Wheeling Lisbon – What to do (or not)?

After five days of conference I was a wreck. So my original plan was to do as little as possible in Lisbon. Perhaps just wheel around a little, find a café, buy a glass of wine or two and watch people.Thankfully with the company of the best boyfriend in the world.

So this is what we did most of the time to be honest. And sleep. Hotel Internacional has very comfortable beds, and with a room facing the pedestrian area it was no problem with noise. All in all it was three really relaxing days we spent in Portugal’s capital. However – I guess you are not that interested reading a blog about sleeping.

So here’s our top 15 things to do in Lisbon (I am sure there are plenty more to do):

1. Enjoy the sun and kiss under a fountain in the Rossio square

Two tired but happy people at Rossio square.

2. Drink wine! Portugese wine is good and cheap. Drinks are more expensive.

Photo: André Wittwer

3. Visit the MAAT – not for the art, but for the cool building

4. Wheel along the river from the MAAT to Doca do Santo Amaro (bicycle paths)

5. Do a photoshoot under the bridge (and pretend you’re in San Fransisco)

6. Have dinner in one of the new restaurants at Doca do Santo Amaro (most of them are wheelchair accessible) – this one called ARdeMAR.

7. Do the Hop on Hop Off tour – we didn’t (but it is wheelchair accessible)

8. Visit the Electrical Museum by accident

9. Watch people from a bar around Praca do Comercio. Or do winetasting – we never got to the last one though. They had one step to get in, and we did not bother to ask for help.

10. Be puzzled about what the students in long dark capes are doing (according to the locals they were being mean to the younger ones – because it was the start of semester)

Photo: André Wittwer

11. Have a laaaate breakfast at Paul’s and get to know the local street sellers (one of them spoke 6 languages and confirmed that there are very few Norwegians in Lisbon)

12. Have a créme brulasme at ARdeMAR (Doca do Santo)

13. Have an aperitif in R. das Portas de Santo Antão (flat area North of Rossio)

14. Be a happy hipster at the Bastardo

15. …. (oh, get lost will you?)

Wheeling Lisbon -The Internacional

You put it down like New York City
I never sleep wild like Los Angeles
My fantasy hotter than Miami I feel the heat
Oh oh oh oh it’s international love
Oh oh oh oh it’s international love

Pitbull

I have already told you about the warm welcome we got from the receptionist at the Internacional Design Hotel. Around 3 o’clock our room was ready and we got our keys to the suite on the 3rd floor – with a ZEN theme. Calming and relaxing – something that fitted my exploded conference brain pretty well. When we came out of the elevator, an art piece of wood awaited us as well as a discrete scent of lavender in the air. The hallway was dim but had the world’s coolest wallpaper in different shades of green and gold. I loved it even before I entered the room.

The room itself had a balcony, as the receptionist promised. However, the balcony was super small. So we could only fit one wheelchair (and hardly that) at the time. But it was great to have the opportunity to stick the head out and catch some sunrays or take a breath of fresh air. The bed was super comfortable and the wallpaper had a nice floral pattern. And one of the best features: The room had a Nespresso machine with 3 capsules refilled every day. Something which was great for us, who didn’t exactly make a big effort to get up for breakfast. In spite of the hotel’s offer of breakfast for 10 euros per person per day (if we took all days), we decided we wanted to sleep as long as possible. The street outside was filled with cafés. We would definitely not starve.

The only negative thing was the bathroom. The door had a gap, so if you are in need for privacy in the bathroom – this was not the room for you. They also had a fancy experience shower with a fixed seat. However – all the shower handles were soooo high. It actually needed quite some collaboration to be able to have a shower at all. You don’t want to know more about the details here to be honest.

But the bathroom was possible with a wheelchair. For a powerchair it would perhaps be on the smaller side though, but could be doable.

The hotel in general is filled with small artpieces, gems and details, making a true hipster happy. While taking the elevator from 1st to 3rd floor, you will see an art gallery on the wall and the winter garden, where the hotel grow their own herbs.

At the 1st floor, you will find the Bastardo restaurant and bar – where you can get a decent cocktail, a glass of wine or a meal served in an alternative way (how about rabbit for instance?). The service was personal and friendly. They really made us feel at home.

And the location of the hotel could not be any better. The lower end of the Rossio square is the perfect spot for wheeling around. It’s flat, has nice curbcuts and there are two long pedestrian streets on each side of the hotel, with a lot of restaurants and bars. Some of them tourist traps, and it kind of resembles la Rambla at times, with live statues, musicians, street sellers and beggars in one big harmony. But you can also find nice places there, like Paul or Elevador. There are definitely cobble stones, but the kinder, smoother and decorative Portugese ones, which you will also find in Rio de Janeiro.

We were all in all lucky with our places to eat this time:

• Paul’s – great sandwiches & espresso
• Elevador – good brunch & fantastic service (was even offered a pillow to sit on)
• Casa Brasileira – ok brunch – slow service
• The Bastardo – good, but maybe a little bit too hip…?
• ARdeMar – great food & service (the waitor followed us to the taxi stand)
• Da Vinci (Italian) – average italian – find another place!

