Changes

Experience makes things grow. We have been going on holiday with a wheelchair over 12 years now. In the meantime we have seen quite a few changes. Accessibility is much more of an issue and gets a lot more attention, there are also more possibilities.
We have been in many more places in many more countries. Also we are developing new ventures.

All this was the reason to renew our website which now also will be the new home for this blog. Therefore you will find both the archive and new stories there, and this blog is discontinued. If you want to keep following us, please move with us.

 

Roll’ around Central Europe part 5: Sightseeing on the way home

After the two weeks of relaxing it is time to go home. As we can’t drive it in one go anyway, it offers a lovely opportunity to do some more sightseeing, starting in:

Bratislava

After a lovely drive cross country from Veszprém to Gyor we return to Slovakia to visit its capital city, Bratislava. This is the first time we cross a border where we have to wait a long time in a traffic jam due to all the HGV-traffic. It is not until the centre of the city that we cross the Danube again.

Accommodation

This time we had found a hotel using Tripadvisor. We wanted a hotel in the old centre of town, so we wouldn’t need the car while we were there. We chose the Radisson Blue Carlton. The hotel is right at the edge of the traffic free zone of the old town, but you can reach it by car, and the hotel has it’s own underground parking. The hotel is more expensive than the hotels we usually go for, but as Slovakia is a fairly cheap country it is not that bad. And it has it’s perks too. The whole hotel is airconditioned (lovely, as the temperature is still high) and after checking in a bell boy returns to the car with me and puts all the luggage on a trolley and accompanies us to our room. Afterwards he offers to park the car for me and they keep my car keys at reception so they can bring the car round to the front of the hotel again when we are ready to leave. The people at the reception are very helpful with information about where to go, although they have little idea about the accessibility ofplaces.

The room is on the fourth floor, but you can only use the lift with the room key. The room is quite large and overlooks a lovely garden on the back of the hotel. Although there is a lot of furniture there is still plenty of room to manoeuvre with the wheelchair, and for us both to sit down and relax. The bathroom is very spacious too, with a separate roll in shower, so you don’t have the problem of a wet floor hindering transfers after someone has had a shower. There is a connecting door to the next room, so it might be that this is useful if you bring a carer.
There is a restaurant in the hotel where breakfast is served, but we prefer to have breakfast somewhere in town. The bar with lovely historical features is useful in the afternoon during a thunderstorm.

Excursions

As we are only in town for two nights, we leave for a walk around town as soon as we have settled in. There is a lovely riverside walk along the Danube but we also want to have a first taster of the old town. It is mostly pedestrianised and easy to walk around with a wheelchair, even if it is partly on a slope. The historical quarter is not very large and there is a lovely atmosphere, with a lot of people on the streets, street artists and musicians. There are many squares with lots of restaurants, bars and coffeehouses, all with a terrace outside. We find the restaurant that the receptionist recommended, but unfortunately there is a raised deck for a terrace and there are two steps to get up to it and stairs to get to the restaurant. After complaining a bit about the lack of accessibility the head waiter is willing to look for a solution. There is a table on the side walk near the entrance to the bar. This is not meant for dining guests but for people who only want to have a drink. They are willing to serve us dinner there. Weird that you have to make such a hullaballoo about it, though. Having said that, the food is very good, traditional Slovakian food.

The next day we look at all the historical buildings in more detail, following a walk described in our tourist guide. There is just one street that is cobbled that we can’t avoid. In the end we don’t see everything because of a heavy thunderstorm. We manage to get back to the hotel before it really gets wet. Again the advantage of having a hotel so close to the city centre. We have plans to visit the castle on the hill above the city centre on our way out of town, but get lost in the one way traffic system and decide to leave it for another time.

 

Prague

We leave Bratislava on the road to Brno. Instead of going straight on on the motorway we turn a little to the north here and west later to see more of the Czech countryside. The original idea is to stop in one of the towns in Moravia, but we get stuck in a traffic jam and decide to follow the lead of other drivers and take an alternative route. As I haven’t looked at the map but just follow the GPS I now bypass a lot of the towns I thought we would go through. The drive is lovely though, until we get caught in a horrendous thunderstorm. The disadvantage of this very warm weather we have been having. So just a quick stop for a cup of coffee at a petrol station has to do. Without any further problems we reach our next hotel.

