My travels in Barcelona July/August 2010

At Barcelona airport

Waiting for a maxi taxi.

Travelling around

Thinking of going for a swim

Working

Dancing around in Barcelona

Late last year a friend of mine asked me if I would be interested in going to a communication conference overseas. I went to a conference in Canberra in April. 17 months ago to fill in for a friend of mine who couldn’t go, because of other work reasons, and it was a good experience for me. So my friend asked me again, after a few months of wondering whether to go, or not get the experience of being at another communication conference. I made up my mind back in January this year.
As I had finally made up my mind I had to ask one of my helpers. I had two in mind and Mark was the lucky one to go with me. In March we decided to visit a few travel agents to get the best buy and the best deals,, we decided to go with Escape Travel, and we were introduced to Jade Webb, who seemed to know what she was doing at first by looking at a one stop direct flight, without stopping over a few countries along the way as most of the other travel agents did, and the costing as well.
As, I had to cover the cost, of two people instead, of one like everybody else does. I applied for some sponsors, but I didn’t get anything from all the different companies, groups and councils, that I wrote to, only some money off Bayswater Rotary, which was $250 which is enough to cover the cost of getting in and out to the Melbourne airport from the Eastern side of Melbourne and to the hotel in Barcelona. As I’m a pensioner it is an expensive trip. But worth it.
Although my travel agent was friendly, she didn’t know about travelling overseas with an electric wheelchair, and being disabled what medical certificates I needed to have, and when to have them ready. It was very stressful getting forms filled out by my doctor, as some things were missed and I had to go back several times.
The medical letter, had to be repeated again, as it needs to be done within 3 weeks of travel not months. I didn’t find out if the aircraft would accept me for travel until 3 days before flying out. The agent also assumed the wheelchair was going on the plane and not in cargo as I had thought. She said I would have to pay extra to put it in cargo. About $1000. She said they take chairs out for it to fit in the plane .Ha Ha silly girl.
On the 21st of July, my carer Mark and I got a taxi from my place, to go to Melbourne airport in thinking we didn’t know what we will be in for. We went to book our seats on the aircraft early, in doing this they gave us three seats, which we were greatly happy about as we had more room than we had expected, as it was a long flight over to Barcelona.
Before we went on the plane, we bought some alcohol for mum and dad on our return and then as we had a couple of hours to spare, we had a drink to farewell Melbourne for the next ten days or so.
Before entering the plane, I phoned home to say that we had made it to the boarding lounge. Then we waited till someone showed us to our seats, which were ours for the next fourteen or so hours, and it was very nice to be comfortable. The plane left on time 11.40pm.
After some tea we had a drink and I watched a movie, Valentine’s Day. By then I was tired so I went to sleep.
I watched some TV in between my sleeps till breakfast was served.

We arrived in Daha soon after breakfast and had 1hour and a half to get to our connecting flight to Barcelona. We were taken by bus to a big room to wait.

This next flight was about 7 hours long. We had another breakfast and lunch. This time we had only 2 seats. Window and aisle. We arrived in Barcelona about 2pm. It was hot. Someone showed us where to go for our luggage and we realized we had missed duty free shopping. Bugger.

After that we went outside with that same person who showed us to the taxi rank. We were introduced to another girl who was helping everybody to get a cab by walking between two ropes, while doing this she was on her radio telephone to get a wheelchair cab for us, so in the mean time I took off my jumper as it was hot but it was nice. After twenty minutes waiting we finally got a maxi taxi with a nice driver who took us to our hotel called Hesperia del Mar. It was close to the beach. Along the way I looked around the city and it looked very beautiful but the air was very smoggy. The cab cost us 30 Euro. We found out two days later by friends of mine from Queensland that 30 Euro, wasn’t a bad price, as they told us they paid 60 Euro, and then the driver didn’t unlock the cab till he got his money out of them. They felt really ripped off.
We were dropped outside of our hotel which was our home for the next ten days. We walked inside to see that I had to use their own lift to get to the ground floor where the reception of the hotel is. We tried to use the lift but it didn’t work, so Mark went downstairs to the receptionist, and she came up to me and told us that we really need to hold the button to move the lift so finally I got down to the reception area and we checked in. The receptionist showed us to our room on the first level. We had to go into another lift which, I went up by myself, as it was too small to fit all the luggage, my electric wheelchair, and two people in it. I waited for them to be shown to our room.
After the receptionist left us in our room, we started to think, that our room, was a bit small, so Mark went back to the reception, to see, if they had a disabled room. It was booked for the next four days, and they said that we could move our room then. Mark had a look at it, but we decided not to move, as I told, Mark, if we move the furniture around a bit, that we will manage ok, so, I told him, what to do, and it was better than nothing. We would only be sleeping in it and having a few drinks of alcohol, every night before bed, as most nights, we came back after eleven. On the first night, the door was locked, so lucky enough; another couple came in and showed us, where to put the card to open the door.
Mark had freshened up before we went outside to look around. We were out for about seven hours including having tea at an outside restaurant. We will eat out most nights at a couple of restaurants along the street or near the water’s edge during our stay here.
The next day we had a little bit of lay in before getting up for an all you can eat breakfast before heading out for the day, to seek and see what was around Barcelona. We found another exit from the hotel restaurant which was easier for us as we didn’t have to use the lift to get outside. The day was nice and warm as we strolled along the beach, and up to the where the conference was, getting our bearings where everything was.
As I was there three days before it started, I met up with a friend of mine and we travelled all over Spain on buses for two days running, it was close to the most fantastic two days to of my travels around the world I ever had.
Over both days we took a two day bus ticket, which was a better way to go, as it was a tour bus which had three routes, the green route where we started with which leads onto the red route, which travels in around the city of Spain and the blue route went up the hills of Barcelona.

