Vineet's London-Europe Trip 2017 Day 5 ( Brussels)

9th June 2017
We moved towards Brussels today. It was past noon when we reached "Mini-Europe" in Brussels. As we had gotten late embarking,  when we entered the main building,  our group was nowhere to be seen! Not a single soul there except a worker outside. We looked frantically for an elevator or lift as we saw a huge flight of stairs right in front of us! 😮😞😟😕 But NOTHING! No signs or boards either! We asked the worker about it but he said he had no idea. But he offered to help us carry Vin up the stairs in his wheelchair. But I thought it was Ridiculous!!  How can they not have a wheelchair accessible route in a place like "Mini-Europe"?!! 😠😠😒
 But we were already late and papa did not allow me to find out more and I forgot about it until when we had to go down the similar way after the tour. Again we carried Vin down the stairs. There must have been around 20 or more of them!
Although the tour inside was very wheelchair-friendly.

And today when I googled 'where is the wheelchair ramp in mini-europe brussels", this is what I got - http://www.minieurope.com/en/practical/faq/  I can't seem to find any maps directing towards mini-europe

Okay, so I finally found the wheelchair route into Mini- Europe. I wish I had checked this earlier, but even so, I find its very far and time-consuming. Especially for travellers like us who have very less time. It would have been simpler and easier to just put in a lift.Or at least they could have sign boards to lead us to the path. Here's the link - http://www.minieurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/plan_parking_6_eur.pdf

It reminds me that I have to put in an online complaint regarding this😐😑

Grand Place, Brussels

In the evening we proceeded towards the Grand place which had cobbled streets and after going around for some time, we suddenly noticed that the tubeless,  rubberised wheels of Vin's wheelchair was getting ripped off!! It wasn't that bad,  but henceforth we took precaution .

And here is a short video I made of our stay in Belgium -

Vineet's London-Europe Trip 2017 Day 4 (Paris Disneyland)

8th June 2017

Today we were slated for Eiffel Tower and Disneyland Paris. We opted out of going up the Eiffel Tower as we wanted to use that time for going around it☺😋So we went towards the wheelchair entry which was closed (strangely why we didn't ask),  but as it was early on,  the main queue was short and we proceeded through it. We crossed over to the other side towards the river and the bridge and took fotos. Then we crossed back again towards the garden side and took a lot of mandatory poses with the Eiffel Tower. Then we proceeded towards Disneyland.

Disneyland was on the outskirts and covered acres of land area. But once inside, we were amazed to see the sea of people in there!  Our tickets were pre-booked and we had the option of going either to the Disneyland Park or Disneyland Studio. So people with kids(like us) opted for the former and off we went.
No one at the ticket checking counter told us about the Special Green Card (sorry I can't find it to upload a pic of it, but will do so as soon as I find it 😋)

 It is absolutely necessary for visitors on a wheelchair and though I had read about them in my SB groups on FB,  it completely escaped my mind that day. It was only when we went to go for a boat ride that the lady escort told us about it and by then we were half beyond the castle. Its funny for a place like Disneyland not to have a Notice or Poster regarding this. We were tired, disappointed and didn't know what to do. Papa is a loving papa 💕 and said he would go and get the green card for Vin while mummy and Tia would go around. It was long before they came back with the card and by then it was time for the parade. We enjoyed the parade and it was time to leave. But we had a good time and brought back with us some beautiful memories.... 😊☺😍

Here is short video I made of the Disneyland Parade - 

Vineet's London-Europe Trip 2017 Day 3 ( Towards Paris)

7th June

When we woke up the next day with the sun shining brightly through the blinds,  I muttered under my breath 😜😅 This weather could have been yesterday 😠😫😭
Anyways,  we found that the front seats of our coach had been occupied again, and this time our dear co-passenger refused to give up his seat inspite of our Tour Manager's requests. So our Tour Manager gave up his own seat and some other good people shifted back to make space for him. He announced it in the bus that since we have a special child with us,  could everyone kindly leave the first seats for him and his dad on one side as he would not be able to have any front view which others could have by standing.

When we arrived at the border of U.K. towards France, we had to clear our Immigration. And here it was very kind and thoughtful of an official to come up to our bus and get it done for Vineet and our family without having to go into the building which was some way off.That was really really sweet of them! 😊☺

Anyways we moved towards the Eurotunnel. Oh and another thing!  This morning Papa had an idea- he suggested we put 2 diapers one on top of other,  so when one got soiled, we would simply remove it and there would be no hassle to put on the second one as we realised there were no changing beds in disabled toilets. It WORKED! 😃 Wherever we stopped for lunch we changed him - it became a routine for the next few days ☺

Into the Eurotunnel (From U.K. to France side)

In the evening when we were checked into our hotel on the outskirts of Paris,  we realised that even the lifts were of so small in size that only Vinisha could squeeze into it along with Vineet in his wheelchair. The rooms were also not wheelchair-accomodating, although I realised afterwards that maybe there were, but not available for us... So if you are planning for a similar trip as us, please do ask your Tour manager for a ground floor room or a specially-adapted room for people on a wheelchair. We got one only in Switzerland. 

