Choosing our itinerary was possibly the most exciting process! Reminiscing about places we had been in the past, expressing our dreams of places to see. Knowing we had 8-10 weeks and Europe was our oyster!
The trip idea had originated around Dickey's dream of going over to follow the Giro d'Italia Cycling race so being in Italy in May was the main requirement.
I was desperate to see Berlin. In fact, willing to go alone and miss other countries just to see it. The place that many label as the most amazing city in the world. I had been to Munich three times previously, so it was time to go north. There was also a Berlin City Run I knew of that is held early May every year which I was very keen to line up for.
With atlas in hand we came up with our list, in time realizing that every place had already been visited by one, if not both of us! With excitement we eventually decided on two 'new' countries to include - Budapest & Croatia. We now had an outline to include Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Croatia and Budapest.
When choosing our itinerary it was important to us to not have to rush from place to place and while it was incredibly tempting to add in more, especially in Eastern Europe, we were determined to experience each city we visited, as best a tourist can. Also, it was important to allow for 'buffer' day's, just in case Dickey was feeling exhausted (or I was!) or if things just didn't go to plan as is at times the case with spinal cord injuries. If we were going we so far, we were making the most of it.
Many friends had recommended Croatia and we loved the idea of breaking up Italy and Spain by adding in some beach and sun. When we suggested this to our travel agent (back when we first engaged with one) we were told 'no, don't even attempt it with a wheelchair, it is not accessible at all'. Oh how incredibly uninformed she was and we were so glad we refused to believe we couldn't do it!! True, we were unable to find a wheelchair accessible boat to travel from island to island but we did find a great hotel in Dubrovnik that was fully accessible. Much more on beautiful Dubrovnik coming up in a later post!
Prague is always a must see and you will struggle to find someone who doesn't gush at the mention of this stunning city. We had both been and had fabulous memories. Many of which involved a lot of cheap beer and many underground bars (like most, we had first been there in our 20's!). Prague was in and a way of creating new memories as a couple, through eyes a little wiser and in search of culture and history, as opposed to booze and clubs! We both remembered the cobbles as a challenge when able bodied and were curious to see just how big a challenge they would be with the wheelchair!
Dickey had fabulous memories of visiting Spain and The Basque Country so they became the final chapter of the trip. Some more culture in Barcelona, wine through the Rioja and then on to the sunshine and beaches of San Sebastian. Dickey would then head further south to meet his friends for his bonus two weeks and I would fly back to Melbourne, having exhausted my accrued eight weeks of leave. The itinerary had an outline and we were getting closer to making this dream a reality!
Tough job to choose where to spend time when you had both travelled so much. Not trying to fit too much in is obviously great advice so you can just soak up the atmosphere of a place and get to know it a bit better than the average tourist.
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