Travelling - the funny and the tiring side

The last days in Philadelphia (Philly) went by in no time. Partly because of all the things I saw and heard and the shadows of the farewell to some of the members of the group with whom I had friendly relations - but also because I had a hard time to organize the transfer from the Stratum (University City) to the station. You must know that the distance is only about 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes, to walk. And I also knew after my experience at the arrival that I could try to take any normal taxicab - and hope that the driver would be willing to lift the 140 pounds (65 kg) of the Swisstrac in the trunk of his car. BUT for one I don't like very much the idea of letting lift my assistive devices (there is always a danger of damaging something, if you are note used to do it - and ON THE OTHER HAND I was curious to find out if the big City of Philly (1.5 millions of inhabitants) would not offer the possibility of a wheelchair accessible taxicab - or at least a Paratransit Service (like Promobil in Zuerich). The taxicab companies which I contacted did not offer this kind of vehicle (even if according to my researches on the Web there was a prototype presented in Philadelphia in 2006). I knew indeed that there is a Paratransit Service (called CCT, Customized Community Transportation) in Philly, but I thought they would offer this service only to residents. Nevertheless I made several calls and was connected to a lot of employees, some of them very friendly. So after two days I even had a so called registration number, which should have permitted me to book a ride. But when I tried to book a ride with this number one of these nice ladies had to tell me that her manager said no. And guess why? For security reasons - as they (despite all my explanations given in the course of the registration procedure) had no idea what a Swisstrac was like, "the manager" feared it could harm the security of the other passengers (as CCT is often a shared ride, that means there can be other passengers in the van)!!

Anyway, in the end I called a normal taxicab with a large trunk, organized one of the young guys at the Stratum to help lifting the Swisstrak in the trunk and off we went to the station of Philly in no time ... But it had been an exhausting search, and this in a country under the ADA law!

Very similar was the experience I made when I was trying to book my travel with Amtrak (before leaving Zuerich). The manager had claimed that there would not be enough space for my wheelchair and the Trac (it is always the manager who makes a fuss and it's always a story of "security" or of "policy"). Therefore to come to an end of the booking procedure I had pretended (with the consent of the friendly lady at the front desk) that my wheelchair would fold up, in order to be able to book a transfer seat (which would permit me to transfer to a normal seat on the train). And guess what: at the station there was absolutely no problem with the Red Caps (Porters), who were very friendly and helpful - and on the very modern and clean train I had plenty of space for my wheelchair and myself!

Needless to say that these kind of experiences may sound funny, but only when they lay behind me, the experience itself provokes stress and anger in me.

I was so exhausted and tired on the arrival at Boston, that I compelled the taxi driver and the Red Cap to lift my Trac in the trunk of the car - and I realized only afterwards that this one was a wheelchair accessible taxicab with a ramp - there are plenty of those in Boston, as incredible as it may sound after my experience in Philly!

You know, when you are traveling in a foreign country and speaking a foreign language you sometimes can become "blind" and unable to recognize the reality, especially when you are fighting to avoid troubles ... I apologized to the cab driver, who was a really nice guy. with a daughter who is studying mathematics!

As time permits, I'll give you more details about Boston (and the Sewall Inn), which both seem to be very pleasant places. For now I need some sleep.