Vineet's London-Europe Trip 2017 Day 2 (London day tour)

6th June

We had the misfortune of spending the only day we had for London in its infamous 'cold,  windy,  rainy' weather. 😣😖 It had started the evening before and we got our winter jackets and boots (which we had packed for our last tour days in Switzerland 😜😁) that day itself. I forgot to mention that our Tour Bus (merc-benz make) was not wheelchair-friendly . Means we had to transfer Vineet from his wheelchair to the bus seat and then stow it away in the luggage compartment. So everytime we had to get down,  we waited until the last person. But thankfully we had some very helpful coach-drivers who took out the wheelchair before us 😊😇 May God bless them🙏

So we packed Vin's "khichdi" and some cornflakes and left after breakfast. We were last to board the Tour Coach and guess ❓All the front seats were occupied (but naturally). Our Tour Manager requested those in the front seat to make a seat available for Vineet and also his dad as we had been cautioned the previous day about the speed of the bus which would have been risky for Vineet sitting on his own without an escort.

So we mostly moved around in the bus and by noon when we alighted to go into Madame Tussaud's,  the rains had stopped and there was the sun peeping through the clouds⛅

ANOTHER  SPOILER YET AGAIN AT THE ENTRANCE TO MADAME TUSSAUD'S 😒😑😕

As we queued up with our group,  the museum escorts led us towards the wheelchair-entry where we were told that they could not allow more than 3 wheelchair entries inside as there is space congestion. And that slot was full for that (our) time-slot. We would go in only after an hour and they gave us the coupon for that time. It meant that we would have only an hour to go through Madame Tussaud's instead of the 2 hours that our group got as the Coach would be back by 4 p. m.  to take us to London Eye. We went across the street for a pizza where Vinsy had his "khichdi" and we teased him about it 😛😁😄

           Then we roamed the nearby streets and bought some souvenirs, and finally it was time to go inside Madame Tussaud's again. We got an escort for Vin,  but he disappeared after putting us in the lift and telling us which the last leg of the tour was. Anyways,  inside it was really crowded and though it was wheelchair-friendly,  we breezed through it and we were very happy to see the Enormous Toilet for the specially challenged 😜😄😅😁 We changed Vin and heaved a sigh of relief😌

Then we got off at London Eye and here too Vin was led through the wheelchair entry and mummy and papa were too pleased with the handling of Vineet by the escorts😊☺

Then we proceeded for dinner and by 9: 30 p. m. when we returned back to the Hotel and saw the sun shining through the window,  we realised we were in a different world 😉😀

Here is a short video I made of our London Trip -

Vineet's LONDON- EUROPE TRIP 2017 Day 1 (Air Travel stories)

At Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India

Our tour was to start from the 5th of June from London. For this,  we were allotted an 'Oman Airways' flight from New Delhi to Muscat (capital of Oman) on 5th morning at around 11 a. m. I made Vin's 'khichdi' in the morning before leaving and prayed to God it would pass through security 🙏 ( I had gone through a lot of posts online regarding what types / consistency of food that were allowed in-flight. We had breakfast and left.
       We opted for Vineet's wheelchair to be bubble wrapped alongwith our baggage and transferred Vineet to a wheelchair provided by the airlines as we had had a bit of a harrowing experience during our flight from Mumbai to Kolkata after the Justin Beiber Concert in May this year. (You can read about it HERE
         I was on top of the world when Vin's "khichdi" went through the security 😇😃😄 After a 2 hours flight we landed in Muscat Airport. We had a halting of about 2 hours and we raced to clear our immigration and we also had to feed Vin his lunch as it was past his time!  Add to that the emergency of changing his diaper as well. 😞
BUT!!
when we landed,  we were told we would have to wait for 10-15 minutes for a wheelchair to arrive. As we were short of time, we opted to carry Vineet from the airplane to the transfer bus. Only to find there was no wheelchair for us at the Airport gate!! I rushed in and asked the man at the gate where I could get a wheelchair and he pointed vaguely inside. There was hardly anyone inside and all our fellow passengers had proceeded towards the security counters which was quite some way off. I saw that Vineet's papa had been dropped off the bus with Vineet in his arms and panicked and proceeded to where I saw 2-3 airport lady workers to ask about the wheelchairs. Luckily by the grace of God,  at that instant Papa was shown the wheelchair room by some officials who saw him struggling. What the heck? 😠😑😒. We didn't get any airport escort for Vin at Muscat airport on landing and I thought to myself,  Wow,  and they call India a third-world country 😒😐😑