On the first morning around 10:30 Mark and I went around to my friends hotel which was the ac Barcelona hotel so we told their reception that we are going up to see friends of mine in 601 so we went up to their room, but they were still asleep, as we found out as we knocked on their door quietly, but nobody answered, so I told Mark to knock louder and Bert the carer answered the door. As they were still in bed we decided to wait down stairs for them. We had decided the night before, on face book, to catch up as they had just arrived from London.
After 15 minutes they came down to meet us, and we were glad to see each other again as we hadn’t seen each other since Canberra last year.
Marlena, Bert (helper), Mark (helper) and I went outside to catch a bus as it was a great way to see the sights of Barcelona, after having a walk along the beach first.
We started on the green route which joins onto the red route. We got on or off the bus at the stops that we wanted to see, or, we just walked to the next place if it was close as the day was beautiful and warm, besides, it was a good way to see some of the local culture.
That day we went to Parc de le Clutadella. There was a beautiful waterfall and park with giant statues in the Parc de la Ciutadella - Barcelona City Park where there was their Barcelona Zoo. We didn’t go in as we thought we had other things to see throughout the day.
We went through different alleys of Barcelona which have lots of small shops for restaurants, or take away food, and lot of nick-knacks to buy. It was hard on our wheelchairs, as the ground was made out of cobble, which made it very bumpy for Marlena and me in our electric wheelchairs, but it was interesting to see.
Then we went to Picasso Museum. We had to use the tradesmen’s big lift entrance to get inside. The gallery was on two floors, but when we were inside we could use the next lift by ourselves as it wasn’t a tradesmen’s lift. It was very interesting as every work was in a wooden frame.
After that we decided to head back to have a break. As it was nearly three o’clock we decided to have lunch at a pub which had an outside entertainment area. We decided to sit down and relax for awhile as we had gotten a little bit lost, but nothing to worry about. As I was hungry, I decided to have a hamburger with the lot. It was very yummy.
As we had full stomachs we decided to walk to Parc de le Clutadella, then to Arc de Triomf. We felt we were in Paris. This beautiful arch was built for the 1888 Universal Exposition, which took place at the Parc de la Ciutadella. The Arc de Triomf, situated at the end of a wide promenade, served as the exposition's main entrance.
Then we hopped back on a bus to have a rest, while we toured around more, till we saw the Sagrada Familia. Mark and Bert went upstairs for a while. In doing this Mark took some great photographs, of what we saw, as we passed by some of their social and sporting places around Barcelona. They decided that the next day they would take us up there also. After sighing in at the conference the next morning we went back to the bus tour. The view and experience was much better up on top of the bus.
My highlight was when I saw Sagrada Familia, on our second day of our travel, the church has been in the making for 100 years and it hasn’t been finished yet, but they are hoping to finish in 2030.
After seeing the Sagrada Familia we went to Catala Casteland on a chair lift, where we had beautiful views along the way up to the top. As Mark and I took a little bit longer to find our vouchers, Marlena and Bert, went ahead without us in hoping to catch up on top, but it didn’t happen that way. There were two stops along the way up the mountain, we didn’t know at the time but they got off the wrong stop, as someone helped them off, but nobody was there when we went past, so we stayed on and went to top hoping to catch up with them, but they were nowhere in sight. I wondered why we didn’t see them. More cobble stones for me to go over to get to the top, where there was another great view then went around some of the gardens. We bought a drink as they had an outside cafeteria so we sat down to have a drink hoping to see our friends again, but didn’t, so we decided to go back down again. They were waiting for us near the bus stop. We laughed at the mistake they had made.
As it was getting late and we were a long way from our hotels, we headed back.
We had tea at an outside restaurant and I ordered a seafood platter, Garlic bread and a big beer. The seafood platter was big but I managed to finish it. It was good. Marlena and Bert had pasta and they both were unwell that night.
After the second day of our travels we walked back with Marlena and Bert to their hotel to pick up my kit for the conference, then, we were going to the Diagonal mar Barcelona shopping centre to have a bite to eat. In walking to the shopping centre we bumped into Libby and Mel, my friends from Melbourne, and as a joke they tried to avoid us. We had a bit of a chat before we parted ways, as they were coming back from dinner, on their first evening in Barcelona.
While we were having our tea, a guy was going around hoping to get some money for food. Mark felt sorry for him, as he said; I don’t have any money to buy anything. As he didn’t want much, only a few Euros to buy something to eat, and he acted like he had a good heart, so when we finished our tea Mark went over to buy him a hamburger, then he sat with us while he enjoyed the hamburger and told us his life story. His name was Bernie as he came from Belgium without any family.
The next day Mark had a big sleep in, around one o’clock he arose from a deep sleep as I lied in bed awake from nine o’clock that morning. I listened to the outside world, music on the beach I’m just guessing, and lots of traffic going past.