Accommodation

This time we have gone for a hotel in the (to us) familiar chain of B&B hotels. The hotel is not too far from the old city centre of Prague and close to the river and has a garage under the hotel. After unloading the car we check out the room, which is on the 4th floor. As it is a budget hotel we don’t expect a large room with luxury. The room is of an adequate but odd size, as it is in the corner of the building, which isn’t square. So although there is plenty of floor space it is still a tight squeeze to get the wheelchair around the bed, which is necessary for us because my husband can only transfer to the right side of the bed. As usual there is no room under the bed for a hoist, lucky that we don’t use them. The bed is of an average height and reasonably comfortable, although not too wide.
The bathroom is fairly large for a budget hotel and has a roll-in shower with a separate shower seat, all the usual grab rails and a roll under washbasin.
In this instance, breakfast is included in the price so we take it in the hotel. The first evening we ask the receptionist for advice on restaurants near the hotel that are accessible. The first restaurant is up some stairs, so not accessible at all. The second one has an area that is accessible, and an area up some steps, but the waiter is not really willing to work with us. You feel that basically they don’t want a wheelchair in their restaurant, so we leave, to tired to fight it. In the end we find a little restaurant with some tables outside. The food is nice, but sitting on the sidewalk of a busy road less so.

Excursions

Although we have been assured that public transport is accessible we decide to walk into the old centre of Prague, which is quite doable from this hotel. We start off with coffee at the very atmospheric coffee house of Municipal house, with access through the main entrance of Municipal house. We spend all day walking around the old centre, although we have to dodge showers. Of course a lot of streets are cobbled, but it is still nice to see all the old buildings from the central square to the Charles bridge and the jewish quarter. The weather is still good enough to have breaks for coffee and lunch outside, so accessibility is less of an issue. As we are only here for the day we don’t go for musea or the castle area.

On the road to Dresden

The next morning we leave Prague to the north. Just before the border with Germany we leave the motorway to follow the Elbe river and enjoy some of the countryside. We make a short stop for lunch in Königstein and drive by the castle on top of the hill. According to the information there is wheelchair access to the castle, but the weather doesn’t look too good so we decide to drive on. Not long it starts to rain, and continues to do so until we arrive at our next stop.

Accommodation

Again we have chosen a hotel from the B&B chain. The hotel is just outside the centre of the city. It appears to be very busy at the hotel, and the one disabled parking spot is taken by a non-disabled guest. It is by a rear entrance of the hotel that does not open from the outside, which makes loading and unloading a bit tricky. Fortunately the hotel manager is quite helpful. Most guests arriving are told to find parking elsewhere, but we are allowed to keep our car even if there is no parking available. The room is on the ground floor. It is small but adequate, with two single beds. The bathroom is also small but adequate, with a wheel in shower and grabrails all around.

 

Excursions

The first night we try to find a restaurant not too far from the hotel, still dodging showers. When we find one I have to go inside to ask for an accessible entrance, and we have to walk all the way around the building to be able to get in. However, the food and service are excellent.
The next day we walk to the centre (rather me walking and pushing the wheelchair), which is about 10 minutes away. There is a lot to see and do. The tourist information has a very extensive guide with everything wheelchairaccessible in the area. And fortunately most in the city centre is more or less level. Good paving in most areas, although there are some cobbles around as well. It is amazing to see how a lot of the historical buildings have been rebuild, with most having good accessible features, like the little platform lift that takes you into the Frauenkirche. You just have to ring the bell and wait your turn, because they can only let one wheelchair in at a time. We also visit the Zwinger museum, and walk past the Semperoper. We pass the Residential Palace because we don’t want to do more than one museum in a day. The only place we haven’t visited is the Church next to the Palace, because no-one answers the bell at the accessible entrance. At the end of the day we are quite tired and eat somewhere close to the hotel again.

The next day we drive around in Saxony for a bit. The first place we visit is the pleasure palace of Pillnitz. Some lovely buildings and museum, with special wheelchair access, and a lovely park too, although after all the heat we have become used to it is a bit chilly. Although in Germany you technically need a special card stating you are disabled they do let us in for the special rate for the disabled (free for the carer).

