A trip to St. Petersburg with Liberty, September 2011. Part 1. Hotel "New Peterhof"

The first time, then still in Leningrad, I was in 1989, when I was 11 years old and that trip was mostly remembered by the film "Assa", to the premiere of which we went to the cinema late in the evening, an unusual metro, in which, unlike Moscow access to the tracks is closed by doors, but most of all I remember the trip by the fact that you could eat cervelat indefinitely, which I loved very much and which at that time was real, not like the current one and we ate it only on holidays :) Then we took it with me as a dry ration while visiting museums, and I also remember that my brother fed me overcooked "Doctor's sausage" for breakfast - then it was believed that this sausage was made exclusively from toilet paper and even cats disdained to eat it :) Well, of course The Kunstkamera made an impression on me, but most of all I remembered a visit to the Hermitage, or rather, wild fatigue from its endless floors, halls and art galleries and the fact that there was nowhere to sit and rest whip. Since that time, I have developed a persistent dislike for this kind of museums. I just want to say to those who have small children - parents, do not take them to early age in large art galleries, otherwise you will discourage interest in them for the rest of your life :) (But now I heartily enough ... and there is an acute desire to stand and wander :)) In general, as you probably already understood, from that trip I have remained in to a greater extent gastronomic than cultural and historical memories :).

Many years have passed since then, Leningrad is long gone, but there is St. Petersburg, and I wanted to visit this city again, especially after the colorful celebration of its 300th anniversary.
And then at the end of August, quite unexpectedly, I was invited to go to St. Petersburg and join the group of wheelchair users, the trip for which was organized by the travel company Liberty: http://www.libertytour.ru/ my whole vacation was already planned, but then I remembered that Sapsan goes to St. Petersburg and I can easily go there for the weekend if I go from Moscow by train, which departs at 19:45 every day and arrives at 23:30 and returns on Monday early in the morning, taking the train, which leaves at 06:45 am. The journey takes only 4.5 hours.
I was even glad that there would be no need to issue any visas and go somewhere through Moscow traffic jams, because I just wanted to buy a ticket on the Russian Railways website: http://ticket.rzd.ru/isvp/public/ticket. But it was not there, I could not find information on the website how to buy a ticket for the only wheelchair-accessible seat on the Sapsan train. A place for disabled people is located in the 6th carriage, which can be seen in the diagram. I had to call the single Russian Railways help center, where they told me that tickets for seats for disabled people can be bought only at the ticket offices of the Leningradsky railway station, upon presentation of an ITU disability certificate.
But even here it turned out to be not so simple, because without me they did not want to sell a ticket to my mother, but after persuasion they did sell it, but only there, to St. Petersburg, they did not return, they said that you can only buy it back in St. Petersburg (this is that I would be there at half past eleven at night and what about the availability of the station - there was no clarity). After another consultation with the information center and another trip to the station, I managed to buy a return ticket. Moreover, there is no question of any discounts, I just wanted to buy a ticket at the usual price, but for a place intended for a disabled person. And this is at such and such prices. It's easier to fly by plane.

Sometimes I just want to look into the eyes of these specific people who come up with all these procedures for purchasing tickets for places intended for disabled people and ask: Why ??? !!! Didn't your mother breastfeed you as a child (as it was said in one good film)?

It’s even interesting, the Olympics will soon be, and after it the Paralympics, and after Sochi some foreigner wants to visit Moscow at the same time, and then in St. Petersburg. And how this unfortunate and wretched foreigner, whom God did not make the happy owner of a certificate of disability from the Bureau of Medical Social Expertise (ITU), will buy himself a ticket to the Sapsan ???

And now about the trip itself.
After late Friday night I arrived at Moskovsky railway station in St. Petersburg, Igor (Liberty's representative) met me and took me to Peterhof, which is located 40 minutes from St. Petersburg, to the New Peterhof hotel. I'll tell you straight that it's not the most best location for the hotel, taking into account the fact that every day on the way back and forth it was necessary to spend 40 minutes each way.

