Earlier this year, I really wanted to travel to Europe since I have been to almost every U.S. state and have done domestic travel by myself. I thought that going to Europe by myself would be an unforgettable experience. I then did some research and found a travel agency for the blind based out of the UK called Seable. The one thing that drew me to this agency was not just because they were going to a destination where I wanted to go, but all of their staff who are tour guides on these trips are trained in sighted-guide techniques. (Not that it would be an issue if they were not trained, but it was great that I did not have to explain to them how to properly guide me, etc.) Also, all of the tours were already tested with other visually impaired individuals, so I knew it was going to be accessible.
After many months of planning, I received the itinerary 30 days before the trip, which of course got me even more thrilled. The day finally arrived after flying all night literally with a flight delay. I was finally in London! Once there, getting my transportation to the hotel was pretty complicated because I could not find the person, so I had called one of the staff members who organized the entire trip, and she waited on the phone with me until not only they found me but also to make sure I was in the car successfully and even called them on my behalf trying to locate the driver.
Once at the hotel, I met my amazing tour guide and roommate. Since there were only two of us on this trip, it made it more of an incredibly unforgettable experience because usually there are six or more people who go on these trips, so the fact there were only two of us was really fantastic because we could be a little more flexible with what we partook in which was amazing.
I visited landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and Piccadilly Square. Walking in Westminster Abbey was incredible. It really is an amazing place to be.
The food in London was quite tasty as well. I of course had the fish and chips. (I will never eat fish and chips here in America again – it’s definitely not the same.) The curry was amazing as well as the pizza, and getting to experience my first Sunday roast and English breakfast was awesome.
One of the many highlights for me since it does not happen often is when we were standing in front of Buckingham Palace. The queen and king passed by in their car right in front of us, and also the changing of the guards was really neat too because since the king was there, you could hear them changing and switching. It was awesome! I could not get a picture because they had gone by so fast, but it was still pretty unusual to witness.
One of my favorite tours that I went on was to the crowning of the jewels exhibit near the Tower of London. Sometimes I am quite skeptical of tours where I cannot touch anything because I am totally blind, so I really do not get anything out of them, but this was different. Although I could not touch any of the crowns that they used for the king’s past coronations, our tour guide did an amazing job of describing the crowns and what they looked like in detail. The exhibit’s tour guide who led the tour for us was fantastic as well with both of their descriptions of the different crowns. I did not miss anything, and it was really incredible. They did have a tactile version of a crown which I did get to feel that was really amazing. Even though it was not the real thing, it was still really great that we could get a chance to see the replica. Not only did the leader of the tour describe the crowns in detail, but they also described the jewels that they used and the outfits they were wearing, along with the video that was playing on the screen. Any questions I had, they answered with such descriptive details which I really appreciated.
Another favorite tour of mine was at the British Museum. There is an exhibit where we could touch all of the hieroglyphics and sculptures. I loved this tour because, again, the exhibit’s tour guide who was explaining all about the sculptures to us was amazing and answered all of our questions regarding the pieces we were looking at, but she really went above and beyond and described everything in such amazing detail. It was really neat to get to touch the sculptures and feel the hieroglyphics. Speaking of tactile representations, London did have a tactile version of the city on a map which was also in Braille. While it was a little out of date, it was still amazing to see the city like that.
One other thing that I need to highlight is transportation. When taking the double-decker bus (yes, we took two of those), everyone was really kind, and the staff assisted us on and off the train, along with our sighted tour guide. Not only were the staff friendly at the trains and buses, but they were helpful on the taxi’s as well. It was also really nice to be able to walk to and from everything. I think we walked quite a few miles in five days, but it was all worth it. Here in America, walking like that is not possible because everything is so spread out. But it was really convenient to walk from the train station back to our hotel, or from the pub to the hotel, or from one event to another.
One other observation is that the pharmacies have almost all of the medicine with Braille. I thought this was amazing because in this country, we do not have this, so getting to know what the medicine is that I am getting is really great without having to ask for sighted assistance, except maybe to read the directions, but I was still really impressed that the box was labeled in Braille.
All in all, I had an incredible trip. It was honestly the best trip I have ever been on in my life. Everything was tailored to me as a blind person, from the tours around town to all of the touch tours we experienced. I met up with some amazing friends and made some awesome new ones and have memories that will last a lifetime. I am looking forward to returning to this incredible city once again in a few months for even more epic adventures!