Oct
29
2008
After dinner on Saturday, the newlyweds had a surprise for all the guests. They’d hired a boat to sail the canals of Amsterdam for a while, something I’d often wanted to do, but never had the time for. The landing stage and boat were inaccessible to wheelchairs, but, as I mentioned yesterday, I wasn’t missing out on a minute of Jonathan and Stan’s big day. We just had to work out how to get around the car that had been inconsiderately parked at the top of the steps down to the landing stage, down those narrow steps, and then onto the boat. The car was the biggest obstacle, as it didn’t leave us a lot of room to squeeze past, and one of the more nervous guests was sure I was going to end up in the canal at one point.
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Oct
28
2008
The second day in Amsterdam was the day of Jonathan and Stan’s wedding reception. The heavy rain of Friday had given way to a beautiful cool but sunny Saturday, and the weather held for the whole day. The company was great, the beer, wine and food were excellent, and everyone had a great time. Traveling with a wheelchair, especially to a city like Amsterdam, takes planning and effort, and if I ever had any doubts whether it was worthwhile, days like this would dispell them. Being able to be there and be part of such an important event for two dear friends meant so much, and letting the wheelchair stand in the way of that would just be wrong. With effort and the help of the good people who were at the event, I made it to all the parts of the reception, and no barrier stood in the way of us having a first-class time.
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Oct
25
2008
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.
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Oct
20
2008
If you ever make it to Wroclaw, the administrative capital of Lower Silesia in Poland, make sure you keep an eye out for dwarfs when you’re sight-seeing in the city center. There are currently over 50 small statues of dwarfs scattered around the old town, each engaged in his own hobby, each representing a different aspect of the city or of Polish life and history. It’s quite a feat to find them all, but it can be done, even in a wheelchair. Actually, it may be even easier for a wheelchair user, cobblestoned streets notwithstanding - we’re used to keeping our eyes on the ground looking out for obstacles and other problems, so we’re more likely to spot these little guys. They are worth keeping an eye out, not only for the art and amusement of them, but also for the aspect of Polish history that inspired them.
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Oct
03
2008
There’s still more to tell about Thursday, when I took a long roll around Wroclaw visiting seven of its big tourist attractions, but I decided to save talking about it for Sunday, when I’ll have time to add some photos and links. So, forgive me the out-of-sequence posting as today I’m going to wrap up my trip diary by talking about coming back to Dusseldorf.
9:12 am. There was almost no traffic on the roads this morning, so we made it to the airport in record time. There are only two people ahead of me in line to check in, but there is already a very long line for security. The problem is that there are only two security gates for this departure lounge, but there are four full flights leaving in the next 2 hours, so they tend to get backed up.
My advice is that if you’re flying out of Wroclaw, get to check in and then go straight through security. There’s nothing to do on either side of the gate anyway, and you might as well be where you’re supposed to be.
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Oct
02
2008
5:55 pm. I roll out of the tram, just an inch drop to the platform, so I don’t even bounce. I was right about the new trams being similar models to the German and Dutch ones. They’re low floor trams rather than fully accessible ones, so at some stops, they’re almost level with the sidewalk, but at others, there can be quite a gap. There is a bell beside the door with the lowest floor, and the drivers probably come out to help passengers on and off: I must research that tomorrow.
5:59 pm. That was close. Stupidly, I was rushing across an uneven surface, and my front wheels went into a crack between two paving slabs. The wheelchair bucked forward, not enough to throw me out, but enough to draw attention. I assure people that I’m fine, and feel the blush of anger with myself spreading.
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Oct
01
2008
Yesterday evening, driving home from a friend’s home, I had the chance to see how Wroclaw was and how it will be when all the rennovations are complete. One road, five blocks in length, had a pitted tarmac surface, with tram rails rising above the road surface by as much as two inches in places, and was lined with 4- and 5-story buildings with pitted and peeling plaster and paintwork. The neighborhood looked run down, although some of the windows in the buildings were new though - aluminum or good quality wood frames - and the sidewalk on one side was new and as even as any I’ve seen. We bounced and jolted our way down it until it gave way to another road, a good eight-block stretch including a bridge across the Odra, with a pristine surface, recessed tram rails and even sidewalks with curb cuts, lined with rennovated, repainted buildings both old and modern.
Wroclaw is a city in a state of change, as money is finally being invested in making it the best and most beautiful it can be. It’s a slow process, and it is starting with the areas with buildings of interest: there’s nothing of importance on that five-block stretch, but the following rennovated road passes the National Gallery and the State Government Buildings on one side of the bridge, and Ostrów Tumski (site of the largest cathedral and the oldest church) and the Botanic Gardens on the other. The area of the Rynek (the Town Square) is mostly finished, as are most of the roads around the old moat, but there is still a lot of work to be done elsewhere.
From my point of view as a wheelchair user, almost all of these improvements will make Wroclaw an easier city to get around, although as in all northern European cities, there is a frustrating obsession with the bane of my lower back and wrists, decorative cobblestones, so it will never be an entirely smooth ride. More importantly, all the work that is being done is bringing out the beauty of this city, making it shine again after years of neglect. It’s a fascinating process to watch happening.
Sep
30
2008
10:34 am. I always advise people to check things in advance and do their research, but I’m very bad at taking my own advice. Instead of looking up which tram lines have the low-floor vehicles and when those vehicles run, I just came out to the stop. The two trams that have passed have both been high-floor vehicles, with steps up into them. I did see a low-floor one, going in the opposite direction. It looks like the new ones have the same design as the Dutch and German ones: the floor is lower so it’s easier to get on, but not 100% accessible. At this stop, there’s about a 5-inch gap between the road and the floor of the tram.
It’s now too late for me to wait for another tram and hope it’s the right type for me to get on, and I don’t feel like being lifted onto a high-floor one, so I’m getting a taxi. I’ll investigate tram accessibility tomorrow.
10:39 am. That was quick! The taxi’s here already.
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Sep
30
2008
I had planned on sleeping late this morning, but the upstairs neighbors are having a new floor put in, so it was a 7:30 am hammer-and-nail wake-up call followed at 8-ish by a buzzing floor polisher. Bear-with-a-sore-head awake, I decided to go for a walk instead of stubbornly trying to sleep with a pillow over my ears.
It’s a chilly autumn morning here, around 39°F (4°C). The neighborhood is a quiet one, with two parks within five minutes of the flat. I went around the block once, then over to the larger park which is beside the Wroclaw University of Technology Architecture Faculty building. There’s been a lot of work done on the city, but it hasn’t made it out here yet, so the sidewalks are still very uneven, and the pathway to the park is heavily potholed. It was still a pleasant walk though: the park was very lovely with the leaves starting to turn gold and russet and amber against the backdrop of the still rich green summer growth.
Stanislaw Tolpa Park in Wroclaw. Left: a view of the fountain. Right: The Architecture Faculty building
I’m off into the city center now to meet Christian. I noticed on the way in from the airport that there are more and more low-floor trams in Wroclaw, so I’m going to try my luck. When I lived here, I couldn’t use the trams because of the steps up into them: hopefully I don’t take the wrong one and end up getting lost!
Sep
29
2008
I had a lazy afternoon with the cats, and then it turned into a lazy evening. Marcin and I had dinner at home and watched Battlestar Galactica. The closest thing I did to work was writing a review of Box Office Poison Kolor Karnival for Retro Review, and the most exciting moment was watching the pups play fight. So, as you can see, I do enjoy downtime sometimes. I’ll get back to doing things that I can tell you all about tomorrow, promise. Good night all!
