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GLOBETROTTING
Recently, one of the LIGHT Center staff members flew the
coop and headed to Europe for vacation. Upon his return we were all
anxious to here about his adventures. It was interesting to note that one
of his observations surrounded the lack of accessibility to people with
disabilities evident in many of the locations he visited. I asked if he
would be willing to write something for the newsletter outlining his
experiences and observations, and he was kind enough to do so. So, here
are the observations of Vinnie Peloso.
- Last month I went to Europe for the first time on a
group tour sponsored by Grand Circle Travel, a U.S. Tour company aimed
at senior citizens. While I am not a senior citizen, my wife and I
accompanied my parents who are indeed seniors. We visited four
countries: Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary staying a
total of eighteen days in four cities including Warsaw, Krakow, Prague
and Budapest.
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- I may have been one of the youngest of the forty or
so members in our group, but I was hardly the most active. I can
vividly recall once deliberately walking fast up to the castle on top
of a Hungarian hill to see the view because our guide had said the bus
would be leaving in fifteen minutes, only to find my pace more than
matched by the almost eighty year old woman at my side. And this was
right after lunch! Most of the time, however, we all proceeded at a
more sedate pace. The Tour Company had made it clear from the
beginning that this was a tour for "those in good shape" and
that "extensive walking would be involved". What they didn’t
explain, and I didn’t anticipate, were the conditions under which we
would walk.
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- Europe may be many things, but one thing it’s not
is accessible. At least to the extent that I have become used to
thinking of when I think of accessibility. First there are
cobblestones. Picturesque, quaint, charming and beautiful, cobblestone
streets and squares are, of course, one of the reasons we all travel
for, one of the features that makes life so different "over
there". But one day, in Hungary again, I borrowed a wheelchair
(readily available from the front desk at the hotel) so that my
mother, who is experiencing some health problems, could join our day
trip to Szentendre. Have you ever tried to push a wheelchair up a
cobblestoned hill? Believe me, it’s no fun for either the one
pushing or the one being pushed.
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- In addition to the ubiquitous cobble, I don’t
recall seeing any curb cuts in any of these cities. And although my
wife did notice two other wheelchair users during our trip, both of
them had someone with them. It would be almost impossible for a
wheelchair user to travel in any of these cities unattended. None of
the public buses or trolleys I saw had the means to accommodate
chairs. There were no elevators into Prague or Budapest subways. Even
the elevators in the hotels were small; some so narrow a chair user
could not turn around. And although there are escalators leading down
from the street into both the Prague and Budapest subway stations,
both systems ran at warp speed, dangerous for all but the most agile
and attentive passenger.
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- Of course, I appreciated all the public restrooms I
found, but none could accommodate a chair. Nor did I see any Braille
anywhere, although Prague did have "talking" traffic lights
that changed pitch and speed for both red and green.
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- All in the entire trip made me realize how much we
have done about accessibility in the U.S. in such a short time. But it
also prompts me to wonder about the future of accommodations. If a
corporation can challenge a country’s environmental laws in
international court as a violation to trade agreements, can the also
challenge a country’s accessibility laws? Or conversely, can a
disable person claim cobblestones are restricting her/his
international rights? What standards will be adopted? How will
accessibility be defined in the global village?
Quotation of the Week
What is a friend? A single soul
dwelling in two bodies. -- Aristotle
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