Hotel "New Peterhof":

The main entrance where the hotel lobby is located:

Photos of room 3212 where I lived (the room is located on the 3rd floor):

There is no desire to criticize the hotel, as to be honest, I liked him, but since I started to write a report, you have to be objective. Here are photos of the bathroom, taken in the "best traditions" of our reality. As you can see in the photo, there is no handrail on the left on the wall, where I would like it to be, and on the right there is only an attachment for it, but there is no handrail itself either (although I don't really need it here, because on this side you drive up in a wheelchair and the handrail is more in the way than it helps). The sink is too low and you rest your knees on it:

It's even a shame! It can be seen that the hotel is new, that everything is done well, but where it concerns the disabled, it is done crazy :(

Here is a photo of a shower - a similar situation. Everything was done seemingly civilly and beautifully, but at the bottom there is a fairly high side, through which it is difficult to move on a wheelchairespecially when wet:

At the same time, in another building, in another accessible room, everything seems to have been done correctly, as can be seen in the photo posted on the hotel's website, in any case there is no side there.

The cost of living included only breakfast, while lunch and dinner are quite expensive, and within a radius of several blocks I did not find a single affordable store or restaurant.

If you are planning to travel to St. Petersburg on your own, then this hotel is unlikely to suit you, because it will be very expensive to take a taxi for 40 minutes, to St. Petersburg and back, it is easier to find a hotel in the city center right away.

Next to the hotel is the Olga's pond, around which you can take a stroll in a wheelchair (it was already cool enough to swim, so I have not tested the pond :)):

And right next to the hotel, across the road, there is a very beautiful Church of Peter and Paul:

In which you can go on a kind of ramp, but only with very strong outside help.

The next report contains a story about Peterhof. A trip to St. Petersburg with Liberty, September 2011. Part 1. Hotel New Peterhof

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About us

Travel agency for disabled people "Liberty" is the first travel agency in Russia for people with disabilities... Ideas about tourism for disabled people in Russia have been in the air for a long time, but no one has yet undertaken their implementation. This is associated with incredible difficulties that the travel company cannot solve on its own.

Liberty Digging is an energetic team united by one idea. Among the founders of our company are the St. Petersburg Regional Public Organization of the Disabled and the creators of the city social and political newspaper for the disabled "We are part of society."

One of our goals is to promote the idea of \u200b\u200bcity accessibility. You can, of course, wait for St. Petersburg to change itself and meet European standards. But, unfortunately, due to the peculiarities of the mentality, the principle "until the roasted rooster bites ..." will operate for a long time, and meanwhile, time goes on, and Venice of the North remains a city whose beauty a wheelchair user can only read in books ...

The St. Petersburg.ru correspondent met with the founders of Russia's first travel agency for wheelchair users and learned that there is a business that does not feed, but warms the soul. During the existence of the social projects of our portal "Letter to the Governor" and "Citizens Advise", thousands of people have already contacted us. In the first project, Petersburgers complain about their problems and ask for help, in the second they give their advice, as a rule, of social significance. Reading the letters of the townspeople every day, we had the idea to find people in St. Petersburg who do not advise, but are already making the world a better place.

We decided to start with representatives of social business, who, as it turned out, could be counted on one hand not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Russia.

Found your niche

Classmates Natalya and Maria have dreamed of their own business since school. The fact that by opening their own business, the girls would be able to open the whole world for someone, the friends could hardly have imagined then.

The idea of \u200b\u200borganizing travel for people with disabilities appeared a long time ago, "suddenly" and "quickly".

"I have an economic education, Masha has a philological education," says Natalya. "We both had experience working as guides; starting our business, we wanted to stay in tourism, but at the same time find our niche to withstand the competition."

The niche was found unexpectedly - the girls still recall with indignation the picture they saw in the past of how a disabled person in a wheelchair is "shoved" into an ordinary tourist bus.

“We realized that it shouldn't be like this,” there were no questions left, the girls began to act.

“Then, years later, having rummaged in the subconscious, we compared that both of us had spinal injuries in deep childhood: Natalya had a sports injury, and I fell off the sled,” says Maria.

Without government assistance

“If 8 years ago we knew that it would be so hard, we would probably be scared,” the friends admit. “But now we can’t imagine ourselves in another.”

Travel agency "Liberty" was established in 2004 as a limited liability company. In the all-Russian modifier of economic activity, where each enterprise is marked by the nature of its business, the concept of social entrepreneurship in general and "tourism for the disabled" in particular does not appear. The committee on social policyas it turned out, they don't even know such a term. In Russia, social entrepreneurship is not legally enshrined, which means that Russian "good businessmen" cannot expect support from the state, as is customary in the West. No interest-free loans, no rental benefits, or any other help.

