After a traditional Spanish dinner at a local restaurant, one headed to the Cuatro Torres Business Area which contains some of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe. It has to be said that the surrounding area is something less to be desired, especially at night. However, as one would expect from an European financial district, the immediately area is fully accessible for wheelchair users to admire it’s modern architecture…
It is here that one bids you fair well from Madrid. In August, one will be flying to Miami to take a cruise around the Caribbean for 11 days, stopping at Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Mexico and The Bahamas.
Contrary to the weather forecast, today was full of sunshine hence it was straight across the road and down to Madrids metro system to visit the Faro de Moncloa observation tower!
Whilst travelling on the metro and changing lines at interchanges, one was able to get a feel for how accessible it is. The line that is closest to the Hotel Exe Plaza (Line 1) does seem to have one of the oldest rolling stock on the network, I put it similar to the old style Paris metro train. As a result, a large gap between the train and the platform edge is present. However, one noted that wheelchair users are advised to board the front carriage. This means that the driver can offer assistance if necessary. The more modern rolling stock does seem to have better accessibility…
Adjacent to Oeste Park is the Faro de Moncloa which stands against the backdrop of the mountains. Disabled individuals and one companion can enter for just 2 euros. The lift up to the observation deck provides panoramic views of the surrounding area. However, one was only able to view 180 degrees over the city from the top…
Nevertheless, one would recommend the Faro de Moncloa if you are at a loose end in Madrid and seeking something cheap to do.
Heading back onto the metro, one travelled to Atocha Railway Station only to discover that the elevator was out of service. As a result, one did the usual trick of hopping back onto the train, go down to the next accessible station and then doubling back.
Now, when one thinks of accessible metro stations, elevators spring to mind. However, it appears that the Spanish term ‘accessible’ as simply being a travellator…
One of the highlights of Atocha Station is the famous train shed which has since become a tropical garden full of cafés and bars. Said tropical garden is wheelchair accessible and certainly puts an unique twist on a railway station…
Even the disabled toilets are rather unique…
To conclude our time in the Spanish capital, one plans to have a roll around the nearby Cuatro Torres Business Area this evening containing some of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe before heading back to Barajas International Airport tomorrow.
After a tour around the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, one delved deeper into Madrid to gain a sense of the citys accessibility. From rolling around for a few hours, Madrid seems fairly easy to explore akin to many European capitals in terms of drop curbs being located in appropriate places etc…
Near the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, one stumbled upon a generic shopping centre. Now, it is common sense for shopping centres to sign post the location of the lift, right? Apparently not as the lift in this shopping centre appeared to be by the toilets with no sign postage. One says lift, it was actually a cargo lift which I swear dated back to the 1980’s!
A few hours later, the sun decided to appear meaning that one got to roll around the other financial district that Madrid possesses. As usual, ones artistic style of photography showed as we wandered around…
From here, one thought that the hotel would be easy to find due to the straight road going back and the Cuatro Torres Business Area being in close proximity but neither of these two were evident. To add to this, ones phone had no internet access. Heading down some back streets, we eventually found out that we were following one of the numerous metro lines albeit the wrong way! As there was an accessible metro station nearby, one couldn’t resist going on it to get back to the hotel.
In terms of accessibility, the metro reminded one a little of Paris as only a portion of stations are accessible. Depending on what line you wish to go on, the gap between the train and the platform edge varies. In this case, Superbunny was required to take a leap of faith whilst attempting not to run over anybody.
Tomorrow, we head across the city using the metro network to the Faro de Moncloa in addition to Madrid’s Atocha railway station!
As predicted, today was a dreary day in Madrid as headed out on our quest to find the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, one of the biggest in the world (who knew!). It was pretty easy to navigate from our hotel…
One reached the stadium in the knowledge that disabled individuals and one individual can enter for FREE, however the nice lady at the ticket office let us all in for free! One was told to walk around the stadium to a particular gate where we were greeted by security and taken up a glass elevator to begin our tour. Before heading into the stadium itself, the tour guides one through various exhibits displaying trophies and other memorabilia…
Unfortunately, the football pitch isn’t accessible for wheelchair users as it is down a flight of steps. As an alternative, one is allowed to visit the wheelchair seating area which is a stones throw away from the V.I.P area!
It is worth noting before one starts the Madrid adventure that the weather forecast for the entire week is a mix of rain and thunderstorms hence how much of the Spanish capital will be rolled around remains to be seen!
In a twist of events, one decided to book an evening flight from Bristol to Madrid hence we were up in the air around 18:45pm and landed 2.5 hours later. As we approached Madrid Barajas International Airport, the dark clouds began to roll in as predicted.
One is unsure whether this was due to arriving at Barajas rather late, however, special assistance seemed rather confused as they boarded. Even though the gate possessed a jet bridge, instead of taking Superbunny to the door, Barajas decided to park an Ambulift by the rear door which wasn’t particularly useful as one was sitting at the front of the plane!
Although our plane was delayed, our accessible taxi driver was still waiting for us to bring us on the short journey to the hotel. Nonetheless, the good thing about Western Europe is that wheelchair accessible taxis are of plenty. The Hotel Exe Plaza is situated within the Chamartín district and just a stones throw away from the Cuatro Torres Business Area. Ones room is pretty standard for a Western European hotel in terms of accessibility and wet rooms…
Despite the thundery showers, the plan tomorrow is to visit the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium which is around a 25 minute walk from the hotel.