          So now we proceeded towards the security point but before queuing up, Vineet had his "khichdi" lunch. Now I was a happy mom 😊☺ We breezed through security and straight went for the washroom/toilet. We spotted the 'disabled'- toilet and YET Another obstacle!!
WE COULDN'T CLOSE SHUT THE DOOR AFTER WHEELING IN VINSY!  😧😯😖 The length of the toilet was too less to shut it back after wheeling in. In fact there was not much space to even push in the wheelchair unless it was folded. So now Papa had to scoop up vin, I had to fold the wheelchair and wheel it in, open it again and then Vin was seated again. We changed his diaper and wondered whether it would withstand the next 8 hour flight as it has a maximum holding capacity of around 7 hours according to Vin's water intake. We added another diaper folded into the first and hoped it would work.Keeping our fingers crossed, we proceeded towards the immigration and security again before the next flight which was also 'Oman Airways'.

 Now the boarding was grand 😏 You can see a video HERE
Vin was taken first into the airport bus.  Then from the bus we were led to the 'Hydraulic Lift Bus",  where Vin was transferred into the aircraft directly but then again had to be carried by Papa to his seat which was quite some space from the aircraft door. Anyway,  we were just relieved to be in the final stage of our long journey and soon we were served lunch. After around 4 hours of flying,  Papa asked the steward for some hot water for Vin and some baby food. We got a small packet of cereal powder mix,  but no hot water! 😠 They kept telling us we are looking into it,  but it didn't come. So I mixed some cornflakes in normal water,  let it soak for some time and then mashed it up for Vin. Then we all went in for a nap😴

                We landed at Heathrow Airport at around 5 p. m. G. M. T.  which was around 4. 30 hours behind I. S. T.  There was a long wait in this airport battery car as the escort had to collect all the specially challenged from our flight into it,to be taken to the immigration counter.We were hungry again and also worried about Vin's diaper,and luckily our Tour Manager, who took charge of us and the group at the airport,  settled us in our bus and took us straight to the Indian restaurant for dinner. There, our family was arranged to be seated on the ground floor while the rest of the group went up the stairs to the first floor. He made arrangements Vineet's hot milk and chapatis which I soaked as it was too thick to be had immediately.It was cold and windy with drizzling and we longed to be in the comforts of the Hotel soon which we did after dinner.By the time we had checked in, it was way past midnight !! (according to our Indian time watches and our bodies too!)

    And it was HERE that we learnt the FIRST LESSON of our Trip -
First we wheeled in Vineet into our Hotel room, then we started putting in the luggage one by one, and since the room was not so big enough, the suitcases got lined in the doorway and mummy went out to get another suitcase and 'BAM'!The door shut close behind her with Vineet inside the room with the keys!! OH NOOOO!!!! He couldn't open the door as his way was blocked and neither could we! As we panicked, Papa said he would go down and get the staff to open with the duplicate keys.As we were waiting for him to return, after 4-5 minutes, the door opened with a click from inside and Vin's face emerged and we asked how the hell did you do it??!! Vin said - I became Michael Jackson zombies from Thriller!! and grinned 😁😅 We went in and saw the suitcases lying by the sides. Awww.. I have a strong boy there 💪💪Papa came up (without anyone) and asked what happenend and we told him. From then on we decided that Papa would keep both  the room keys with him and Vin should never be alone in the room ever.
Hmmmmm. Aye Sir 😌😊☺
       
   

Vineet's First Overseas Trip 2017 (A preview)

Have I been waiting to write this very special event in Vineet's life or what 😃😀😀!!! It was a very special blessing by God in All our lives as we had thought of going on a Europe Tour sometime later in our lives,  but we had no idea that it would happen so soon!  This year itself!

            So going back a little into my earlier post on the #JustinBeiber Concert post, we were going through a  couple of travel brochures online just for fun,  and we stumbled upon this very attractive offer from #ThomasCookTravels for a Budget Europe Trip . We sat and calculated a lot of things 😌😀 and thought it was a nice deal considering our family of four.  We consulted friends and finally one day Papa clicked on the "Book" tab and there was no looking back then 😃☺
            To cut the story short,  let me just say that in the next few posts,  I will be sharing our travel details but mainly I will be focussing on the #accessibility issues and how we managed Vineet's incontinence. Also his fooding part. So if you are thinking of doing something as exciting (and adventurous 😁😜) as us,  you can read on and also contact us at - spinabifidainindia@gmail.com

P. S. - We stocked on Vin's diapers and all his stuff ( but naturally) and took 2 of each - one set for the main luggage and one smaller set for the hand luggage. We bought a small size 'Rice-cooker' for his daily "khichdi' lunch meal and rice and dal along with his fav cornflakes. I also took some meal supplements for emergencies ( airplane companies are playing up these days and can't be trusted all the time as I was about to realise 😒😒😑) And of course,  another folding wheelchair (coz the earlier one got spoiled by the sea waters of Puri)

