Today was ones last full day in Bratislava and indeed for this trip. As mentioned yesterday, the sole aim of today was to explore the UFO Tower which stands proud over a dual carriageway.
N.B. I thought I would mention that a car has just drove straight down the tramway outside the hotel window…whoopsie!
After a short walk across the River Danube, we reached the base of this majestic structure which, at the time of writing, consisted of a wooden shell with a porta cabin alongside. What was more concerning was the fact that a big step was present to enter, however, we later discovered that a wooden ramp had been constructed around the side. The temporary walkway to the elevator from said porta cabin can only be described as an entrance to a rather strange rollercoaster; walls and ceiling painted entirely black with a rather concerning whirring noise emanating from the end (the elevator!).
Once inside the ‘UFO’, you are presented with stunning panoramic views of the city including the famous Castle. If you are lucky enough to experience the restaurant also, don’t expect large servings of food, it’s one of those posh places where you are required to sample the tiniest portion and then pay a bomb for it…
There seemed to be an upstairs section, however, one isn’t quite sure if it’s accessible as we didn’t venture that far.
Tomorrow, we head over the Austrian border to fly back to the UK from Vienna. For the next adventure, one will be exploring Vilnius in Lithuania followed by Minsk in Belarus. However, before that, simply appreciate the view from ones hotel room…
The capital of Slovakia, Bratislava is a city not necessarily on the conventional tourists bucket list, especially if you are a wheelchair user but you may be surprised by this place! If one thinks of a quaint city that is a cross between Czech and Austrian styled architecture, that’s Bratislava.
Today we ventured into its historical centre, the majority of streets have been revamped from conventional cobbles (unlike Prague) to a very smooth surface whilst maintaining it’s authentic appearance thus making for a smooth roll…
As one only has 2 days here before heading back to the UK, we enlisted the help of a very handy city map marking out the location of the major sights such as St Michael’s Gate and the Man At Work statue…
The city centre itself is quite walkable meaning that one can see the majority of the sights in a matter of hours (it took us around 3 and a half hours including a half hour stop!).
For the next few days, one is staying in the Ibis Hotel. Situated on the slopes of Bratislava Castle, it is pretty much what an Ibis stands for. The only downside is that the accessible rooms contain a bath rather than a shower.
The plan for tomorrow was to trek up to Bratislava Castle, however with Superbunny out of action and the slope up being near vertical, think we will give that a miss! Instead, a well needed chill morning is the plan with a meal up the UFO Tower (essentially a UFO atop of a road bridge) to round off the trip!
The aim of today was to visit the Žižkov Television Tower (or the ‘crawling babies’ tower, the reasoning I will explain shortly). The journey from the hotel was a little hair raising to say the least as construction work around the Florenc area meaning risking life and death attempting to cross 3 or 4 lanes of traffic which is no mean feat especially with Superbunny. Anyway, a few more roads and steep hills later, we reached our destination.
The Žižkov Television Tower was constructed in 1992 towards the end of the Soviet era and was subsequently dubbed the worlds second ugliest building (although one has seen much worse in my opinion). In an effort to boost it’s appearance, a Czech artist was commissioned in 2000 to design fiberglass ‘babies’ which would ‘crawl’ up the tower giving rise to its nickname…
The entrance to said tower is actually sunken down below street level with steps surroundings its perimeter. How do you access the lower level you may ask? The answer to that is practically pretending that you are a car by going through the underground car park…
Disabled individuals and companions can enter the Žižkov Television Tower for a discounted rate of 100 CZK. For the best views, one would recommend visiting the restaurant albeit a little overpriced…
Tomorrow, one heads down to the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. Unfortunately, Superbunny had a little accident today rendering it undrivable meaning that one has had to fork out for a wheelchair accessible taxi to take us over the border. Thank god that we are in Europe!