After we got ready we went to the shopping centre and sat at a table and had brunch. We stayed there most of the afternoon. That night while we were walking round the streets, on the other side of the road we saw Bernie again. We were worried he was going to join us but, luckily he just waved and said hello.
We headed back to our hotel for the night, having a few drinks, while I started to read the programme for the ISAAC Barcelona 2010 Worlds Communication Conference as it start the next day which was the 24th till the 28th of July.
We got up early the next morning, went to breakfast before heading off to the conference centre for the opening ceremony, which, ran for about 45 minutes with lots of introductions, and a short video about Barcelona which was interesting. They also had a music session that was made by some of the conference people who got together earlier. Everyone clapped appreciatively at their efforts.
Over the next few days the conference was on, so I listened to lots of different speakers, some were good and others, not too good. Most speakers were from around the world, talking about the new products they are working on to help small children, with education for all children and products for children with communication problems. Others talked about their aspirations in their life, like reaching for their goals in their life. I did mine in a session which was late on a Tuesday, about 5:30 in the afternoon, but it didn’t matter, as people came in to listen to Melinda Smith talk with the help of me, as I told everybody about my dream of starting up an inclusive art group... After both speeches, everybody was getting excited by the idea of starting up their own dreams. We had another session for that, but I didn’t need to go because I had already done that course.
During the conference I met lots of people from all over the world also I got back in touch with people who I met in Canberra last year when I went to the AGOSCI Conference back in April, last year.
Both conferences that I have been too, have been the same as they have a big display room where you can check out a range of different solutions that you might have in the world of communication, like what is new or better to assist you, like eye gaze for the computer, or new attachments for your wheelchairs, so for me, there wasn’t anything specifically new, only a new table top for my wheelchair which one day I will look into.
If you are new to technology, then the showcase room is a great way to see what is out there, and what is good for someone who has communication barriers.
Most nights there was something on that we had to attend, which were lots of fun.
On the first night there was a welcome reception with finger food plus drinks, then we went back to the main hall to watch a movie called “Only God Can Hear Me” it was the world premier documentary about following a few people who have communication barriers, as their navigation of daily challenges is told. After that I went out with a group of Americans to have a bit to eat in a restaurant and at first I thought, what have I got myself into here, but, it was a good night that we had.
The next night we went to the President’s Reception, where they had Spanish dancers, and a group of young people, who did an act of acrobatics standing on each other’s shoulders making a pyramid etc.
That night I spent most of the night with Gus and his helper Gabe, who invited Mark and I back to their hotel and introduced me to shots with tequila with lemon and sugar as they say, Lick, Sip and Suck. Bloody Americans again. We got back to our room about two o’clock in the morning. We didn’t know how we got into our beds that night, but we didn’t see either of the Americans the next morning at the conference. I wonder why?
The final night was the Local Party at the Hotel Hilton Diagonal. As it was Marlena and Bert’s final night, before going back to London to continue on their holiday around Europe for the next two months, They were waiting for us to go in. We had pre dinner-drinks on a balcony before going in for dinner and dancing. We had a few dances together, then Mel, came onto the dance floor and got out of her wheelchair and by holding on my arm, we both boogied for a while. It was a good experience for us. We were the last to leave as we talked a bit, before heading off to our hotels to hop into our beds for the night. I thought to myself, no Americans were there that night, so maybe they can’t stand up to the heat like us Australians can. I had a good laugh to myself when we were walking back to our hotel room. The following day was the last day of the conference, and more presentations during the day and closing ceremony, at the end of which was an emotional time saying farewell to all we had met.
The only time it rained in Spain was then, and it was a huge downpour. Mark and I went across the road to the shopping centre and had an early tea. When we came out the sun was out again.
Mark and I had two more days after the conference before heading home. We relaxed, just walking along the beach path. On the last day we decided to spend it on the beach itself, as they had boardwalks, which I could use to get there. After a while Mark went for a swim and, oh oh, he came out holding his shoulder. It was out of joint, so, off to the first aid building on the beach to get it put back.
I waited on the beach, amongst the topless bathers, and hoped he would come back, and not be taken somewhere else to get fixed. So with great difficult, Mark soldiered on to get me ready that night, and the next day, for our flight home. It was time to go home, because I had run out of money. But I really enjoyed the whole experience.
It will stay with me forever.
My trip was fascinating as everywhere was beautiful, and the beach was lovely, every day was nice and warm about 33 degrees, we had one storm but it only lasted for about 2 hours, and it was on during the closing of the conference.
The End

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