I would also love to have feedbacks on these posts from travellers on wheelchairs and maybe some more travel tips and hacks for our future travels (hopefully 😊)

Thankyou for going through!  🙏💕

Vineet goes to JUSTIN BEIBER' s CONCERT in Mumbai, India (The Event)

(This is the second and final part of the post - " Vineet goes to JUSTIN BEIBER's CONCERT in Mumbai, India". For the previous post, click HERE )

And so as the story goes, we reached Mumbai on 9th May. It was hot and humid as hell though 😣😖 and I wondered how on earth did a young man like JB who hails from cold Canada, was so sweet and humble to agree to come down to India for his fans for the very first time! So on 10th morning we saw on the TV that there were some fans who had started camping since early in the morning at 5! We had a problem - To be able to see JB from the very front row of the Silver stands (of which we had tickets), Vineet would have to be there very early on. But to be early on was going to be a big problem for Vinsy due to his toilet habits and of course his fooding and they were not going to allow outside food as well. Big problem. So we thought and thought and finally decided that 2 members would go early on and keep place for the rest of us. Only when they reached the venue they called us saying that if you didn't stand in the queue now (that was 10 o'clock in the morning btw! and the concert was to begin at 3:30 in the afternoon and JB was to come at 8 in the evening!)😵 you couldn't reach them at all! So off went the second lot except Vin and papa and we all got decent places at the front of the queue. Now we waited, and waited and waited....until 3:30 p.m. With just packets of chips and water being sold at exorbitant prices. 👿The queue was long and I told Vin to proceed from the hotel only after we had gone inside the stadium.
                    So as the story goes, we managed to get the first row of the silver stands and were happy that it was quite near to the stage. Then I realised that there was No Way Vin would be able to reach us through the massive crowd which was already crushing us all who were in front, to the barricade! I realised there had been a mistake. This was a mistake coz Vin wouldn't be able to see the concert except on the LED screens that had been placed right and left of the stage. I felt let down, unhappy, weak and a bit angry at myself for planning this entire thing while Vin would be unable to see the Concert with us, and JB would be out of sight as he would be sitting in his wheelchair right at the back. I thought of the outlay of the stadium at Bern, Switzerland ,when I was going to book the tickets to JB's Concert there earlier, and how there was a special elevated place in the stands for people on wheelchairs. I was depressed and waited for Vin to come to the stadium. Unfortunately network jammers had been placed and I could not contact him or his dad at all. And to go on a search would mean getting the kids crushed by hyper-over-adrenalined-teenagers!! So I endured it all along with the heat, humidity, sweat et all till at last when JB came on the stage, and I thought the front row kids would be trampled upon!! When I saw Vin's sis about to faint (!!) I pulled her out of the crowd and made our way towards the exit. As we made our way away from the crowd into free space (and fresh evening air!), who do we see but Vin!! Enjoying the show with dad watching it on the huge screen in front. I smiled for the first time in the evening. When Vin's fav songs came up, papa dear would scoop up Vineet to show him JB on the stage - as a tiny blob from so far.
                       And at this part of the stadium, there was a beautiful crowd who were singing and sometimes dancing with each other and we too held hands and danced together. Papa bought us pizzas and life was good👍 once again!! Vinsy told us how some reporters took his fotos and one even interviewed him! Then the show came to an end around 10: 30 p. m. and as we made our was out of the stadium along with the enormous crowd of around 30000 people (which we came to know later),  Vin had another interviewer.
               Nevertheless,  it was a memorable day for all of us, though Vin was a little bit disappointed at not having been able to meet #justinbeiber.

Click Here to watch one of JB's performance that I uploaded

Click HERE to see some of our pics of the Concert

A small afternote about Mumbai Airport regarding our wheelchair number 9 (Same as wheelchair number 7 which got spoilt as we forgot to take it out from the car boot after our Puri Trip 😬😒-

Previously in our air travels we had opted for the airport wheelchairs and submitted Vin's wheelchair with the baggage. This time Papa said we'll take the wheelchair along with us to the aircraft. Bad decision. The X-ray machine for wheelchair was not working at Mumbai airport - can you believe this! Then finally they got hold of the person who was supposed to operate it and it worked 😑 Then they looked around for a Security personnel to put the " Checked' tag on it. He couldn't be found as well. We were taken from one end of the place to another and finally back to find THE Man who had to be convinced to put the tag on Vin's wheelchair as if there was a missile hidden in it.  I really don't understand the paranoia in airports regarding the specially challenged and their external aids (which are like the missing parts of their bodies) Then we proceeded to our own security counters wherein Vin was scanned again with his wheelchair,  which is okay.