Europe – July 2015

So I was absolutely knackered yesterday that’s why I’m writing this post this morning. Oh and I forgot to mention in Monday’s post that the ramp on the train to Katowice was actually stored in the toilet which is an intriguing place to put it!

Spent most of yesterday at Auchswitz. It was a good idea to take my manual wheelchair as firstly, the van that was suppose to be accessible from the hotel (well they said they had a lift for elderly people on the phone!) in fact it was just a standard people carrier.

The driver could speak little English, so the journey was fun, trying to use a phone to translate in order to speak to one another.

We arrived at Auchswitz to be greeted by a long queue line for tickets for the guided tour. It was interesting the amount of wheelchair users considering the poor accessibility of the place.

After an hour of waiting, our guided tour began, which lasted 4 hours. Our guide was very informative and understanding as we went through the various sections.

As I saw whilst doing my research, the paths were very rocky which meant that my PAs had a workout during the tour, which they enjoyed very much. Some of the tour consist of seeing inside the blocks, which have steps so I would of had no hope with super bunny. However, even in my manual wheelchair, some of the tour involved steps so I waited at the bottom and listened through my head set.

There are two sites within Auchswitz itself, Auchswitz 1 and Auchswitz 2. Number 2 is considerably bigger in size than the previous. They are connected via a shuttle bus, which as usual, is accessible with its folding ramp.

The second side is a little more accessible and they have smoother paths running along the sides of the main track.

At some points you have to cross the railway tracks which is fun, but I saw that there was a level crossing which super bunny could of probably got over. At the end of the tracks there was a memorial which is kind of strange as they have ramp up to a certain point and then it stop before they reach the top.

After finishing the tour, we were starving yet again so we found somewhere to eat whilst the taxi driver was trying to ring us probably trying to find out where we were.

We got the taxi this morning at 10.45 and returned around half 6, it still only cost us 410 zlotys, which was £69 – extremely cheap. For the remainder of the evening we found the jacuzzi and the sauna, which we will probably do again today; as well as a massage ahead of our 14 hour trip home tomorrow. We arrive at London Heathrow, my favourite place in the whole world.

See you later for a very short post.

So going to the Houses of Parliment last night was a very bad idea as we discovered half way that the public footpath along the river was closed for refurbishment. Following the diversions that were in place, we ended up walking the streets around Budapest for what seemed like forever (2.5hours) which took super bunny down to under half of its battery. Plus, it took a battering as there were no drops curbs on some of the crossings. However, one good thing about it was that I got to see new type of trams which are completely accessible but they are only running on the other side of the city, so that didn’t help us to get back to the hotel.

When we eventually reached the House of Parliament, we got to experience its architecture which was accompanied by birds circling its spires; making it magical…

This morning we headed straight out to visit the Fishersmans Bastion with its neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style which over looks the city. There is no clear accessible route up to the top of the hill on which its situated and its mostly steps, so we had to navigate around some side streets to see it. When you actually get to the top, most of it is actually wheelchair accessible, which is interesting because it’s an old piece of architecture (1895). It seems that the area has been recently refurbished which is probably why its accessible….

Whilst promoting disability awareness it’s always nice when I see an outstanding effort to accommodate disabled people. On the way back I noticed a model of the Bastion which was decorated with Braille, however the only problem was that it was metal, metal sitting in the sun tends to get hot, very hot, so it physically burns those who touch it; nice thought though.

After stopping at lunch at Costa (there are so many British brands in Budapest – including Tesco and M&S but I suppose that’s what you get for being I a highly sought out tourist destination) we returned to the hotel to work out a strategy for tomorrow, as we are catching a train from Budapest back to Vienna, then Vienna to Katowice, Poland.

See you tomorrow

I forgot to say in my blog yesterday about how much Budapest is like Iceland in that everyone speaks English and there is no real need to speak Hungarian but that shows how touristy places get. Another thing that I forgot was about the sudden change in scenery as we crossed the border from Western to Eastern Europe because they just generally look poorer compared to Austria.
Anyway, we spent the whole of today visiting the Széchenyi Baths. Again, we were unsure of the accessibility of public transport not including Metro line 4 but just in general. As there is no lifts that go to Metro Line 1 which takes your close to the Baths, we caught an accesible bus instead. It was surprising because when I did my research, people said that buses weren’t that accessible but it seems like the majority are and have unfolding ramps which my PAs got told off for lifting themselves (that reminds me of when me and my friend used to visit Bristol and the same thing happened but that was in English and not Hungarian but at least you could understand what they were saying!).