Afterwards we drive past the castle at Moritzburg and then go to Meissen, the old city famous for its porcelain. The old city centre and castle are on top of a hill, but fortunately there is a free parking on the road leading up to it with a lift to the castle. The castle itself is accessible, done in a beautiful way letting you explore this historic building without it being obtrusive. You get a special key that operates a lift, which you have to return before you leave. Unfortunately all of the castle hill is cobbled and very uneven, so we walk around as little as possible but have a lovely dinner on the square in front of the castle, although we get caught in a heavy thunderstorm only protected by the parasols.

The last day we leave Dresden early in the morning to make a long stop in Leipzig for breakfast at the famous Café Kandler, after we visit the St Thomas church where Johann Sebastian Bach used to be the main musician and where he is buried. Both the café and the church are accessible, although I don’t see any accessible toilets around. But we are just on the way and don’t need them yet, and there are plenty at one of the many roadside restaurants along the motorway taking us back home. We finish this trip with dinner at the familiar shopping mall Centro at the edge of Oberhausen, which has amazing facilities.

 

Roll’ around Central Europe part 4: Hungary

Moving on, along the Danube

Well relaxed we set off on the next leg of our holiday towards Hungary where we have booked a holiday cottage for a week. Rather than taking the quickest way, along the motorway, we drive cross country to see a bit more of the Slovakian countryside. The roads are fairly good, even if you get on the smaller country roads. We stop once by a petrol station along a short stretch of motorway. There are disabled toilets, but we didn’t use them. When we get closer to the Danube, the land gets flatter and more agricultural.

 

 

We cross the river Danube at Esztergom, not realising until we are on the Hungarian side, that the best view of the city is actually from the Slovakian side, but by then we don’t fancy driving back over the bridge again. We shortly stop by the riverside to look up to the castle and cathedral, but don’t fancy the trek up the hill in the heat. So we continue along the river enjoying the views driving around the bend in the river where it turns south.

 

We stop again a bit later, in the village of Szentendre. Most parking is at the edge of the town, but we find a spot along the river, where there is a nice riverside walk and a lot of restaurants. A nice spot for lunch, in the shade, as it is still very warm. The roads going up from the riverside to the quaint village centre square are very cobbled and steep so I leave my husband by the restaurant while I run into town to get some money from the cashpoint (Hungary doesn’t use the Euro) and to take some photographs.

The road keeps following the Danube right to the centre of Budapest. As we arrive there the road along the river is closed off by the police because there is a flying show with old aeroplanes over the river. That also explains the extensive traffic jams. From Budapest we turn onto the motorway towards lake Balaton and arrive in Balatonvilágos by the end of the afternoon.

Accommodation

The village of Balatonvilágos is one of the first you get to on the south-eastern shore of the famous Lake Balaton. It is squeezed in between the the motorway and the lake shore, in a slightly elevated position above the lake, so it is not easy to walk to the beach from the village. Our holiday cottage is on the motorway side of the village, with just some fields between the house and the motorway, so there is some traffic noise. The noise is both from the motorway itself and the traffic taking a short-cut from the motorway to the lake passing by the house. There are actually two houses situated on the terrain. The owners are staying in the smaller of the two and are arriving later on the same day. The terrain is quite a bit lower than the road in front of it. The owner manages to get up the hill with his handbike, but I don’t fancy pushing my husband up it. The sidewalk is on the same level as the garden, but it is not very wide, so not easy for a wheelchair and there are not always dropped curbs at the streetcorners. There is a village shop and a café a bit down the road, and there is a disabled toilet in the café.

From the garden to the front door there is a bit of a slope again. There is a nice table to eat outside right next to the front door, but then it slopes down quite sharply, so I don’t dare to leave my husband in the wheelchair near the table on his own. The front door first leads to a sort of lean-to sunroom, which is almost completely filled by another dining-room, leaving just enough room for the wheelchair at the head of the table, but that leaves no room for anyone else to pass by. From the sun room there is another door to the living room, which is reasonably large, but quite full with furniture, which makes it cosy, with a sitting area and dining area, but it leaves not a lot of room to manoeuvre with a larger wheelchair.

