Touching, Tasting and Listening to London, London, England (B)

Travelling with groups organised by TravelEyes has brought a whole new meaning to sightseeing for me. In London we touched iconic buildings, tasted traditional cuisine and listened to the music of the Regimental Band marching to Buckingham Palace.

TravelEyes is an international tour operator that was established by Amar Latif who is blind. It enables the visually impaired to enjoy quality package holidays all over the world by organising groups combining visually impaired travellers with sighted travellers. The sighted travellers are offered a good discount as their role is to act as guides to the visually impaired. It is a rewarding experience for both parties especially in cities such as London where some attractions organise special tours for the visually impaired. Our tour started with a guided walking tour featuring English monarchs past and present.

Our tour started in Parliament Square. It was led by Robin Spencer who works with Free London Walking Tours. After leaving Parliament Square we walked down Birdcage Walk alongside St James’s Park. Robin’s commentary was peppered with fascinating stories including the provenance of the London Plane tree and the origins of street names. For example, Bird Cage Walk was originally the home of an aviary created by James 1 and enlarged by his grandson, Charles II. The birds were kept in cages that were hung on the trees lining this road. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).