"The only ones who supported us at this level are the Our Future Foundation for Regional Social Programs - again non-profit organization... They search the country for social entrepreneurship projects. And they hold a competition every year. In 2010, we won a competition and received an interest-free loan. The administration found out about us by chance, representatives of the tourism committee and the committee for investments and strategic projects approached us at an exhibition in Finland ... they needed advice. There has been no government assistance yet. "

It all started with 10 thousand rubles. - the minimum that a legal entity had to have in order to open its own business. At first, only tours for foreigners around the city were organized. There was no office, no transport.

Inexpensive tourism

It should be noted that tourism for people with disabilities in itself is more expensive than tourism "on healthy feet", as it is non-mass travel.

“If in regular tours the price is reduced due to the number of tourists, then we cannot take a whole plane or a bus,” explains Natalya. “We have either individuals of 2-4 people, or mini-groups of up to 15 people. The costs are divided into 15 people. not 50, as in regular tourist buses. "

“If we work with Russians, we don’t earn a penny,” Maria admits. “We just keep this social area. We earn on foreigners, here we can afford the market price. We exist for these funds. We urge not to earn on Russian disabled people. and our partners, for example, ask us to lower prices for accommodation or meals, on excursions. Many agree. For example, our regular partners provided us with headphones for excursions free of charge. "

Transport is harder, discounts are hard to come by. And not all of them.

“Now we have started cooperation with ferries. Sometimes airlines meet halfway (if we don't often contact them). When we did our first tour to Paris, Rossiya Airlines changed the plane specifically because of our 9 wheelchair users so that we could all fit. buses have never provided discounts, - says Natalya. - We have two minibuses. And now we plan to do only with them. One bus was borrowed on a loan with interest and all the ensuing consequences in 2007. The second bus this year was helped by an international a pharmaceutical company. They learned about us from the fund "Our Future" and allocated funds for us according to the estimate. "

And here is just a reservation. There are no special buses equipped for wheelchair users on the market. Therefore, first, the travel agency had to buy a van, then look for a partner who would convert this van for disabled people (and this service, it turns out, costs more than the bus itself).

“On average, due to expensive imported equipment - specialized fasteners for strollers and an elevator - a bus for disabled people costs 500 thousand more than a regular one,” Natalya explains.

"We cannot say that this business feeds us. With Russians and citizens of the former Soviet republics, we try to get at least zero. Sometimes we pay extra ourselves to make the tour take place," adds Maria.

Until now, officially "Liberty" is two people, two organizing directors, the rest work under a contract or on a volunteer basis.

Twice as difficult

Tourism for disabled people seems to be the same: travel - hotel - food - excursions, but still twice as difficult. This entire chain must be accessible to a wheelchair user. Therefore, before each tour, each intended place for a trip should be examined for the presence of ramps, specially equipped toilets, elevators and other things.

"Hotels with specialized rooms appeared only recently," Maria says. "Previously, only 5-star hotels had 1 room for wheelchair users. We have groups of tourists, we could not take a hotel for a tour. Then, about 6 years ago, appeared hotel Petro Palas with 12 rooms, now there are more such hotels ".

"Having chosen the proposed place of travel, either one of us, or volunteers, or a hired person goes there, looks for a hotel, builds a route from the available museums, etc. We make a plan, everything is measured with a tape measure, checked. And we understand, we can do we go there or not. "

At first "Liberty" organized tours only for foreigners in more or less familiar Petersburg, then "explored" Moscow. Then Novgorod, Vyborg, the Golden Ring, Kiev were added.

Now "Liberty" is preparing the legendary route for foreign tourists Transsib: St. Petersburg - Moscow - Kazan - Novosibirsk - Yekaterinburg - Irkutsk - Khabarovsk - Vladivostok.

“This route is very popular among foreigners, many believe that at least once in a lifetime it is necessary to pass the Trans-Siberian Railway,” our interlocutors shared their plans. “We will travel by train. Russian Railways has trains with specially equipped compartments. There are not many such trains, 40 pieces, one compartment in each. The list of these selected routes is on the Russian Railways website. Now, for example, a girl from the small town of Yaransk, Kirov region, is coming to us for a Paris tour, we picked up a train from Chelyabinsk-Petersburg especially for her, at a very small station , where the train stops for only a minute, she will be lifted into a special carriage. Warn that such a passenger will be in the carriage in advance. Since disabled people rarely travel, these compartments are usually littered with the things of the conductors. "

For Russians, the most popular are budget tours around the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Of the "expensive" trips - the dream city of Paris (where, by the way, the group went last weekend), this year there was a ferry tour Petersburg-Helsinki-Stockholm-Tallinn.

