It’s been a few weeks since arriving home from our trip. My last travel post was from Poland and amongst the beautiful nature. After a couple more days with Kasia’s family we headed westwards for our next cool project. This time with the German tourist board.

Within an hour we were near Berlin. The first thing that strikes you in Germany is how efficient the roads are. On the autobahn (motorway) there’s less restrictions on speed. Which does sound scary, but actually works very well. With a good soundtrack or audio book, and roadtrip snacks; we ticked off the next couple of hours very quickly.

As we turned off of the main roads and arrived in the region of Lower Saxony, we were struck by the beautiful nature. There was lots of green scenery and water flowing amongst it. After around 4 or 5 hours of driving we arrived in Bad Bevensen. Our home for the next couple of days.

Our hotel was called ‘Guesthouse Bad Bevensen’ in English. You can see more information here. We were greeted by Susanne from their marketing team, signposted to the car park and bedroom, and arranged to have a tour once we’d settled in. The car park was full of accessible parking spaces and we had 1 of 100 accessible rooms. Always a good start to an accessible travel experience right?

The rooms had electric beds which are very useful for people with my type of disability. It’s nice to sit up in bed and watch TV or just to move a bit in the night. Also the bathroom had the very vital roll-in shower. We’d brought my hoist and shower chair in the car, but they also had all of this equipment in house too.

So after a freshen up we headed for the hotel tour. Set on 4 levels, there was plenty to see. The first thing that struck me was the 2 lifts, to help ease the rush hour traffic at dinner time. We were on the top floor and therefore enjoyed the balcony view of the nearby forests and also noted the fully plenished library next to it. Great for a chilled afternoon.

The rest of our floor and the third floor were bedrooms. On the second floor there was a variety of fitness and wellbeing amenities. The guests are able to participate in various daily classes including aerobics and an accessible form of yoga. The thing that grabbed Kasia and I was the steam room and sauna. So later on I hoisted into my shower chair and we headed down for a delightful warming with relaxing sounds and nice smells.

On the ground floor there was the reception and a huge dining area. We enjoyed breakfasts and dinners during our stay there. My favourite was the Italian themed evening. We also hung out in the bar area, which is situated both indoors and outdoors. Always good to sink a few beverages when on holiday 🙂

During our whistle-stop visit to Lower Saxony we had an amazing activity arranged. It was truly original. We spent a time with a group of Llamas. Yes that’s right. Llamas.

We met the rather edgy looking Llamas at the hotel. Of course alongside the owners of the company too. Very quickly we were told very calming information about these exotic but edgy looking animals. We learned that they don’t kick and only spit at each other when left alone. Phew! In fact they were probably more concerned than we were.

Feeling less worried we walked around the forest nearby. We then learned about how the Llama therapy can help disabled people with things like muscle spasms. A very interesting attribute. After a while we stopped for cookies and red wine. A really nice picnic during a very memorable excursion. The scenery was spectacular.

Naturally you wouldn’t just go to Lower Saxony and Bad Bevensen for Llama time. However as one activity to try I can definitely recommend it. I’d also encourage you to stay for 4 nights or more and make the most of the many places on offer in this part of Germany.

If you want to learn more about BarrierFree Germany and the many initiatives going on do click here. You can follow more of the campaign on twitter with the hashtag #BarrierFreeGermany. If I’ve whet your appetite about Lower Saxony specifically then head here too.

On the way home we had a fantastic experience with DFDS ferries. Thank you to them for a great accessible sail home. Now I’m remembering this great trip and thinking about where to go next time.

Martyn

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