Our next adventure involved driving to the English Channel, pulling onto the Chunnel, riding the Chunnel under the channel, then popping out into England! We drove all the way to London on the left side of the road.
When we reached London, we went straight to our hotel, the Royal Air Force Hotel and unpacked. The room was amazing, and the bathroom was almost as big as our room! I am so glad that my uncle booked us a handicap room, as in his room, the bathroom was long, skinny and up two steps.
The first day that we were in London it just so happened to be Canadian Day. Thousands of people were there to celebrate this day, so the area near the Canadian Embassy was packed with a plethora of bodies. I was in my manual chair, so I was not able to control my whereabouts. I hated being pushed through so many people, definitely since my eyes are at butt level. I got overwhelmed, and soon after leaving the hotel to explore the city, all I wanted to do was return to my room.
We did make our way back to the hotel, but not before a man cut me off and my uncle accidentally clipped the man's heals. This man was so rude; he turned around and started to chew me out. He told me that I needed to watch where I was going. My uncle and my mom returned the earful, he quickly retreated and we kept on walking.
When we reached the block our hotel was on, we could see the flickering glow of fire licking a building. While we were out exploring, the Hilton (the hotel one block behind ours) had caught on fire. At this point I honestly felt like crying; tired, overwhelmed, and hungry, all I wanted at that moment was to be in a quiet, still place, and eat something.
We thought it would be a good idea to eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which happened to be next door to our hotel. However, there was a swarm of people outside the cafe as well; everyone in London had the same idea as us. So, we just decided to eat in the restaurant on the first floor of our hotel. This was totally fine in my opinion, as there where way too many people at the Hard Rock Cafe for my liking, and we could eat there the next night.
While we were eating dinner at the Royal Air Force Hotel restaurant, I overheard an older gentleman order three glasses of champagne. I thought "that's weird, why not just order a bottle," but then to our surprise, the three glasses of bubbly wine showed up at our table. I had never tasted champagne before; it was so smooth and I loved it.
We thanked the man who gifted us with the champagne, and then we continued to talk with him. He told us that every time he had traveled to America, he always felt welcome. He wanted to return the favor and welcome us to England. He went on to say that he had a desk job in Afghanistan, and every month he would return to London for a weekend. He asked me how I liked Europe, and was curious/impressed about my traveling. When this man was finished with his meal, I watched him walk off, and it was obvious that he was an amputee. We had a great conversation, and I am so thankful that I met that generous man. He totally made my day!
The next day, we walked a lot. It was Gay Pride Day, and there were thousands more people celebrating this day. Many of the main streets were blocked off due to a parade, so it was not worth it to pay the 20 some pounds a person to ride a tour bus that was only able to travel a couple of blocks. Needless to say, we walked all day and still did not make it to the famous London Bridge.
We did however stride through Green Park to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guard, Big Ben, West Minster, and the London Eye. The next day, we walked through Hyde Park to Princess Diana's house. On the way there, we saw the memorial for all the people that died in the 2005 London Subway bombing, the gates to Notting Hill, as well as, an area where people can stand on their "soap box" and talk about anything they wish.
I liked exploring London the latter days of the trip, it was more fun and less overwhelming. I wish we would have been able to ride the London Eye but it was super expensive. Well, come to think of it, everything in London (to my knowledge), is super expensive! When we were venturing through London, we finally found a Starbucks that was not in an airport! Us Western Washingtonians love our coffee and definitely our Starbucks! So when we finally found one (like three days before we were to come home), we were thrilled. So of course we bought one; but come to find out, it was going to cost us about seven dollars for my green tea and about 12 dollars for my mom's foofy coffee drink. Now, it actually was three pounds and 6 pounds, but then double to covert pounds to US dollars.
Starbucks was not the only place I found overpriced tea. We went to High Tea: filled up on tea and scones smothered in clotted cream. The best way I can describe clotted cream is a sweet butter-like spread that is even more creamy and smooth. The next morning, my mom found herself in an embarrassing situation when she asked for clotted cream for her toast. Our waiter obviously offended, sophisticatedly told us that they only serve clotted cream with scones at High Tea.
For the most part, London was pretty accessible (not including the sea of butts that continuously got in the way). I found a couple places that would be impossible to enter in a power chair, one of which includes a Starbucks, that has stairs up from the street, and then back down to the main sitting area. Something that I did notice is at the "indoor" malls (shops that line an indoor hall way that stretches from on parallel street to the other); at the entrances there would be a step up. Most of the time, a wedge would be shoved up against the stair, so a wheelchair user can access the shops a little easier.
When we were by the London Eye, we came across an upside- down purple cow. A children's play area with oversized blocks and a giant connect four game surrounded the cow. The bathrooms for this area was located on the backside of the cow. We learned that many of the handicap bathrooms in London (including the cow bathroom) are locked and if you live there, a key is available for easy access. As we do not live in London, we were not able to utilize the handicap bathroom and the able bodied bathrooms were located up a couple skinny steps, through a narrow door and on top of that, the bathroom was super tiny. Fortunately for us, a lady went and searched out a worker to open the bathroom for us.
Later that night, we did get to eat at the Hark Rock Cafe; the original I might add. I had my first mojito and boy was it good. The waitress did not even card me (and I never was except once on the base). The funny thing about this is (well more of just a culture difference) the next day when I returned home to America, I went to Applebee's with my family and I was asked if I wanted a kids menu!