The entrance to the Baths had steps going up to it but there is a stair lift to get up so its fine. At first, we were unsure that there was a ramp down to the baths so you could potentially access it in an electric wheelchair (and Superbunny could of played in the baths…. Actually no that’s not a good idea seeing as what I did in 2013 when I drove bad bunny, my other electric wheelchair into a river). However, as they were in the middle of refurbishing, they had a temporary walk way into one of the inside sections which had stairs but luckily we didn’t have time to explore further inside as it was time for my extravagant back massage. The massages take place upstairs and they didn’t have a lift so we improvised by walking me up. I had a lovely back massage and the staff were really helpful and understanding coming out nearly half asleep and after one of my PAs finished theirs we headed back to the hotel in the rain which was a nice experience as it has been so hot.

Tonight, we are taking a walk along the Danube to see the spectular lights of the Houses of Parliment and other significant places of interest. Tomorrow, we plan on doing a general wonder around the city in the lovely temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.

See you tomorrow 🙂

Today has been another hot and sunny day and we started by taking a trip to one of my favourite places, the train station to pick up our set of tickets. As usual, I managed to skip the queue and it went well without any problems. It was then time for Superbunny to experience the U-Bahn that would take us to the sightseeing bus tour that we were hoping to be accessible. We caught the bus from Karlsplatz and it took us around the old city for about an hour, it was magical and very informative as to the history of Vienna. Oh and the music was very enjoyable too as we travelled around the city, it really set the mood! The buses themselves are wheelchair accessible with fold down ramps and you are able to hop on and hop off at any given point so it’s a great way to explore the city.

After having lunch in the most fanciest Burger King that I’ve ever seen, we decided to visit the Vienna Operahouse. We were unsure about the accessibilty but after a short while we found the accessible enterance where we were greeted by Nelson who assisted us throughout the whole guided tour with the various lifts etc. The tour was very informative and most areas bar one were fully accessible. What I found interesting was that the Vienna Opera Theatre is sponsored by Lexus and Samsung and they had their own engraved pillars which contradicted the old architecture before it.

We then found our way back to the hotel and returned to the train station to collect more tickets for our journey in a few days time from Budapest to Katowice in Poland which went without a hitch again.

Tomorrow we travel to Budapest using the same train company that brought us to Vienna so hopefully everything should be fine, I’ve probably jinxed it again now! When we arrive to Budapest, we will catch the only accessible metro line to our hotel which should be interesting.

See you tomorrow 🙂

So today was our only day in Geneva and we wasted no time by heading out to visit the United Nations building in all its glory. Straight away you can tell how clean the city is compared to Marseille where there were tramps living on every corner.

In comparison, the City of Geneva is beautifully clean. There is no litter nor vagrants. Oh and whilst I remember although we didn’t get to go on the trams, they are all equipped with low floors and are completely accessible with automatic ramps, bridging the gap between the tram and the platform edge, another hit for Geneva!

We wondered to see the United Nations building…

After getting a little moist from the sprinklers in the surrounding parks  grounds we found or way to the visitors entrance, oh, and of course I skipped the queue to get inside. The tour itself was very informative and accommodating for disabled people. It showed of the marvellous architecture that the UN building as to offer.

Once we said goodbye to our amazing tour guide, we walked down to Lake Geneva with its picturesque views at the famouse ‘jet of water’ which shoots an impressive 120 metres into the sky and can be seen for miles!

By this time we were all hungry so we went on the hunt for an accessible and pigeon free resturant. Unfortunately most resturants have some kind of curb or step, but there are a few that are step free. In the afternoon we visited the base of the water jet…well as far as I was able to go without having to use any stairs.

Coincidently, today was Genevas turn to host a triathlon which was awesome for me because the ramp down to the lake which was erected for the swimmers enabled me to take a dip in an otherwise inaccessible lake…

(We definitely did a risk assessment for this!!)

My PA decided not to tell me that there was a bird sat behind me, within two feet watching me get my legs wet. It was only when I saw the photo afterwards that I realised I was within inches of a painful death.

As we have a 12 hour train journey tomorrow (which my PA’s are so looking forward too) we headed to the train station to pick up our tickets and make sure the assistance was in place and booked. However, Google maps failed us on the way to the station – taking us for a little tour around the red light district, and I will say no more on that…although I know a certain Irish PA of mine who will be reading this will want to know more. I can say however that the road works in place in the district ment that we spent a little longer than we could have admiring the sceneary. The staff at the ticket office at the station were very, very helpful in ensuring that all the assistance was in place, especially seeing as we have to change at Zurich.

Looks like tomorrow will be a day of trains which will thrilling for me, not so thrilling for my PAs (my European Sherpas as they call themselves).

We arrive in Vienna around 23:10, so I will write tomorrow’s post whilst travelling, how exciting!

See you in Austria