Rolling Traveler

I’m in Amsterdam for the weekend for my friends’ wedding. As I’ve mentioned before, Amsterdam is just a short train ride away from Dusseldorf, so it is possible to go and come back in one day, but since my friends are here from San Francisco and I get few chances to see them in the year, I decided to stay two nights. There were a couple of minor hiccups along the way with the train and hotel, but nothing’s spoiling this trip: I’m determined of that.

The train journey over was fine, just the usual ten-minute delay. I’ve never actually arrived in Amsterdam on time, but what’s ten minutes when you’re on holiday? There was an odd thing about the place for the wheelchair on the train though. I was traveling by Deutsche Bahn ICE (Inter-City Express), and normally, there’s a free spot for a wheelchair with two seats opposite for traveling companions. However, this time there were also two seats behind where the wheelchair was supposed to go. Not only did this make it a very tight squeeze, but someone was sitting in those seats, and I had to ask them to move, which was quite a process, because the train was quite crowded, and they were trying to persuade me that I could fit at the side, with the rear of the wheelchair sticking out into the aisle. They moved in the end, but the design seems like a bad one, particularly since any deeper chair would really be stuck. The only advantage I can think of is that this arrangement would allow me to get out of the chair and sit in a regular seat, but that wouldn’t really leave anywhere for the wheelchair.

 The woman sitting across from me was sucking at her teeth for most of the journey. That noise should rank up there with MP3 blasting, open-mouth chewing and pen-tapping as justifiable reasons for kicking someone off a moving train… Thankfully, after trying out Lanny’s, I bought some noise-reduction headphones of my own, so I could drown her out. One of the things I like about noise-reduction headphones is that they also make me a better fellow passenger, as no-one has to hear what I’m listening to.

 I’m staying at the Ibis Hotel in Amsterdam. Ibis is a one- and two-star hotel chain that has most of its hotels near railway stations, airports and convention centers. The hotels are functional, with all the basics, and the price, if you book well enough in advance, is reasonable. However, they really don’t have enough accessible rooms. There’s usually only one or two per hotel, and I’ve never actually managed to stay in one. They’ve always been booked already. I can generally manage a non-accessible room with only a little difficulty, but it would be nice, just once, to not have to add the physical issue to a trip. I get what I pay for, so I can’t complain too much, right?

 I did end up going back to the desk and getting switched to a different room this time though. The first room I was given had the bed right inside the door, and the bathroom wall almost touching one of the beds, so I could only take the wheelchair about four feet into the room, and then I would have had to climb over the bed to use the rest of the room, and still been a few feet from the bathroom door. The desk clerk admitted she had no idea what the individual rooms were like, and had assumed I knew what I was doing when I booked the room, and would cope. We managed to find a better room easily enough though.

 It’s been a long time since I stayed the night in Amsterdam, so I’d forgotten how noisy it is. All night long, there were car horns blaring and outside, and the sound of people who’ve had too much Amstel and Grolsch, lost among the bicycle parks. I slept in the end, but it would be remiss of me not to advise anyone with problems getting to sleep to make sure their hotel is not near the city center.

 I’m off to make myself presentable for the wedding. Have a great weekend!

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