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Report from the Road (Part 1) - A Few Stories - August 2012 Newsletter
Greetings from the road! My wife Tiffany and I are just finishing up our 12 day Mediterranean cruise and have learned a whole lot about accessibility in the 10 ports that we visited. For the next 3 newsletters, I’ll give you a few stories, a few things we learned, and a few pictures from the road!
Report from the Road Part 1 – A Few Stories
So you were the reason 4800 people were delayed
When we visited Mykonos, we were fortunate enough that the cruise staff allowed me and my manual wheelchair to take the tender to shore. Only one of the tenders was wheelchair accessible, so Tiffany and I were put on it for our return to the ship. About halfway back to the ship, the steering controls broke and we were adrift at sea! Another tender had to tow us to the ship, and 4800 people were delayed leaving Mykonos….due to the two of us!
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Who opened the floodgates?
While riding the accessible tram back to the cruise ship in Istanbul, the skies opened up. In the first minute that we got off the tram, we were already drenched. Rolling over uneven ground is difficult, but even more so when it’s covered by about a foot of water!
Accessible beaches!
Wheelchair accessible beaches are rare, but Paradise Beach in Mykonos and several beaches in Barcelona had wheelchair accessible wooden walkways. Swimming in the Aegean Sea and beating the heat was awesome!
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Naples has more accessible excursion options that anywhere
Naples has so many accessible excursion options, that I can’t wait to go back! From Naples, you can easily visit any two of the following accessible sights in a single day….which makes for some great options: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples Old City, Naples Archaeological Museum, Mt. Vesuvius, Sorrento, and Capri
Herculaneum is better than Pompeii
Although Pompeii is about 10 times bigger than Herculaneum (and far more famous), Herculaneum actually has far more for disabled visitors to see. I’m always up for trying some challenging terrain, but the vast majority of Pompeii simply can not be rolled over because of enormous cobblestones, stairs, and huge steps (shown in the photo below). Arriving at accessible Herculaneum was a great relief!
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Next month: Part 2 – Working Vacation?
We’ve spent thousands of hours researching accessibility across Europe. If you’d like us to help plan your trip, please contact me at john@sagetraveling.com.
Travel Wisely,
John Sage, Founder and President of Sage Traveling
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