On the side of the living room are two double bedrooms, both are wheelchairaccessible but in different ways. One has a double standard bed, but with a separate monkeypole, the other has a double bed, but with a profiling bed inside. The front bedroom is on the sunny side of the house and therefore warmer, the other bedroom is slightly cooler. Behind the kitchen is a bathroom, with both a roll in shower and a bath with a hoist. Here again there is quite a lot of furniture in the bathroom making manoeuvring with my husband’s large wheelchair quite difficult.

There is a nice garden around the cottage, but as it is very warm during our stay we don’t sit in the garden much. Also, the garden furniture is a bit low, for someone my age and ability…… So I usually sit at the dining table outside next to the front door, with the sun screen down.

Having said that, it is a lovely cottage and it is certainly accessible. And we were quite lucky to find it after our first reservation fell through just a few months before our holiday because the owners sold the place.

Excursions

Because of the heat we spend quite a bit of time in and around the cottage relaxing, but of course we also want to see a bit of Hungary. So one day we drive all the way around Lake Balaton, using a lakeside road where we can. We stop for coffee in one of the towns on the lakeside, Balatonszàrszò. There is a lovely little park with some bars around it, leading all the way to the lakeside, where we sit for a while in the shade enjoying the views. There are even public disabled toilet facilities.

Later we stop again on the north shore in the village of Tihany. Even this early in the season it is quite busy with tourists in town, but we manage to find one of the few disabled parking spots in the centre, while it isn’t blocked by the tourist train. We don’t fancy walking up to the church but do walk around town a bit. We also have a late lunch.

Another day we drive to the old capital city of Székesfehérvár. At first it is difficult to find disabled parking facilities, but after we find the tourist information they show us where to find a suitable parking spot. I leave my husband drinking coffee and move the car. Afterwards we have a lovely walk around town. Some streets are cobbled and difficult to handle, but other streets are pedestrianised and have lovely paving. It is obvious that a lot of renovation is going on, but there is already a lot to see and do.

Of course you can’t go to Hungary without going to Budapest. It is just over an hour from our cottage, but worth it.  We decide to start off in the old city of Buda, assuming there must be disabled parking facilities near the famous Matthias church. Traffic into town is extremely difficult, very busy, and that doesn’t change all day, but we find the road to the citadel. At a certain point there is a barrier over the road and the signs by the barrier are only in Hungarian. From the corner of my eye I see there is a parking site around the corner and there is a disabled spot available so we leave the car here. We later find out that the barrier over the road is there because there is paid parking all over the citadel. Our solution is very convenient and free. Close to where we are parked there is a lift going up to the citadel. The roads in the citadel are cobbled, but the sidewalks are fine. We walk towards the Matthias church which has wheelchair access through the entrance. However you have to get tickets first which are available at the other side of the square (special rates for disabled access). Parts of the church are on different levels with steps, but most of it is accessible. We have to leave through the entrance door which is swiftly cleared when I approach with the wheelchair.
Afterwards we have lunch under the trees on the other side of the square, but there are loads of nice places around. After lunch we visit the tourist information centre that has a lot of information about accessibility around the city. However, the heat has made us lazy. We have a look at the views from the fisherman’s bastion and walk around a bit.
The plan afterwards is to take the car to the City Park in Pest and walk around there. However we get stuck in traffic and by the time we get to the Park we don’t really have a lot of time and energy left to walk around so we leave that to the next time.

The last excursion is when we are on the road for the next part of our tour. On the way from lake Balaton to Bratislava we stop for lunch and a walk round in Veszprém. After driving around a bit in the centre of town we find a perfect parking spot on a square just under Veszprém Castle. Lovely restaurants around the square where we can sit outside and enjoy some lunch. As the road to the castle is again very cobbled and looks fairly steep my husband decides to stay at the restaurant while I have a quick run around the Castle area which is surprisingly large with many references to Maria Theresia and Sissi. Renovations have been started but a lot more is still needed. Lovely views from the castle hill.

Roll’ around Central Europe part 3: Slovakia

The idea for this tour around Central Europe more or less started when friends told us about the possibilities for spa holidays in Slovakia. Being a full time carer plays havoc on my muscles and I quite liked the idea of a week relaxing those muscles and being pampered. It turned out to be a bit more difficult to organize a spa trip with someone in a wheelchair. But with the help of the friend who sometimes sent mails in Slovak, and with the help of the Slovakian organisation of the disabled we found a place to go to.