The hotel however was expensive, and cost between 180-190 euros per night for the room. This is more than I usually pay for a hotel, but it was hard to find a decent alternative in the flat area without doing a lot of research. We checked out Lisboa Prata Boutique Hotel, for some friends. And this is also an alternative. Prata is the last street in the flat area. If you go further East, you will face hills, hills and more hills.

In spite of the price and the complicated shower – Internacional Design Hotel, was a great place to stay. Good food, good drinks and very friendly service. We would like to come back some time. And in the meantime, we just say:

Obrigado!

 

 

 

 

Wheeling Lisbon – You had me at hello

I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again
How much I care
Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow
Hello!

Lionel Richie

In TAP’s flight magazine I read that the new modern museum MAAT just opened in Lisbon.

To be perfectly honest, the title of this blog is not true at all. Because it took a while before Lisbon (or Lisboa as the locals say) got into my heart. Four years ago – during my first stay in Lisbon, we only stayed in a conference hotel (Novotel Lisboa). The hotel was situated in a street where the cobble stone sidewalks had none or few curbcuts. And it was almost impossible to wheel around by ourselves, without the danger of being run over by a car. So the sightseeing in 2012 was done through a three hour bus ride. The good thing about the bus ride back then, was that I got to know the different areas of the city. And I learned where the flat part of Lisbon was.

The flat area in Lisbon is around and below the Rossio square (photo by André Wittwer).

The first time André was in Lisbon was 12 years ago. And he got both terrified and annoyed while doing wheelchair sightseeing in the steep hills of Lisbon. And there are many of those. So when I told him that the next annual meeting of the OIFE was going to be in Lisbon, he answered me spontaneously:

A: Have you gone completely mad? Lisbon?! This is your first AGM as the OIFE president. Could you not have chosen a more difficult place to host a meeting with a bunch of wheelchair users?

Me: Ehm, well. I kind of had no choice. The big scientific conference about OI in 2016 is going to be in Lisbon. And it fits to have the AGM connected to that.

A: Well I think it’s a bad idea no matter what!

Happy OIFE people – finished with annual general meeting (AGM) day 1.

When I told the organizers about André’s reaction, they told me not to worry. Things were changing for the better in Lisbon. The city was getting more friendly to tourists, both with and without wheelchairs. And even if I did not feel completely reassured by this, I decided to book three extra days of holiday after the conference. Both because I felt we would need some relaxation after five long days of meetings. But also because I wanted to see how much it was possible to do in Lisbon (anno 2016) for two wheelchair users traveling without assistance. Reluctantly I got André along with the idea. And after searching for a hotel in the area that I knew was flat (around and below the Rossio square), we ended up with the Internacional Design Hotel.

Expensive, oh yes. I must admit. But it was only for three days. And the hotel had the perfect location at the lower end of the Rossio square. When I saw the photos from the hotel, I kind of got the same feeling as I did when I found 25 hours hotel in Zürich. A playground for happy hipsters. And I secretly started dreaming about having a room with a view. A balcony facing the pedestrian area and the Rossio square…

 

Fast forward to October 11th. We had checked out of Novotel Lisboa and said goodbye to Taco and his friend. A friend that he accidentally bumped into on the streets of Lisbon a few days earlier. They had not seen each other for more than 20 years and now they had decided to catch up and have a coffee together. André and me had other plans. We stuffed our wheelchairs and belongings into a normal taxi and headed for our hotel in the flat area. Taxis are really cheap in Lisbon, so you mostly pay between 5 and 8 euros within the inner city (zone 1). But according to Taco’s friend, they might try to fool you.

We did not experience anything like that however. To be honest, during our holiday in Lisbon, André and me only encountered friendly people and received good service. It started on the sidewalk outside the Benetton shop at the Rossio square.

We were getting all our pieces out of the car and had just put our wheelchairs together, ready to pick up the bags when a friendly looking guy approached us:

Receptionist: Hello? Are you going to the Internactional? May I help you with the bags?

Me: Uhm, yes we are. How did you know?

Receptionist: Oh, we were expecting a couple with wheelchairs. And that doesn’t happen thaaaat often. So I thought it might be you. I was outside to help some other guests find a taxi.

Me: Oh great! Thank you.

Receptionist (inside again): So we have upgraded you to a suite because of the wheelchairs. No extra charge.

Me: Oh thank you. That’s great! Is it…?

Receptionist: …the one with the balcony yes. I hope you will like it here! The room is not ready for a few hours yet. Would you like to have a free welcome drink in the bar, while you wait?

Me (overwhelmed by all this friendlyness): Yes, thank you. That would be nice.

So we took the elevator up to the the bar & restaurant Bastardo. Where we were had some lovely dry white wine. Dry as dust actually. And then the whole situation started to sink in. Finally my days as an AGM workoholic were over. Five days of conferences were successfully finished. We were on holiday.

Ahhhh…..

However, the trip to Lisbon did not start that well to be honest….

