Well, we have been very busy! The concert on Saturday and then the zoo yesterday! Today we took off just to relax. No pictures taken! We hung out on the terrace for the hotel – I knitted and Andrew did what he does best – sat there and pondered life!
So let’s call this post Miscellaneous with two topics. Let’s start off with:
Graffiti or Tagging
In Spain it seems there is a LARGE problem with graffiti or tagging buildings, overpasses, sides of highways – you get the drift. Mostly it is on things that are not very accessible to be cleaned off or painted over it seems. I am finding it similar to how it looks in Los Angeles – there is a LOT of tagging that goes on there too – especially in certain cities in the Metropolitan area of LA. So this is a fact of life – kids these days like to spray paint as I guess they have nothing else better to do! However when does the “tagging” turn into art? We have also seen some beautiful artwork on buildings which I have included as I have gone along – however until now I refused to include pictures of the graffiti. I have come to the realization though that it is not the true Spain that I am showing – so here are some pictures of what we have seen in the last few days – the only thing I was not fast enough to catch was a train we saw that was completely covered in tags! Not sure if that was on purpose or not – it went by pretty fast!
Having a Disability
It has been interesting having a mobility disability in Italy and Spain. I was aware before traveling (based on our trip in 2019) that both these countries provide discounted (concession) rates for people with disabilities. Over 50% of the places that we have visited list the discounted rate as such – Person with 33% or 75% disability are eligible for X discounted rate. Now, in Canada, like the USA, we do not register nor do we assign a value to people’s disability in general. I have a rating that WorkSafe used to determine my pension, however that is different calculation. So luckily when we have been here as soon as I start talking in English and they see my “strange” walker (they do not have rollators here), generally give me the discounted rate or I pay the full rate and Andrew gets in free as my companion. It is a very strange system never the less. At the Vatican was the only place I had to actually show something related to a disability that had a number on it – so I used my HandyDart card and they accepted it as it has a registration number on it! Who knew that would come in handy in Italy! In Barcelona, where the Olympics were held, the accessibility is fairly good – most of the subway system is accessible – the stations that are not are marked on the map. The busses are accessible – after the disaster bus ride in Rome, I was hesitant to try again and on our 3rd ride the driver actually put the ramp down for me! All the other times I lifted my walker onto the bus. Hotels – well that is another story. I will save that for later when I summarize my hotel stays and experiences!