I got the fabulous opportunity of going to Paris with my PowerChair Football team from October 25th to November 7th except but I decided to stay until the 12th. I figure we did pretty well for our first World Cup for Canada and we had amazing volunteers for the week for transportation primarily. When the team left to come back to Vancouver I made my way to the train station which the volunteers helped drive me there to get to London for 2 days which I am so glad they did. On the 9th I drove around London for 5 hours sight seeing, going on the London eye which was pretty wicked and I got to see the big Ben but couldn't go in because of parliament. I then went to see what the Apple store looked likeI then took the train from London to Manchester to visit my sister who I have not seen for nearly 15 years and so she, her husband and adorable 2 year old daughter drove down to meet me which was about 1 1/2 hours away from where she lives to the hostel Matt and I were staying at and we spent about 2 hours catching up which I found very emotional and she reminded me of all the wonderful times we had together as kids and how my brothers and her used to put me on a skateboard and roll me down my mom's best friend's driveway. She also reminded me that I was very adventurous and that we got on so well and I really miss that. I really wish I could remember that because when she described it to me it sounded so good.
We then headed back to London on the 11th which took a 2 hour train ride and met a friend's of Matt's for lunch and it was so cold and so I had to wear a scarf that one of the driver's gave me in Paris and gloves that I luckily bought for the trip and after lunch Matt and I went down Oxford street which is a shopping district. I am always interested to see different Apple stores so I went in and checked it out. So beautiful. After that we walked back to our hotel which was the Holiday inn heathrow and had one last dinner together and packed to leave for the airport the next day.
Overall the trip was amazing. I really needed to get out of North America for a while and it was a good experience. It was a absolute pleasure to see my sister for the first time in nearly 15 years and her husband with their daughter. Out of all three cities that I visited I have to say I loved London the best. I thought it was really strange how they drive on the opposite side of the road and also how old the buildings are. Paris was sometimes difficult because of the language barrier (I don't speak much French)and because of the accessibility although it was an issue all through my trip. I didn't find Manchester to be appealing for a reason that I can't explain because I don't know. I also found it very interesting that people did not ask me anything about my disability or why I am in a wheelchair which I of course loved
