Travel Blog 2 – London

This is the second of our travel blogs and it comes again from Stefan Crocker.  This blog deals with the trip he and his friend took to London to see Iron Maiden at the 02.

I embarked on my weekend trip to London with a touch of trepidation. This was because I was spending it with my blind friend Graham and so I had a lot of responsibility. My travel commenced on the East Midlands fast service to St Pancras International. I noticed after posting in my last blog I forgot to point out there are lifts to and from all platforms in St Pancras International, this is important for guide dog users. I was early for meeting my friend, so I wandered over to Kings Cross station. I advise those with severely reduced sight to get assistance crossing the road to Kings Cross as the crossing is a tad unsafe. Whilst waiting I found a lovely pub called the Parcel Yard in Kings Cross station, not far from the information point. There are steps up to it but I am uncertain if there is a lift.

Once I collected my friend we started our journey to Premier Inn Waterloo (Westminster Bridge), the base location for our action packed weekend. When we arrived at the underground ticket barrier we requested assistance and they escorted us, after a long walk at St Pancras, to the platform via the lifts. Assistance went smoothly and we were collected at Oxford Circus and took the short walk to the Piccadilly line platform to Waterloo. Once at Waterloo they assisted out of the station via the lifts on to Waterloo Road, from where we walked up and around the corner on to York Road using the Blindsquare app to arrive at the Premier Inn.

The staff at the Premier Inn were very helpful. They walked us up to our room and showed us where the stairs are located. They assisted us to and with breakfast every day of the weekend. We walked back to Waterloo and found the information desk in the centre of the station to request assistance down to the underground via the lifts. Using underground assistance a smooth journey to North Greenwich via Oxford Circus was accomplished. Underground staff handed us over to The O2 staff.

The O2 staff kindly deposited us at All Bar One to grab some grub. The woman helping us kindly explained how they would look after us and when customer services will take the guide dog. We agreed to skip the support act and wait for Iron Maiden. They collected us from All Bar One, took us through security and seated us in our seats. Following a brilliant concert, the said member of staff came back and collected us. En route out of the arena we collected Graham’s guide dog, who slept through the entire concert. We took the executive decision to catch, a rather expensive, taxi back to the hotel. The O2 staff member assisted us in catching a taxi and the taxi driver assisted us in getting out of the taxi outside of the hotel.

On the Saturday we travelled to Kensington (Olympia) via Clapham Junction. This was an over-ground railway journey. We received assistance at Clapham Junction and when we arrived at Kensington the staff member walked us over to the Olympia and handed us over to staff hosting the beer festival. I had not requested assistance at the event as I had enough sight to get Graham around the festival and asked when we were at different bars. Due to the dog staff did come up to us to make sure we were okay and offered water for the dog. We retraced our steps to the station across the road and with assistance travelled back to Waterloo.

Sunday arrived and we checked out and decided to head over to Covent Garden for a spot of lunch before heading home. Our destination was Lowlander Grand Café and requested assistance at the information point at Waterloo. Over ground staff handed us over to underground staff and they assisted us on the journey to Covent Garden. We changed at Green Park for Covent Garden. At Covent Garden the underground staff member walked us out of the station on to the Plaza gave us directions which we attempted to follow. We thought we had found the location as we had found Drury Lane but could not find the Café, after asking in a shop we found the Café. The staff in the Café were very helpful, they read the food and extremely long beer menu and brought all drinks to the table. If Belgian beer is your thing I recommend Lowlander. We caught the underground to Kings Cross St Pancras and assistance walked us to Kings Cross first for Graham to catch his train. We were pleased to receive a free coffee in Pret a Manger whilst waiting for Graham’s train to York.