That trip to the Barbican Centre . . .was a bit of a disaster. Again.
We abandoned the Tube after the last attempt, and went for the bus instead. The bus from Paddington towards the Barbican is run, it would appear, by Stagecoach. 'Nuff said. Well, no, I've quite a bit to say about them . . .
As comedy is all about timing, voyaging in a wheelchair is about planning. As comedians can never have enough jokes, if you're taking a trip on public transport, you can never have enough maps.
We thought we'd recognise the nearest stop . . .We didn't. Somehow, we ended up going round in circles. Literally. Around Finsbury Square. Twice. Passers-by were helpful . . .sort of. A young couple, though, suggested heading for Liverpool Street station. Been there, done that. Twice as far away from the Barbican as we thought we were. and no, you can't get a wheelchair on the Tube from Liverpool Street to Barbican Station as they suggested, though admittedly they couldn't really be expected to know that.
Another directed us to Moorgate station; which we found, eventually. But then, confused by roadworks and dug-up pavements, which of course, neither an A-Z nor Google Maps on a smartphone had any knowledge of, took a wrong turning and ended up at Finsbury Square. Again.
Still, we did make it eventually.
But the way back . . .I'm going to abandon the 205 route. The buses are old . . .obviously recycled from somewhere near a scrapheap. My spine felt every damn jolt. And we had to catch two buses; one abandoned its struggle for life somewhere around Baker Street. And the ramp had stopped functioning.
At least the driver was ready to help, and came round to lift the wheelchair off; he was actually ready to lift me off in it as well, but I can at least stand and walk a bit, so I managed to save him from the kind of spinal injury that put me in a wheelchair in the first place . . .
And the second's wheelchair space was obviously an afterthought. I've never seen a bus quite like it: the exit door and ramp were almost next to the front door, and the wheelchair space a metre away from it. Not an easy manoeuvre to get into. Or out of. People had to get out of their seats and stand so I could get in.
Stagecoach, eh? Wild horses are not going to get me onto one of their damn buses again.
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