Athens, agapi mou (my love), a challenge for anyone not able-bodied

I love Athens and have been there three times, once for almost two months, almost making me feel like a regular citizen! I returned recently with my partner, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. We knew that Athens is old (well, surprise!). And I thought I'd known the infrastructure better than it is. We also surveyed, online, our exquisite neighborhood immediately south of the Acropolis, thinking the sidewalks were in better shape than they actually are. Well, in reality, in many respects they are deplorable - uneven, crumbling, narrow and often obstructed by trees or drains, with no curb cuts on certain blocks and those that do exist often corroded with gaps between sidewalk and streets.  I'm not really complaining about this though there's no question the situation should be improved. We tried the best we could to handle the streetscapes. This included travelling on the streets themselves including our busy street, trying to walk against traffic and squeeze to the side of the road or ducking between cars to avoid large vehicles. We weren't unique; many Athenians routinely walk on the streets rather than the haphazard, decayed and uneven sidewalks. Moreover, because of the lack of curb cuts on our block we often relied on the kindness of strangers to help my partner get from the sidewalk on to the street and into her wheelchair. That aside, we were surprised, even shocked, by one glaring inaccessible tourist site. This of course was the iconic historical Parthenon atop the 2500 year old built Acropolis, considered, of course, the cradle of Western civilization. I'd been up there previously. My partner wanted to visit for the first time. We'd also read that the site had installed a spiffy new elevator on the hill's north side, courtesy in part of the,

yes, Onassis Foundation. Says one website, the elevator makes "one of Athens' most iconic landmarks accessible to visitors with limited mobility, people with disabilities, elderly tourists, and parents with small children." The only problem is that it doesn't. Sure, the elevator itself whisks people - room for two wheelchairs and two attendants - to the top in 32 seconds, offering a glassed-in panoramic view of the city as it rises. The problem is you have to get to it. I'd originally though the lift would be built from street level to the top. But it isn't. It's base is partly up the premonitory. Getting there is the nut to crack. One must traverse cobblestoned or uneven large stone walkways winding around the Acropolis rising continually until you get to the western side ticket office. Only then, and again slightly uphill, are there the turnstiles and a small fleet of golf carts to take the disabled person further on to the lift's base. I posted on an Athens facebook page about this and while most comments were supportive I was surprised by some who thought we wanted to visit something akin to "Disneyworld" or the site be like a "McDonald's drive-thru." It would be interesting what these people would say if they were in my partner's position, with almost no core strength and not able to walk one step without two canes and few steps beyond. My solution: there should be vehicles (golfcarts, if you will, or the sturdier kind of three-row assist carts found in airports) taking the disabled from all the ground ticket offices - regardless of their location -  right up the hill to the elevator itself.