As I mentioned yesterday, the primary aim was to visit the Petrin Tower using the Prague Metro system. Luckily for us, Florenc station (which is fully accessible) is a mere 5 minute walk from the hotel! Now, Florenc is an interchange station for both Line B (the one we wanted) and C and if you have used such transportation systems before, you will know that there is usually one lift for the overall station, not here! At interchange stations in Prague, you have different lifts for different lines, even have street signs directing you to the different lifts via an accessible route, why can’t we have a similar system in London, it’s simple yet effective. This continues all the way down onto the platform meaning that all you really need to know is the colour or letter of the line you want, if the stations are accessible and the destination. Prior to any trips that involve catching public transportation, one YouTubes the actual transport whether that be a bus, metro and tram to see how accessible it is to get on and the size of the gap between said vehicle and the pavement or platform! As usual, Prague uses different rolling stock dependent upon the line, each with varying gaps between the train and the platform edge. In the case of Line B, Russian metro rolling stock are still in service after all these years (the country was previously within the Soviet Union) albeit a little updated with regards to technology and as such the gap is quite substantial meaning that Superbunny had to do some wheelies to get onboard (if you have a wheelchair that can’t do wheelies, you have no hope unfortunately).
An able bodied individual wanting to visit the Petrin Tower can simply hop onto the metro, get off and straight onto the Funicular Railway essentially taking you to the tower entrance, simple right? If only it was with muggins and Superbunny! Despite the popularity of the Petrin, neither the Funicular or the closest metro is accessible (even with a manual wheelchair, one did have a quick gander!). Now, the Petrin Tower is on top of a decent sized hill (Kinsky Garden) which overlooks the city hence it was necessary to trek up the side of this thing, however, the views were majestic (better than the tower in ones opinion!)…
An hours trek later, we finally reached the summit where the Petrin Tower stood in all it’s glory…
On first glance at this majestic structure, you would assume a large lift going up its core but no! Upon entering the base, we were informed that Superbunny was too wide for the lift hence the staff bought out a very dusty manual wheelchair for one to transfer into and the reason for this became evidently clear once the lift was presented! Words can’t describe how small this thing was, even a normal sized manual wheelchair had to be bumped and scraped to fill in! We were then informed that this box lift could only go to the second base hence these views had to suffice…
After the prospect dawned that one could potentially get stuck in a lift the size of a box for eternity, we set upon finding an accessible restaurant which we know by now doesn’t tie well with Europe. Luckily, we discovered, what can only be described as Soviet styled apartment blocks with a restaurant benefits. Who knows what it was previously used for as the toilet doors appeared to be akin to chunky jail doors!
The plan for tomorrow is to visit the Žižkovská Tower tomorrow afternoon before stocking up in preparation for the 4 hour train journey to Bratislava on Friday. It is hoped that this tower will have a decent lift!
For those who follow ones blog, you will know that a trip to Prague was booked in 2017 only to have the flight cancelled! Anyway, after a short flight, one touched down at Václav Havel Airport in Prague where the wheelchair accessible taxi that I booked prior awaited us and was a suitable size meaning our experience thus far seems to be plain sailing.
Over the next few days, one is staying at The Grandior Hotel, which, I must say, is ideal when it comes to accessible rooms, plenty of room to manoeuvre plus a rather large bathroom/wet room complete with a shower seat!
Today was all about exploring the heart of Prague and a little route was formed taking in the famous sights such as the Prague Astronomical Clock and Old Town Square. Granted that the area is a little cobbly but it is still manageable for wheelchair users…
The next stop was The Charles Bridge. Akin to The Old Square, the area is a little cobbly in keeping with its historical status but still manageable…
Now, during the numerous trips to Europe, one has come to realise that, particularly in older cities such as Bruges, indoor restaurants pose an obstacle to wheelchair users due to the building having steps. Luckily for us, a few minutes from the hotel, a shopping mall is located with every restaurant you can think of meaning our meal times are sorted for the next few days!
The plan for tomorrow is to attempt to navigate the Prague metro system with Superbunny, ultimately to visit the Petrin Tower.
