Sunday, February 27, 2011

Great things about being blind. Experiencing history.

A friend of mine wrote a blog post yesterday from Jordan where she is living. It was all about visiting Roman ruins. I love history and visiting historic places too. There is something amazing and humbling about thinking that you are standing on the ground people have stood on for thousands of years. That you are where a very important historic event took place. Sometimes, I have had very good luck with historic sites and places. At other times, it has been dull if I can't touch things or have them well described to me. I had a very great experience a few years back at Stone Henge in England. People used to be allowed to spend time on the stones freely. But, this access was restricted to protect the stones I think. People are allowed near them on certain days. When we visited there, I was prepared to stand several meters away, listening to my audio guide. Good audio guides have really helped with museums and historic sites. I was standing there listening when a woman who worked there approached and asked if I would like her to take me to the stones. this was amazing. Those mysterious stones. The ones no one could touch. She took me across the grass and described the stones to me. She let me touch them and told me all about the history. People were looking longingly at us. She told me to turn and stick my tongue out at them. I did not. But turned and smiled and waved. I loved my time with the ancient stones.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.