 

 

 

Wheeling Zürich – With One Hour Extra

Time goes by so slowly for those who wait
No time to hesitate
Those who run seem to have all the fun
I’m caught up
I don’t know what to do

Madonna

When I was searching for hotels in the Zürich area, I had several alternatives (all overpriced of course), when I came over The 25 Hours Hotel. The price compared to the location was doable. And when I saw the photos from the hotel I totally fell in love. And when I read the reviews, I was sold (4,5 out of 5 on both Tripadvisor and Hotels.com is good). Especially since they claimed to be wheelchair accessible and situated in an up and coming part of town called Zürich West. In the reviews the main concerns were construction work and some people complained that the bed was hard (and that always worries me).

The biggest woman in Zürich.

But here’s the truth:

The construction work we didn’t see (but if you have a room facing the street you might hear the cargo trains), and the beds were fine.

If you just broke up with your boyfriend, you might want to find another hotel…

And the 25 Hours Hotel in Zürich IS hipster heaven (as I thought it would be). The people at the reception is friendly and you can buy all kinds of alternative stuff there, from trend magazines to Freitag wallets and ecological soap (you can test it in the room). I am sure you can buy environmentally friendly toothbrushes also…

The rooms were spacious enough and the disabled friendly room has one of the nicest accessible bathrooms ever (maybe only beaten by Andels Hotel in Berlin). The fixed shower seat was big and very stable and everything except the ordinary mirror was in correct reach (or adjustable).

The entire design of the hotel was tailor made it seemed, by someone with a quirky mind. Everything from the elevators, the mini bar menu (in a bottle), the mirrors, the pillows, the carpets and the signs you hang outside your door were special. The devil was truly in the details…

And they even had a ping pong table and books or magazines you could borrow on a rainy day. And in the evening, when you looked up at the sauna window from the front of the hotel, you could see a text saying: “We are all a little bit crazy here.” Since this text is not visible in the daytime, there are no photos of it online. And this kind of makes me worry that this was only happening in my crazy mind…

The hotel restaurant Neni served alternative food from the Middle East and some more traditional courses (with several vegetarian alternatives), beer, wine and overpriced drinks. The restaurant played elevator music (also known as electronica), that was cool for drinking on the patio but too loud for dining. And simply having that thought made a horrible feeling creep into my brain: “I cannot handle loud music while eating in a bar anymore. I’m officially old.” 

Still like hipster hotels though…

There were other restaurant alternatives in the neighbourhood, but they were not always open. Maybe this had to do with the holiday season. Who knows…

The breakfast was ok – nothing more, nothing less. The best thing about it was that they served it until 2 in the afternoon at week-ends. Originally it cost 25 CHF per person. This is insanely expensive in any other country than Switzerland – but here it is normal. With a 6 CHF discount from Tripadvisor is was acceptable (sort of). They had scrambled eggs, bacon, bread and fruit – but everything was served on the bar counter – making it totally inacessible for wheelchair users. But the staff was friendly. And the coffee was good and freshly made…

Regarding the area – the hotel is situated in Zürich West, which is an old industrial area now being transformed into hotels, apartment buildings, restaurants, art museums, clubs and alternative shops. Under the railwaybridge they have created a whole new ‘shopping mall’ called Im Viadukt with alternative stuff you can buy (from design to organic food) and there is also a food court and some restaurants.

Viadukt

We didn’t try out the nightlife very much though. This was partially because we are old and partially because all the hipsters were hiding on Saturday night. The whole Zürich West seemed completely dead. Or maybe we just went to the wrong places?

During the daytime we had a drink in Frau Gerold’s Garten in the daytime, which seemed like a cool hipster playground with several bars on different levels.

Where did all the hipsters go?

Alternative benches in Zürich West

Summer season emptiness at Puls 5.

And I also tried the cosmo (very very good) at LaSalle restaurant in Schiffbau. For some reason I have a feeling that Zürich West is a much more vibrant area outside the main summer holiday weeks (especially the week-ends). But it was a nice place to stay anyway.

And on Saturday night a thunderstorm settled the question on staying out longer or not. We once again escaped to the safe premises of the 25 Hours Hotel, seconds before the weather gods got really angry. And in the middle of the night, I woke up again because of a violent argument between angry hipsters on holiday.

Love is a complicated thing…

Another good thing about the 25 hours hotel, was that it was only 3 minutes to walk to the tram stop. And by line nr. 4 it took less than 10 minutes to get to the main railway station. Not all the trams were wheelchair accessible (I would say maybe 50%) – but the brilliant thing was that you could see in advance if it was an accessible tram that came or not. And the gap was non-existant. The last day, I could easily manage to take the tram by myself with a bag on my lap, and get to the railway station.

First tram ride all by myself. With a bag!

No gap = perfect access!

And I also tried out the train to the airport by myself, and with pre-ordered assistance (1 hour in advance) it worked out fine in spite of the big gap.

And when you are leaving from Zürich airport, make sure you have at least 2 hours – because it is a maze of different levels, corridors and terminals (and a spaceship). And it is almost impossible to find the lifts compared to the escalators. So it was good to have one hour extra there as well…

Zürich was nice, but…