After our adventurous time in England, we drove all the way back to Brussels, packed up all our cloths and everything else acquired along our journey (including Belgium Chocolate and snow globes from all four countries), and then went to bed. Early the next morning, we got up and climbed right back into my uncle's car. We made the mistake of thinking that we could easily fly in and out of Frankfort, Germany. We did not realize how far Brussels to Frankfort really is. So thank you to those of you who drove us back to the Frankfort airport. And thank you to our "going away party". I love that you all showed up at the air port; it was such a nice surprise! I love my awesome family.
Including the England and Frankfort road trips, we did a lot of driving while we were in Europe. We did travel on the Autobahn through Germany and come to find out, there is a speed limit posted for some sections of express way. Another piece of information that I found out while traveling on the Autobahn and other routes throughout Europe is the rest stops do NOT have toilet seats. So, if you are unable to squat over the metal hole, do not use the rest stops. However, there are handicap bathrooms in all the gas stations (at least all the ones we stopped at). We did have to ask for a key, but there were two bonuses to using the handicap bathroom; my mom and I did not have to pay, and the bathrooms were way cleaner than the rest stops.When we reached London, we went straight to our hotel, the Royal Air Force Hotel and unpacked. The room was amazing, and the bathroom was almost as big as our room! I am so glad that my uncle booked us a handicap room, as in his room, the bathroom was long, skinny and up two steps.
The first day that we were in London it just so happened to be Canadian Day. Thousands of people were there to celebrate this day, so the area near the Canadian Embassy was packed with a plethora of bodies. I was in my manual chair, so I was not able to control my whereabouts. I hated being pushed through so many people, definitely since my eyes are at butt level. I got overwhelmed, and soon after leaving the hotel to explore the city, all I wanted to do was return to my room.
We did make our way back to the hotel, but not before a man cut me off and my uncle accidentally clipped the man's heals. This man was so rude; he turned around and started to chew me out. He told me that I needed to watch where I was going. My uncle and my mom returned the earful, he quickly retreated and we kept on walking.
When we reached the block our hotel was on, we could see the flickering glow of fire licking a building. While we were out exploring, the Hilton (the hotel one block behind ours) had caught on fire. At this point I honestly felt like crying; tired, overwhelmed, and hungry, all I wanted at that moment was to be in a quiet, still place, and eat something.
We thought it would be a good idea to eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which happened to be next door to our hotel. However, there was a swarm of people outside the cafe as well; everyone in London had the same idea as us. So, we just decided to eat in the restaurant on the first floor of our hotel. This was totally fine in my opinion, as there where way too many people at the Hard Rock Cafe for my liking, and we could eat there the next night.
While we were eating dinner at the Royal Air Force Hotel restaurant, I overheard an older gentleman order three glasses of champagne. I thought "that's weird, why not just order a bottle," but then to our surprise, the three glasses of bubbly wine showed up at our table. I had never tasted champagne before; it was so smooth and I loved it.
We thanked the man who gifted us with the champagne, and then we continued to talk with him. He told us that every time he had traveled to America, he always felt welcome. He wanted to return the favor and welcome us to England. He went on to say that he had a desk job in Afghanistan, and every month he would return to London for a weekend. He asked me how I liked Europe, and was curious/impressed about my traveling. When this man was finished with his meal, I watched him walk off, and it was obvious that he was an amputee. We had a great conversation, and I am so thankful that I met that generous man. He totally made my day!
The next day, we walked a lot. It was Gay Pride Day, and there were thousands more people celebrating this day. Many of the main streets were blocked off due to a parade, so it was not worth it to pay the 20 some pounds a person to ride a tour bus that was only able to travel a couple of blocks. Needless to say, we walked all day and still did not make it to the famous London Bridge.
Mom and I walking down the middle of the street
Mom infront of a London bus that we did not ride
Mom and I infront of Big Ben
Mom and I with the London Eye behind us (to the left)
Me infront of the garden at Princess Diana's house
Starbucks in London
Me at High Tea
When we were by the London Eye, we came across an upside- down purple cow. A children's play area with oversized blocks and a giant connect four game surrounded the cow. The bathrooms for this area was located on the backside of the cow. We learned that many of the handicap bathrooms in London (including the cow bathroom) are locked and if you live there, a key is available for easy access. As we do not live in London, we were not able to utilize the handicap bathroom and the able bodied bathrooms were located up a couple skinny steps, through a narrow door and on top of that, the bathroom was super tiny. Fortunately for us, a lady went and searched out a worker to open the bathroom for us.
The upside-down purple cow
After our adventurous time in England, we drove all the way back to Brussels, packed up all our cloths and everything else acquired along our journey (including Belgium Chocolate and snow globes from all four countries), and then went to bed. Early the next morning, we got up and climbed right back into my uncle's car. We made the mistake of thinking that we could easily fly in and out of Frankfort, Germany. We did not realize how far Brussels to Frankfort really is. So thank you to those of you who drove us back to the Frankfort airport. And thank you to our "going away party". I love that you all showed up at the air port; it was such a nice surprise! I love my awesome family.
I had a splendid time in Europe; trials and all! I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to go on such a wonderful trip. I learned so much about culture, history, and about accessibility throughout North Western Europe. As a Political Science/Social Studies nerd and Disabilities Advocate, I was totally in my element! Thank you to my mom, uncle and to everyone else who made this trip possible.
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