“Every year we offer 5-6 rounds for Russians. This is very little, but we can't get a group for more,” Maria admits. “And then usually only 2 out of 5 rounds are recruited. So, last year we went to Paris, tours to Italy and the Czech Republic failed. "

“Russia is becoming not very popular among foreign tourists,” the directors of Liberty admit. “St. Petersburg and Moscow are too expensive, and foreigners know little about other cities.”

Checked for availability

The most accessible for people in wheelchairs, according to the research of "Liberty", is Barcelona. Good availability in Germany, but there is no demand there.

“Everyone traditionally wants to go to Paris,” Maria admits. “In the French capital, not everything is simple, for example, the metro is not available to us, we need to know the bus routes. There is a demand for Italy, it’s more difficult there, but we also do it.”

If we take Russia, according to Liberty's research, Petersburg turned out to be more accessible than Moscow.

“We have a lot of half-hearted, ill-conceived accessibility, - says Maria. - Many hotels, museums, transport are trying to make it accessible, but they do not know the standards. For example, one hotel announced that they have 25 rooms available. Not believing in their happiness , we rushed there, and there only a huge iron ramp was installed. The entrance to the rooms is 50 cm, a full person will not pass, not like a wheelchair. They installed ramps in the metro, and we calmed down. Or there is an elevator in the museum, and to it the stairs lead. "

The most accessible of the St. Petersburg museums was the Hermitage. Every year Natalya and Maria bring tourists here on a classic sightseeing tour. But not everything is perfect here either. At least once a season, the lifting device at the ticket offices breaks down, rare rooms (for example, antiquity) are not always available, so before the hike you need to call and clarify everything.

"Once or twice a season we go to the Museum of the History of Religion. There is an amazingly sincere atmosphere. And, of course, a very important thing for us: a huge freight elevator. In the Peter and Paul Fortress and St. Isaac's Cathedral lifting devices... The lift in the Russian Museum has broken down, now it is inaccessible for the disabled, "Maria says on her fingers.

It happens that, having seen how the Liberty tourists move in an organized manner with their lifting devices, museums carry out "work on mistakes" and become more accessible. The girls remember how long they went to the Savior on Spilled Blood with their 40-kilogram aluminum ramp.

“The Savior on Spilled Blood is included in the program of the obligatory sightseeing tour, we had to carry everything with us,” the directors of Liberty say. “After 5 years, they finally got their own ramp.”

Or here's another example: “On the website of the Catherine Palace, we accidentally found a mention that they had an elevator. It turned out that the administrators themselves did not know that they had it, it was not put into operation. The palace met us and started the elevator. And it is not so easy. At first, each time we had to raise three services of the Palace: security, technical service and administrators. "

In almost all museums, everything changes every year: for some, something breaks, for someone, on the contrary, something appears, so research should be carried out annually.

So far "Liberty" works only with wheelchair users. If a disabled person needs an accompanying person, then he travels for the same cost. The whole family can travel with the disabled person. "If a disabled person does not need an accompanying person and he believes that he can cope on his own, we do not demand," the organizers explain. "We always specify what kind of help they need, help with luggage, cut food or something else."

Disabled Visas

"The consulates declare that they make visas for disabled people free of charge. Accompanying people are always questionable, although this is, in fact, a" free supplement for a disabled person "and should not be regarded as an independent tourist, - explains Maria. on a trip we write a petition with a request to exempt our group from the collection, sometimes they meet us halfway. It happens that the consulate gives visas on such conditions only to disabled people of group I. a girl from Yaransk does not need to go to the visa center in Moscow, we make her a visa in the North-West. "

Concerts and dating

Demand creates supply. There were many "rockers" among the Petersburg wheelchair users, and then "Liberty" began to organize concert tours for performances of rock bands.

“For one year we just didn’t get out of the concerts,” recalls Maria. “For example, in the Ice Palace there is a special area for wheelchairs between the stage and the dance floor. We asked for free admission, for a while they came to meet us.”