3 Nights in Rome

Rome. Another destination to tick off my Bucket List. A City of Seven Hills and lots of Cobblestones, (lots and lots and lots…did I mention the cobblestones?).

Challenge number 2, on my own personal list of places that I wanted to challenge myself on. A really ANCIENT city. I knew there’d be loads of historical attractions that, on the face of it, would be totally inaccessible to a bloke in a manual wheelchair. So were they?

How we got there?

Another Jet2 City Break excursion. I’m giving them a ‘plug’ (again). For me they are fantastic – friendly telephone staff when you book or sort out Special Assistance; Ground Crew that always smile, and an easy to use booking website https://www.jet2holidays.com/city-breaks

There are more web-links and photos in this blog post, than previous ones. I think the photos are helpful, and the web links are sites or products that have helped me. There are NO sponsored links.

We travelled in late September. Rome was bustling without being unbearably crowded. We flew into Fiumicino and took the Leonardo Express into Termini train station – the main transport hub of Rome. Fiumicino Special Assistance staff deserve a special mention for being super friendly and uber helpful.

They got me from the airplane, through Passport Control etc – think Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. They assisted me to the adjacent rail station, (across a road and c. 500 meters from the airplane terminal. Then liaising with the rail staff to make sure access onto the train was suitable. But then also checking to make sure that I didn’t need them to accompany me on the journey to Termini. Something they were prepared to ‘just do’. There was no mention of payment for doing this. Fantastic people.

Transfer to the City Centre

The Leonardo Express is a great train – €14pp for a single journey. The Disabled carriage is clearly ‘blue badged’ and there is a designated wheelchair space with adjacent carer seats. This is right at the side of a disabled WC – all very handy, clean and super efficient.

The journey takes c. 30 minutes and they run from Fiumicino every 15 minutes into Termini. https://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en/Services/Fiumicino-Airport

One thing to note, to avoid rolling around Termini looking like a gormless tourist – for the visual image, think fish coming up for air. I’m pretty sure that you can only buy a one way ticket. On the return journey from Termini, the tickets aren’t sold from the Trenitalia ticket booths, but a bookstore/newsstand adjacent to the Fiumicino dedicated platform, called “Hudson Books”.

Crazy as it sounds, I believe this is an ‘official’ ticket point. The return ticket didn’t cost anymore money, everybody seemed to be buying them from the bookstore and buying them was painless.

Hotels

Like any capital city, the choice of hotels is enormous. They cater for all sizes of wallet and disability need.

My particular disability need is that I’m a wheelchair user. I can transfer but that is the extent of my ‘bendy’ legs. But I love cities and I want to stay in the bustle. We chose the Best Western Universo. It’s about 500m from Termini heading in the direction of Monti. https://www.hoteluniverso.com/en/home-page.aspx

Inside it’s a mixture of super comfy bed, spacious room to wheel around in, roll in shower, shower seat. There wasn’t one in the room at first. But a quick call to the concierge and one was brought to the room – one that hangs over the grab rail.

Externally, the access into the hotel is gently ramped, (no Venetian bridges – I had learned my lesson). There are also ramps inside the hotel so that you can get into the split level dining room.

The hotel’s perfect for the Metro in Termini, (more on this below). Also, depending on your arm strength, your carer, or your choice of electric push assist, any of Rome’s major tourist attractions are within a 2km-3km radius. The perfect City hotel. Although Lisa would give an entirely contrary view of the hotels easy proximity. Try pushing me up the Quirinal Hill in a thunder storm that made Manchester seem rain free. Respect!

The Metro

I like rolling along the streets of a city. You see so much more, and I constantly hear ‘bad’ underground comments. But stopping near Termini I always knew our furthest travelling point would be the Vatican City. Time to use the metro. A first for me as wheelchair user. But nothing ventured etc. What a pleasant experience.

The Lines

The Metro only has 2 lines. Here’s a link to the Metro’s website https://atac.roma.it/index.asp?lingua=ENG

The Lifts

The main stations have lifts, (elevators) and they’re clearly signed from within the station and in advance on the Metro’s website. But for some reason each lift only seems to descend to the one floor below. After that you exit and find another lift.

Maybe it was me. I’m sure that some more ‘homework’ would have answered this question. Finally, the staff are helpful. But not ALL stations have lifts. Do your homework first.

The Sites and Mentionworthy Points

I’m not going to try and detail them – why spoil your fun researching. But there are a few points that I want to mention:

Cobblestones – the wheelchair users nightmare. There are loads of them. But surely everyone knows this before they go to Rome. Don’t they? The cobblestones vary from small, (St. Peter’s Square) to large, (the Roman Forum. Helpful photos below.

I can’t hold a wheelie for more than 1 second, so I took my cobblestone solution with me – the Freewheel http://www.gofreewheel.com/ It ‘ate’ all the cobbles we threw at it. But still be prepared for a challenging and bumpy Roman Forum.

I can’t comment on how people would get round with an electric wheelchair or mobility scooter. But I strongly suspect that where there is a will, there is a way.