Piešťany

It is an old Spa town, with many hotels offering spa facilities. According to the tourist guides even Beethoven came here to take the waters. The main spa centre is on an island in the river near the centre of the town. A lot of buildings here have Art Nouveau influences.

Accommodation

We are staying in the Hotel Maj, which is more on the outside edge of the town. Most of the staff at reception speak a bit of German, but English is more of a problem, although all emails beforehand were in English. The hotel looks a bit like past glory, with a definite hint of Eastern Block. Access to the main hall is good. There are a few parking spots near the hotel reserved for disabled drivers. However, a disabled passenger can’t get out of the car in these spots, so you have to load and unload in front of the front door and park afterwards.

Our room is on the first floor, with a lift to all floors. The room is of adequate size, although I have to move some furniture around to be able to get the wheelchair next to the bed. Fortunately there was furniture to move, because the beds could not be moved, and again no room under the bed if a hoist had been necessary. There is a small balcony, but this is not accessible. The bathroom is definitely small, the grabrails next to the toilet are not very solid. Fortunately there are larger disabled toilets on the ground floor. However, they are in with the normal toilets, so either I as a carer have to walk into the men’s toilets, or I have to take my husband into the women’s toilets.

The spa arrangement includes breakfast and dinner and two treatments a day. It is possible to add more treatments to the plan if you want to pay extra. The first few days we spend in and around the hotel. Nice and restful. We spend a lot of time in the bar as that is the only room that is permanently air conditioned, and temperatures are still quite high. The food is not especially good, but not very bad either. Drinks in the bar are relatively cheap. We start the week with a meeting with the Spa doctor, one of the few people in the hotel who speaks English very well. She seems very capable when we discuss my husband’s health situation and the possibilities they have in providing him with treatments. She composes a very nice treatment plan for him, which is mainly aimed at providing some soothing treatments to his shoulders and the paralyzed arm, and to alleviate the spasms he has in this arm and hand. It also means I don’t have to transfer him constantly in and out of his wheelchair, as they don’t seem to have hoists. As we are both in her consulting room she then proceeds in adapting my treatment plan as well so it is even more fitting to my needs. The only problem that remains is that my first treatment starts every day at 7.30 and I have to get my husband out of bed before that, so it is rising early. As it turns out, that is also nice considering the temperature outside. To give you an idea of the treatments: I start every day with a Pilates class of 20 minutes, and then have massages (traditional or with machines), mud wraps, bubble baths, etc. And of course I have free access to the pool so I go swimming every day. The pool is not accessible, but then my husband finds going into the pool too much of a hassle even if he enjoys being in the water.
Anyway it is a nice way to relax after the city trips in Austria.

Excursions

Of course we can’t stay here for a full week without seeing anything of the area. So we visit the town centre one day. It is busy in town, so all the disabled parking spots are taken and we have to park in a garage in a shopping centre, which is payed parking. There is a lift to the ground floor, but then you have to exit the shopping centre through a revolving door with a carpeted floor which is not easy with a wheelchair. A large part of the city centre is pedestrianised with more or less flat tiles. Plenty of shops and cafés.

We also cross the pedestrian bridge to the Spa island, which is a very green and pleasant area. Afterwards we visit the local museum which is very interesting even if it is small. It shows some of the very interesting archaeological finds from the area, although most of them are in a museum in Bratislava because they are very old.

Twice we go out for a bit of a drive in the area to see what it is like, and it is quite nice, rolling hills, nice views. There are lots of old castles and we drive around two of them: Bojnice and Beckov. And of course we see a lot of the countryside when we travel cross country to our next destination.

Accessibility on England’s South Coast 2016

Exploring boundaries

When we go on holiday we like to keep exploring our boundaries. The boundaries of what we can do despite the wheelchair and the braindamage. Little did I know at the time of planning this holiday that new boundaries would jump up!

Up until now I always tried to plan in enough rest around us so J could recover from all the impressions. This is easiest if you are staying in self-catering accommodation in a quiet area. As he is still getting stronger every year I noticed he needs less and less recovery time. So when we decided we wanted to explore the South Coast this year we also decided to try if staying in more than just two different holiday accommodations was a possibility. If we wanted to see all of the South Coast without having to drive longer distances between the accommodations that is. It meant a lot more planning, trying to find hotels and B&B’s with accessible rooms that were available one after the other. So less room for sudden changes towards the start of our holiday like we had last year! And then we had a sudden change 3 weeks before the holiday when I landed in hospital myself, with heart trouble. Fortunately we could still go, even if I had to take it easier.

