Charlie gone AWOL

The company that redesigned our garden last year has just been round to rectify some of the damage caused by the storm last month. Much of the pathway material had floated off, leaving bare patches in part. They’ve put down another ton of material, tamped it down & reckon still more will be needed. Soon we will be getting a quote for the pruning of the various trees that need to be done. 

He’s also going to give us a quote for the clearing of the wildlife garden. It’s proved too much hard work trying to keep it tidy. Carol has started, but after nearly 6 hours of back-breaking hard work, she’s still only cleared a quarter of it. Part of the problem is that she has only the 2 green bins to dispose of the rubbish. They quickly fill up. This company reckon they could do it in a couple of hours, while another member of staff is doing the pruning.

So now I’ve my time is free this morning, time to tell you about our adventures.

Our first adventure began at Salzburg railway station. I had been told to go to “Information” for the arranged wheelchair assistance.

I duly asked in my best German if anyone spoke English. Admittedly I managed to say it in Norwegian. My mind wasn’t working entirely due to excess tiredness. Fortunately someone did speak English. We told them what we’d come for to be told there was no pre-booked assistance for us & they need at least 24hrs warning for assistance. He suggested we went over to the café while he tried to sort something out.

We gratefully sat down. The Fox leant my stick/stool, Charlie, against the wall. We were both tired. The night before we’d dined with the Fox’s brother & the conversation had gone on until after midnight. We’d had to get an alarm call for 3.30am in order to get to the airport in time. We’d gone to bed but wondered why we were bothering.

Having had a drink I thought I’d slip off to the loo as I’m never sure how accessible the facilities will be on a train. Off I went to find the toilet was locked. There was a buzzer next to it to a person who only spoke German & I didn’t know how to explain in German my needs. The assistant with the key was the other side of a barrier which my wheelchair couldn’t go through. I headed back to Info to see if the assistant there could help.

By this time, the assistant was with the Fox at the café, telling him the booking had in fact been made. There is a train to Vienna at 12.08pm as well as 12.12pm. He’d only looked at the latter. We were booked on the former.

First we headed back to the loo. The Fox was told to come too as it was nearly time for the train so we would go straight to the platform. The Fox hastened on behind, dragging all the luggage behind him. I went to the loo, then we all went onto the platform. The train soon came & we were loaded. It wasn’t until we got to Vienna that we realised the stick/stool, Charlie, was still leaning against the wall in Salzburg station.

We couldn’t go back so we resolved to enquire on the way back.

In Vienna we bought an English/German dictionary. On the last evening we made a list of useful words to explain our needs. So I wrote down “Vo ist das Fundbüro?” (Where is lost property?), “Samstag” & “Sonnabend” (both meaning Saturday, the day we lost the stick), “Stock/Hocker, Stockhocker, Stock und Hocker” (all possible variations for stick/stool), “Segeltuch” (canvas, the material the seat was made of) & finally “braun” (brown the colour of the seat). The Fox also drew Charlie.

Armed with this, when we returned from Vienna I duly asked for directions to the “Fundbüro” to discover it was signed as “Lost & Found”. No stick there. The assistant then took us to the café in case it had been handed in there. No. Someone had clearly walked off with it to the shame of the waitress. She seemed to feel the country had been disgraced by the theft. We reassured her not to get too upset. Such things happen in our country too.

The rest of the holiday, needless to say, had to be spent without Charlie. In the second hotel the doorway into the bathroom wasn’t very wide. I only just managed to get my wheelchair into room with very little space to manœuvre but I had to have something to sit down on while I cleaned my teeth & had a wash.  I can’t just stand for so long. The other times I really missed Charlie was climbing into the taxis in Vienna & back to Salzburg airport. In both cases they were MPVs, with high seats that I find difficult to get into, especially without the support of a stick to push myself up with. The other main time I missed Charlie was when we stopped in some beautiful spot to take a quick snap. Normally I would get out, take the few steps to a vantage point, sit down & take the picture. I would remain sitting while the Fox takes any other photo he wanted. It became a case of either the wheelchair had to be got out – a tiring job for the Fox as it is heavy & awkward to do so – or just let the Fox doing photography & wait in the car.

Now, back in England we have bought another stick/stool, named “Junior” as its seat is in my old school colours, bottle green & navy. 

 It’s quite a relief to get another stick/stool, especially as I tend to do more walking at home than on holiday, where I tend to use my wheelchair more.