Amsterdam

When you think of Amsterdam, the first things that come to mind are sex and drugs. The legalisation of prostitution and cannabis makes the capital city a popular destination for those who have a freer outlook on life. For someone who religiously goes to bed at 9pm, doesn’t drink or smoke and certainly doesn’t condone prostitution it is a wonder why I was on board when my friends suggested a trip to the city in order to celebrate all of us turning thirty. Perhaps a surprise to some, but Amsterdam is a place that actually oozes culture and well worth a visit for those who prefer a more subdued existence.

Nine of us travelled to Amsterdam at the end of May and I was the only visually impaired member of the group. Whilst I am well-travelled, I have mainly holidayed in beach locations and didn’t anticipate the physical and mental exhaustion that comes with getting around a busy and unfamiliar environment. Bicycles, trams, cars and people surround you at every turn and although I was always being guided I felt we were constantly crossing roads and dodging moving objects. Then there are the stairs. I learnt that Amsterdam has a lot of very old tall buildings and our hotel was no exception. The staircases in these buildings are not only steep, but spiral and have uneven steps. The struggle was real.

The difficulty with travelling in such a large group is that not everyone wants to do the same activities. Personally, I was keen to squeeze in as much site-seeing as possible and felt I experienced everything I wanted to. Below you will find my account of all the tourist attractions I visited and how I found them as someone with a visual impairment.

Anne Frank House ` `
A note to anyone planning on visiting this attraction, at present it is only possible to do so by purchasing an online ticket in advance. Tickets go on sale two months in advance and sell-out super-fast. We missed out on these tickets and had to purchase introductory programme tickets that are a bit more expensive, which go on sale two weeks before. These also sell-out on the morning they are released. I was unable to purchase tickets with my Supernova screen reader despite the website appearing fairly accessible at a glance. Thankfully the boyfriend was on hand to purchase our tickets. There was no option to buy a discounted disabled ticket.

The pre-talk that was included with the introductory programme ticket was quite interesting and useful especially if you are not completely familiar with the Anne Frank story. After the talk we were able to explore the Anne Frank House and were given audio guides. These were pretty accessible as once you are in a room you just need to wave it around a bit until you hear a beep, which triggers the information to start playing. Obviously it is useful if you can see where the trigger points are, but I was able to activate the audio guide myself in some of the rooms.

It was towards closing time when we visited The House so it wasn’t too crowded although there were bottle necks at times as people navigated the tricky staircases. There weren’t too many objects you could touch, but just being inside the building gave a good feel for the living conditions.

Sex Museum and Red Light District
Ok so it is kind of impossible to go to Amsterdam and not be a tad curious about their openness to sex. The sex museum is fairly visual and so I strongly recommend that if you are visually impaired that you go with someone who isn’t embarrassed to describe some of the exhibits. There are a few interactive features of the museum, I will leave your over active imaginations to guess what they might be. It is a place to go for a bit of a laugh and whilst it claims to guide you through the history of sex, I can’t say that that appears to be its main focus.

I have to admit that I was totally disappointed by The Red Light District. I think I was expecting throngs of sex hungry men to be pressed up against the windows deciding on which woman they wished to purchase. Instead I didn’t even realise I was walking through the district, it could have been a regular street. What I mean to say is there was no atmosphere about the place for somewhere that is so iconic.

Canal Cruise
Amsterdam is famous for its many canals and their canal cruises are popular with tourists. You have to be prepared to do a little queuing even after you have bought your ticket, but they do try to continuously load the boats. Everyone is given an individual audio guide and then the captain also offers additional information. Maybe due to fatigue, but I found the tour somewhat dull. I suspect the city has some beautiful views, I just couldn’t appreciate them and the audio guide didn’t offer much in terms of detailed descriptions.

Van Gogh Museum
The artist is famous for cutting off his ear and his depiction of sunflowers. I have a vivid memory of one of his sunflower paintings as I recall my primary school having a copy on the wall. I also thought I remembered what he looked like, but was stunned to discover that he was ginger. This makes me question how accurate my visual memory is.

The attraction is another that requires you to purchase tickets online in advance, which I didn’t realise until one of my friend’s notified me on the morning we planned to visit. Luckily, I had a quick look at the website after breakfast and discovered that they offered disabled visitors a free companion ticket that could not be purchased online. They allow disabled visitors to just turn up, buy a ticket on the door (note they only accept card payments) and enter through an access entrance that saves queuing. So it all worked out perfectly.

However, I was disappointed to learn that despite paying eighteen euros to get in an audio guide was an additional fee of five euros. I am not entirely sure if they are free as standard for those with a visual impairment, but they did give me one for free when we explained I was blind. Since I was the only one with an audio guide, there was some waiting around for me whilst I listened to the information. The audio guide was not accessible and I required someone to punch in the necessary numbers on my behalf.

The museum is extremely large and set over several floors. Possibly because of this we didn’t come across the 3D replica of one of the sunflower paintings, which I hoped to feel.

Floating Flower Market
In my mind’s eye this appears as a real spectacle as I imagine thousands of flowers in vibrant colours floating on the canal water in lots of pots. In fact it is basically a market that happens to be by the canal. The online description promises that you can smell the sweet and musky aromas. I did sneeze, but failed to smell anything. It is a good place to pick up souvenirs and I did get to see some traditional Dutch clogs.

Ice Bar
This attraction is cool! On arrival you are given three tokens, one can be used in the main warm bar and two in the actual ice bar. The tokens entitle you to free drinks. Prior to entering the ice bar you are given a coat and glove. I brought my own hat and gloves for further insulation. It is a great sensory experience as you can of course feel the minus temperatures, the glasses you get your drinks in are made out of actual ice and there is a polar bear ice sculpture that you can touch. Yet again this is another place where you need to pre-book your tickets in advance online.

Horse and Carriage Ride
Some of the landmarks that we passed on this tour were the same as the canal cruise tour, nevertheless I felt it was a more exciting way to view the city. I fantasised that I had gone back in time as our horse who was called Patrick trotted through the cobbled streets. The tour guide allowed us to give Patrick a fuss at the end, which was a calming activity to conclude a jam-packed few days in Amsterdam.