In this blog I will tell you about all the different accommodations we stayed in.

On the road: De Panne, Belgium

To make the first day in England a true part of the holiday we had to cross the Channel Tunnel reasonably early. As it is still between 3 and 4 hours drive from our house we booked a hotel on the Belgian coast, close to the French border. For this I used the brochure about accessibility of the Flanders coast. We stayed in the Hotel aan Zee in De Panne. It was located on a square not too far from the seafront. Unfortunately, the square was cobbled, even the disabled parking spaces, which were on the other side of the square. To get into the hotel you had to go through a very narrow hallway to a small lift, which just took the wheelchair, I had to squeeze in, and take the luggage on another run. The room was small and rustic. I could just get the wheelchair in, and I couldn’t get it around the bed, so J had to sleep on the ‘wrong’ side of the bed, which made transfers a bit more difficult, especially since the table on that side could not be moved. There were no other chairs in the room, so I could only sit on the bed, as it was far too cold to sit on the balcony. The bathroom was adequate for our needs. I don’t think this hotel room would have suited someone in an electric wheelchair. The breakfast the next morning was excellent.

Still on the road: Hastings

After a fairly uneventful crossing of the Channel Tunnel we started on our Coastal discovery tour. I had been wondering what the facilities were for wheelchairusers on the train through the tunnel. Basically you get a place right at the front or the back of the train to make disembarkation easier in case of emergency. Not that we needed anything.

The first stop we made (after several touristy visits during the day) was in Hastings. As we wanted to visit several attractions around Hastings we booked into the Travelodge Hotel for two nights. This hotel has one wheelchairaccessible room which is perfectly adequate. The only problems are that there are only two disabled parkings spots in front of the hotel, which were almost always in use. Also you had to go through two doors quickly after each other to get into the room. It is quite difficult to hold these doors open and push the wheelchair through at the same time. Fortunately there were usually people around to lend a helping hand. The room is immediately next to the reception area, making it easy to reach. There was plenty of room to move around the beds with the wheelchair and the bathroom was reasonably large as well. However, as is the case with a lot of wheelchair accessible bathrooms, the people designing it apparently think you need to be able to wash your hands whilst sitting on the toilet. Not realising that this impedes transfers to and from the wheelchair……

The hotel is not far from the seafront and the centre of Hastings. However, it is quite a way uphill, so we needed the car to get into Hastings. As it wasn’t high season yet, there were plenty of (disabled) parking opportunities along the seafront.

Relaxing in West Sussex

After this first stop we continued along the Sussex coast westwards. We soon found out that at most places along the coast you will have to pay for parking, even in a blue badge spot. Usually it is pay and display, which is a bother if you have paid only then to find out that the area you are visiting is not really accessible for a wheelchair, so you leave within 5 minutes. Quite often you have to pay for a minimum of 2 or 3 hours at once….

We continued to the lovely Chichester Harbour area, west of Chichester. Here we had booked self catering accommodation at Canute Cottages. We were staying in Granary cottage, one of the four cottages around a courtyard almost at the end of a private farm road. The owner, Diana, received us personally. She went round the cottage with me, discussing possibilities of changing things around so it would suit our needs. She even found a solution for attaching a monkeypole on a chain from the rafters. We had to move the big double bed so J could reach the monkeypole, but it made things easier for him. Not necessarily for me, as there was less room left to manoeuvre the wheelchair around the bedroom. Fortunately, there were two bedrooms, so I could use the other one giving us both some rest. Both bedrooms opened to the hallway, which also leads to the bathroom and spaceous living room. I left the shower chair in the barn until we wanted to use it, as it would have taken up a lot of room in the bathroom, which was just large enough for our needs.

There are plenty of things to do around the cottages, although we didn’t try any of the accessible walks. We just didn’t have enough time for everything we wanted to do. We really enjoyed a trip around the harbour on a chairboat, though. 

Summer in Somerset?