The Roads – not all of the pavements are ideal for rolling on. There were lots of adverse cambers and a shortage of curb cuts. But people walk in the road in Rome, and the traffic seems to ‘get’ this. When in Rome…

I rolled alongside the traffic in my wheelchair. I am not advocating this, and certainly accept no liability for any incidents/accidents etc. But it worked well for me and didn’t draw any WTF looks from the motorists.

The staff at the tourist sites – they are well drilled to look out for anyone with a disability. All they want to do is offer assistance. We never had to wait in line. They always fast tracked you. They had ramps ready. They had accessible routes around the attractions, the museums etc so you felt INCLUDED. They were always smiling and just generally amazing.

Many sites/museums are free for the disabled tourist, (and your carer) – but take proof of your disabilty with you from home. I was in my chair, so it’s as visible as visible can be. But I still took my ‘Blue Badge’. The original one, not a photocopy. I was asked to provide this once – in the Vatican – and all they needed was sight of it. I still struggle with the idea that people might be prepared to fake a disability. But I’m sure they do.

The Colosseum – this is free for the disabled tourist and their plus 1. Despite the Colosseum being centuries old, the authorities have installed a very modern lift providing access to the upper levels. The lift is manned, so that only people struggling with access – be this through disability, parents with toddlers in pushchairs etc – can use the lift. It was fantastic to be able to experience the differing levels with every other tourist. And because the lift was ‘manned’, there was no massive queue, (of people who physically don’t need it), waiting to use it. How civilised! https://parcocolosseo.it/en/

The Roman Forum – this also has a lift, (2 I recall). We managed to get round most of it – even the areas with the massive cobblestones. It seems obvious now, (but not to me when we were there), start at the highest level and work down. We started at the bottom and worked up. We managed. But if it hadn’t been for Lisa’s pushing, I am sure that I wouldn’t have done.

The Vatican – it’s free for the disabled tourist and their plus 1. We managed to get around all of it – even the Sistine Chapel – which is AMAZING.

I would recommend knowing in advance what you want to see in the Vatican. I realise this is a blindingly obvious thing to say). But despite doing my homework before we went, it still surprised me just how bloody enormous it is, and with a never ending stream of artefacts. Definitely an Alice in Wonderland, peering into the rabbit hole moment. Depends what you want, but you could get lost for days.

Here’s a link to the accessibility pages on their website and some photos of the ‘000s of artefacts on display. http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/servizi-per-i-visitatori/accessibilita.html

Gelato – OMG!!! There are loads of gelato shops, (and I’m sure they’re all good). But this gem is tucked away on one of the streets leading away from the front of the Pantheon. https://m.facebook.com/FioccodiNeveRoma/

Freewheel, a.k.a the conversation starter – I’ve already added a link above. But the Freewheel doesn’t just make it easier to get over cobblestones. It’s a talking point because it looks different. It’s made me slow down when I’m doing the whole tourist thing. I’ve now learned to increase the time that I spend at a tourist attraction.

Taking the extra time to talk, and listen, to other tourists who are intrigued, and amazed, over what it does. This is not a moan. I really enjoy this. I’ve met some wonderful people because of it and also picked up some extra tips and accessibility information that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

What have I learned from my travels so far?

First, boutique hotels and airBnBs are now out of the question for me. Chain hotels do the whole disabled access ‘thing’. They’re a large brand and they have to have the coverage. This is no major impediment or issue. It’s market forces. It is ‘what it is’. I might not get the boutique ‘tweaks’. But I do have the peace of mind, before we even leave home, of knowing the accommodation will work for me.

Second, I am accident prone. In fairness, I don’t know whether this latest episode was Lisa’s ‘fault’. I think it was. Rather than my ‘oafishness’.

Was it her ‘enthusiasm’ in pushing me off a high curb to get back to the Colosseum before it closed? After all, it would have taken 10 long seconds more to find that lower curb.

This ‘enthusiasm’ caused the metal bolt holding the wheelchair’s tip bar in place, to literally shear off. Don’t forget me and the chair were shoved over the curb edge in a show of strength that would have rivalled any Marvel Superhero. Or was it because she was using every opportunity to hang duty free purchases, (there were quite a few), from my wheelchair push handles.

Whatever was the cause, a ‘slight’, (and skilful, I should add) reversing of me in the wheelchair – I CAN do more than push forward – caused what felt like a major incident in Fiumicino’s departure hall.

Back I went. But I didn’t stop, (remember the sheared tip bar and push handles loaded like a mule).

I hit the floor like a beetle on its back. When I couldn’t get back up, (a combination of my MS and the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing) I was scooped off the floor by a multitude of fellow travellers and airport officials.

This is a great way to get acquainted with your fellow air passengers. As proof, two people on the plane later asked “if I was the bloke who fell out of my chair?” I’m sure they had a different description of me going through their minds. And it always gives a reassuring answer to the question of whether there’s a Doctor on the flight.

Nothing broken. Taxi for Hurst!