (as usual!), it offers picturesque views over the water to Valletta, a perfect way to celebrate the end of a never ending journey…

Tomorrow, Superbunny will be confined to the hotel room whilst we hop over the water to explore hilly Valletta…

Day 4 (Riga) – The RIX Experience + Plans for 2023

…and the answer to that cliffhanger is that Superbunny did indeed return to Gatwick in one piece and fully alive, congratulations Riga!

Anyway, after a morning of catching up on work emails and prepping ones lecture for the forthcoming day, we ventured out to catch the route 22 bus to the airport. Unlike the casual 12am wander to the hotel on Monday night, the bus stop was located on the same side of the road as us eliminating the need to use said underpass and, more importantly, the requirement to see Doris! Like the majority of buses in Riga, the 22 was equipped with an automatic ramp enabling Superbunny to roll on and off, definitely the best transportation method as the trams are a mix mash of Soviet and modern rolling stock meaning that you never know what will turn up!

It seems that catching the 22 in the daytime as opposed to the 12am journey is a whole different experience taking the scenic route around various Latvian housing estates before ending its voyage at Riga airport (RIX). Although said airport is deemed to be the busiest airport within the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), it is pretty quiet meaning that AirBaltic could take their time to work out how to handle Superbunny. This also meant for a rather pleasant experience through to boarding the scissor lift (if not a little trek past empty gates) and subsequently the plane. Now, I never understand why major airports in the UK such as Gatwick and Heathrow are reluctant to bring either wheelchair up to the gate rather send them to oversized baggage, would be so much easier but there you go!

Well, that is that then, every country in Northern and Central Europe (not counting the self-governing states or Serbia, the latter being a bone of contention by many) has been rolled around by moi coinciding with the end of 2022 (and the start of the busy work season!)! So where to in 2023…Southern Europe of course. I thought that I would take the opportunity whilst the world is coming to the end of the COVID pandemic (apparently ‘the end is in sight’ for all countries according to WHO) to explore more of the Southern end as, let’s face it, only Spain and Portugal has been rolled around. The plan for next year is to make ones way west to east along the top of the Mediterranean (kind of!) starting in Malta sometime in April (with a day trip over to Sicily in Southern Italy via catamaran) then onto Athens in Greece (with a day trip over to the Greek island of Crete (bucket list time!) via plane), back to Milan in Northern Italy (with a day trip down to Florence utilising the high speed train network…should be no DEATH trains in sight?) finishing the year off by visiting somewhere east of Greece (torn between several ideas but will most likely be in the ‘crossroad’ section between Europe and Western Asia). Now, if you have been to places in Southern Europe (Especially Malta and some parts of Greece), you will know that it isn’t the most accessible places in the world so I suspect Superbunny will be confined to the hotel room at times but hey, that is the fun of traveling with a disability?

Until then, let’s enjoy a ‘pondering’ photo of one marveling at the architecture of Riga…

Day 3 (Riga) – The Lack of Latvian Health and Safety!

Today has been much warmer than yesterday making perfect walking conditions for the short walk to the Latvian Academy of Sciences within which an observation deck can be found. On the way, we passed the same woman that was in the lift on Monday night, she did not look happy with us!

Anyway, the tower soon loomed over us and we followed the wheelchair signs around, around and around until we reached an ominous fire exit door equipped with a concrete slab acting as a ramp…

As we entered said door. we were greeted by a series of steps with a precarious stair climber lift to one side. As we had entered into a basement area, there was no one to assist us thus we simply operated it ourselves, getting onto the thing was difficult enough due to a tight turning circle. In the UK, these kind of lifts have some kind of barrier to prevent you from falling off said platform, not in Latvia! What is worse was that there is a ramp connecting said lift and the top of the steps to navigate also. In the middle of said lift journey, a mechanic appeared and precariously we navigated the obstacles (only one scary part to be seen)…

I really think that this mechanic guy thought that we were students as he sent us to a floor that can only be described as a hospital, even had the smell! Realising that this was the wrong floor, we headed up to the top floor where we were greeted with two doors; one presumably leading to some seminar rooms and one sign posted with ‘Panoramic Riga’ leading to a series of steps. Unfortunately this is not wheelchair accessible, however, the views from the top are spectacular…

(Note the lack of safety netting etc!)

After that thrilling experience, we headed through the Central Market, crossed a few roads and took a riverside walk…

The fun didn’t stop there though, after a while, it was decided that we would hop on to a bridge and circle back through town. I knew beforehand that said bridge had a lift connecting the footpath at the bottom to the bridge deck. What I didn’t realise was that the platform was corroding away with just a plank of plywood to catch you if it fell to imminent death!

Tomorrow, we catch the 22 bus route back to the airport and then back to old Gatwick!

Nath