In moving South West we had been expecting nice summer weather, but were a bit disappointed, and not only in the weather…… We started with a hotel near Wells, at Wookey Hole. I found it googling for wheelchair accessible hotels. When I booked it, almost 11 months before we were setting off on this holiday, I had mentioned that I needed a bathroom with a roll in shower rather than a bath, and that we would like a twin bedded set up. So I was unpleasantly surprised when just two weeks before we were setting off I received an email stating that they had only just then found out I needed a wetroom, and that this room was no longer available. Kicking up a fuss didn’t help, so we had to settle for a bathroom with a bath, with no shower. Not nice if you are staying in this hotel for 5 nights….. Okay, they did give me a discount, but still. As you can see, the washbasin is again blocking transfers to the toilet. It was also so low that even J had to bend down from the wheelchair. On the whole, the hotel was perfectly adequate, the room was reasonably large with enough room to manoeuvre. There were also nice chairs for me to sit in, if we came back to the room early. The room was on the ground floor at the end of a corridor, which was nice, because in the weekend the hotel is quite full with families with children visiting Wookey Hole, so the room was relatively quiet. Unfortunately, the staff tended to stand in the courtyard in front of our room smoking their cigarettes, so we couldn’t keep the window open. Access to the hotel was a bit difficult too. The disabled parking bays were situated close to the entrance of Wookey Hole, so a bit further from the entrance to the hotel. Also, there were not enough of them. Usually they would all be taken when we arrived. The incline of the parking area was quite steep. There was a ramp to the front door, but trying to handle the door while pushing a wheelchair was difficult. As the hotel was quite busy, there were often people there to lend a helping hand, though. The staff was mostly very friendly. As the pub in the village wasn’t accessible we sometimes ate in the hotel. Food was reasonably good.

Moving further west, the next stop was in Ilfracombe, on the North Devon coast. Here I found a B&B called Epchris House, were we stayed for three nights. Although it wasn’t far from the centre of town, from looking at Google Street View I had already realised that we needed the car to actually get into town, because the road was on a fairly steep hill, and the pavement not very wide. And of course, paid parking everywhere, certainly until 6 o’clock. Not only was the road steep, the access road was also quite steep. Fortunately, we had a reserved parking space right in front of the front door. Our suite of rooms was located on the ground floor, with our private access door from the patio overlooking the terraced gardens. The suite consisted of two adjoining bedrooms and a smallish bathroom. There was a double door to get into the room, but the door was halfway down the bed in the first bedroom, and it was tricky to manoeuvre the wheelchair around the bed to get to the other bedroom and through that one to the bathroom. There was hardly anywhere to sit in the wheelchair to be able to watch the television. In the end I moved the bed in the second bedroom to one side to create just enough room to get the wheelchair next to it, but that meant no access to the chair and the fridge in the corner, and also the door couldn’t be shut anymore. So for once I had the nice double bed, being able to watch tv from bed. But it meant J had a bed that was more comfortable for him because his feet wouldn’t touch the bottom of the bed. Although it rained a couple of times, we always managed to get to the breakfast room without getting wet, as we had to cross the patio to get there, and get in through the patio doors. Breakfast here was excellent, although it meant having to get up quite early for us. One morning after breakfast is was nice and sunny so we relaxed and enjoyed the view of the valley from the patio. Pity it wasn’t warm enough to try the pool.

West Country

From Ilfracombe we followed the road along the North Coast of Devon and Cornwall almost to Newquay, where we crossed to the South Coast. We stayed in the Chapel Guest House in Carthew near St Austell where the owners Chris and Wendy received us. First we discussed how I would like to use the room and while we were enjoying a cup of tea in the dining room they moved the furniture around accordingly, leaving us a room with a lot of room to manoeuvre the wheelchair in and where we could stay very comfortably for the four nights we booked. Nice to find some people who listen to you carefully and then come up with a very workable solution. Unfortunately (for us visitors) they wish to retire and sell the business. The bathroom was adequate, although a bit tight. Also getting through the doorways was a bit tight, but just manageable. Our bedroom was the only one on the ground floor, which didn’t really look like a chapel. I am sure the rooms upstairs had more of that character. The guesthouse is on a fairly busy road up a hill, so walking to the village was out of the question. In the end we usually had a big lunch on the road and brought sandwiches back to the room for tea. Be warned that if you drive around in the West Country it is better to use maps than a SatNav if you want to avoid the narrow and steep country roads! Visiting the picturesque coastal villages can also be a problem, as you usually have to park at the top of the hill and then walk down. However, at Tintagel there is a hill across the bay overlooking the castle where you can park so we could still have a look.

