I found recently that there are always blind spectators "watching" soccer games.

There was a sailboat race in 1995/1996. If I remember this was sponsered with Toshiba. Each team was a bit different but there was group were only disabled crew. One of the crew was blind. He was often at the wheel, since blind people have a better sense of the wind.

The race started at Southampton, England and arrived there also. The disabled crew didn't win but they were placed fairly high. Oh yeah, there was only one professional sailor per boat, so this really gave the blind person some challenge.

Blackduff

For those who are interested in what blind people experience when they eat in restaurants, check out:
www.unsicht-bar-berlin.de/ in Berlin, Hamburg & Cologne
www.blindekuh.ch: in Zurich & Basel.

You've got to try it, the experience will be an eye opener.

Extremely interesting, DAX. Have you tried it? I assume the food is of some specific type? Forget about cutting that rare steak with a knife? Hopefully, food is all one eats :)

Yes I have, the food is pretty good, more nouvelle cuisine instead of the "stick to your ribs" kind. Guests order from the menu in the lighted foyer before entering the dark restaurant. Eg, "Grilled exotic forest floor meaty growth with sweet fruity vinegar from the vineyard" (Grilled mushroom in wine vinegar) followed by a sauteed hopping furry long eared animal on a bed of greens or a quacking bird in sweet orange sauce. Then one of the blind waitresses will take them into the pitch black room with hands on each other's shoulder through a tight S shaped walkway.

It's an almost eerie experience to dine in complete darkness if not for the sound of laughter, conversation and utensils clinking. It's hilarious to learn how clumsy we are without our vision when pouring a drink from a bottle or cutting our rabbit/chicken/duck entrees. A steak fillet would be easier. Taste explodes in the mouth unexpectedly. I wished I tried the dark theatre, but I imagine it would be like a radio play with various actors.

Very cool. Can you imagine taking a bad boss to such a place and making the completely innocent mistake of dropping the entrails of that <i>sauteed furry animal in the sauce from exotic forest floor meaty growth</i> in his/her lap? Just kidding. :) Actually it could be romantic and pretty disconcerting at the same time.

DAX
I'm not sure how old you are but many of us have grew up listening to radio. You're right on the target about letting our imagination replaces actual sight. I've forgotten many of the actors but it was fun.

Blackduff

Josephina, Your point about my screen name being in good taste is well taken. I've posted as &quot;specs&quot; for quite awhile, however.

My mom suffers from macular degeneration (we're seeing a retinal specialist on 10/22 1:00 p.m. PST, if anyone wants to send good thoughts or a prayer our way it would be great), and I generously support Guide Dogs For the Blind. Not likely I'd joke about blindness.

Yours was an honest mistake and I see how this could happen.

An old college friend of mine lives in the Netherlands. She is blind, and has lived out there for 15 years. She has traveled quite a bit with her husband, and she has very distinct opinions about the places she's been to. Sure, food culture is a biggie for her, but she loves taking walks in the park, and meeting new &amp; interesting people. Places that are set up in a grid are the best &amp; easiest for her, so she favors places with fewer winding street.

She also enjoys concerts &amp; movies. Yes, movies. Her seeing eye dogs have all been exposed to the fine arts, as well, and enjoy sitting through concerts.

So, I think there really is quite a bit to enjoy for folks with such handicaps.

specs, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. Just in case she later needs more than just a super specialist, one of the forefront figures in macular degeneration is dr. De Juan at UC San Francisco. We hava a close relative whose macular surgery in Australia was so botched up that her vision is reduced to 10% &amp; 15%. She came to Boston and the Bay Area looking for any hope to regain some of her vision only to find out that it's irreversible, so choose carefully.

Blackduff: Unfortunately I was born too late for the radio theatre but I saw it in the Back to the Future movie when they went back to the fifties. I am however an audio oriented person so I wished there is such a thing on the radio waves these days. I listen to foreign audio books in my car or during exercise.

There is a great short story called &quot;The Cathedral&quot; by Raymond Carver. It is about a blind man that enlightens a seeing-man that prior had been a waste of life. I would recommend it anyone that has preconceived notions about blind people. You can find it online.
Cheers!
P.S. Sometimes I think blind people can see just as well as I can. It seems that they are not deluded by appearance! :)
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Visit my blog at http://thinkandtravel.blogspot.com/

DAX
I have heard the BBC while I was driving from Paris to Bordeaux. What about the Arches (sp?) which could be listened in Spain. I'm not sure which station had this program but it was a Sunday program.

My sister (older sister) who remembers the names of the old radio programs and also the names of the characters.

I had a crystal radio when I was a lad. This was very popular during the 40's. It was hard to find the programs though, since you had to adjust the cat whisker to find the signals.

I think some of the old American programs are somewhere on the internet.

Blackduff

Oh, specs, I apologize. Posting has been a bit odd, lately with Travelguru1 on a roll and I seriously thought &quot;specs&quot; was a name-for-a-day post. Should have checked!

But I loved the posting!!!!!

Josephina, Thanks.

And thank you, DAX, for the UCSF suggestion. She may have an injection tomorrow, and I'm hoping we won't have to face any hard decisions about surgery.