If someone was wondering why I’m not using an electric wheelchair Drama can be one of the answers …
Located in the mountainous region of Greece, Drama is full of hills and slopes, depending on which side of the hill you are located.
In places like these, having an electric chair is a tourist death. Even if the curbs are down, there is always some form of elevation to spoil your luck. That’s why my job is done by the light cavalry, read: Meyra or the mechanical wheelchair, the model from before the new era, the older it is, the better.
However, some walks are even hard for Mayra. For example Drama.
There is one cave in Greece that is supposedly pretty and most importantly wheel friendly. We headed there one summer before the afternoon but we took a wrong turn that led us to a city of about 44,000 inhabitants called Drama.
There’s nothing dramatic about Drama except that it’s hilly.
Drama was allegedly given the name of the word ‘hydra’ which in Greek means ‘a lot of water’.
Near the center of Drama is the place for which it is most famous, the large park Agia Varvara which has a web of channels and a swimming pool that is frequented by many local fauna.
There are a lot of fish in the canal.
We went to the park like inexperienced tourists without a map. We tried to get in on one side, but then Meyra became obstinate.
In front of the park were ‘cubes’ which are untraversable. I had already given up on exploring the park and decided to sit in the first café and sip Greek frappe’s, but since we were late for the cave, let’s send a ‘scout’.
It was fortunate that I did so because I would have missed a lot. Our ‘scout’ returns with the following report: the cubes are only a small part, followed by a reward, a fully customized walking platform.
This is not to be missed, and so there I was, in the green and thick shade beside the water, which at 40 C is immensely good.
Drama justified its name, it’s really on the water. They say that the winter, this park is turned into Santa Claus Village, which is especially popular with Greeks, as they come from the coast to enjoy it.
Otherwise, Drama was once an important place for the distribution of tobacco, as evidenced by the warehouses around the park.
Since pictures speak more than words, here’s how I spent my time in Drama.
Nobody makes a scene, water bubbles, people laugh, and I cool down with pomegranate juice.
Afterwards, we learned that there was a better entrance to the park. Agia Varvara is a true example of how a wheel friendly park should look.
Traveld and enjoyed,
Marko Veličković