To the Jurassic  Coast

To be able to visit a few places on the road back east we decided to break our journey for one night. It turned out to be quite difficult to find suitable accommodation for just the one night. Quite a few guesthouses didn’t want us to stay for just one night. In the end I found a guesthouse in Teignmouth called The Thornhill. It is right on the seafront, but still a bit difficult to find in the car. The entrance to the hotel was not very easy. Up two ramps which are at an angle with no room to turn the chair around. The corridor inside was not very wide either, and we had to get around two corners too. The room was quite spacious, the bathroom quite small. It did have a roll in shower, a washbasin and a toilet, but I had to leave the wheelchair standing in the door and make the transfer from there to the toilet. And of course, the washbasin was hindering the transfer again. Then again, if it is only for one night, you don’t mind as much. There were quite a few restaurants on the seafront, so along a road more or less level. However, most of them seemed to be fully booked, even if it was a Wednesday. So in the end we had to walk a bit further than we would have liked.

The last guesthouse we stayed in (for five nights) was in Weymouth. Oaklands Guesthouse is not far from the seafront, but it is uphill. I didn’t see that on Google Streetview, so I was a bit disappointed I needed the car to get into town, especially since parking in Weymouth is far from easy, even with a blue badge. Also, walking around town with a wheelchair leads to some ‘interesting’ obstacles. The owners of the guesthouse, Mike and Jenny, are very friendly and willing to supply you with advice on all kinds of matters. They had reserved a parking spot in front of the door for us. Still, the slope in front of the door was causing some problems for us with the transfers. The wide front door leads to a spacious hallway. However, the corridor at the end is quite narrow, so making the corners to get through the doors to the hallway, the room or the breakfast room was quite difficult. I am afraid the paintwork on the doorposts suffered. I am told they have had guests in electric wheelchairs too, but I wonder how they managed the turns. The bedroom was just big enough for us, but the bathroom was by far the largest we saw during this trip. And low and behold, enough room around the toilet! We could have stayed here much longer as there is so much to see and do. We also had one of the more interesting trips of this holiday, thanks to Mike. He advised us to take the steamtrain into Swanage. This made parking much easier, and the facilities on board were great. One carriage had all the seating taken out of it and a wider door. The guard puts a ramp at the door as soon as he sees a wheelchair on the platform and helps you on and off board.

On the way back home

For the last night we booked into Travelodge again. This time in Maidstone. Close enough to the Channel Tunnel, but with enough possibilities to visit things on the last day. The bad weather on the road made the distance from Weymouth a bit longer, so we didn’t get to see Maidstone itself. We were too tired and didn’t fancy seeing it in the rain. Again, there were not a lot of disabled parking spaces. I had to unload the luggage and then drive around Asda to park. Not so nice when it is raining. Also, this time our room was not on the ground floor but on the fourth floor. However, the reception assistant immediately offered to help me get the luggage upstairs when she saw me struggle. The room was an interesting shape, because of the curved outside wall. It also made the room quite spacious. The bathroom was at the end of the room and again adequate. Because of the weather again we ate in the hotel, but the breakfast the next morning we had on the road.

Lessons learned

So what did we learn from exploring our boundaries? That bathrooms in B&B’s are usually smaller than in self-catering accommodation. That we don’t like having to get up at a certain time to make it in time for breakfast. And also that you always have to get out of the room during the day, whereas in self-catering you can take a rest day, get up late and only do something in the afternoon.

All that doesn’t mean it was all bad. Not even the weather. We had a great holiday again, and saw a lot! Some places are better accessible than others, especially since pushing the wheelchair up and down steep hills is getting more of a problem for me. It is great to see that some historic properties manage to organize wheelchairaccess. Like the lift in Winchester cathedral, like Arlington Court in Devon with a separate entrance. We also enjoyed all the facilities at the Eden Project, although the incline of the path in the Subtropical Rainforest was too steep for me, in combination with the climate. But I won’t tell you about all the things we saw, that would make this blog far too long, which it already is.