Hey hey it’s Saturday

The early morning sightseeing started with the traditional breakfast. For John like most young people over here he had an energy drink and for me a vanilla latte at Starbucks. After the caffeine had kicked in...giddy up, we were on our way to the Metro at Dupont Circle to catch the train to Union Station. Normally the Metro is reliable, however, all escalators were shut down for maintenance and the scheduled train had broken down. An hour later we finally reached our destination.

Washington is a historic and beautiful city and is influenced by a mix of European and British architecture and design. However, the degree of homelessness is quite disturbing. On exiting Union Station, John was approached for a cigarette which he kindly obliged. About thirty seconds later the homeless person was arrested by local law enforcement officers and removed from the tourist area. Chalk that one up to experience.

Our sightseeing itinerary started at the southern end of The National Mall visiting the U.S. Capitol and then making our way to the Washington Monument, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and then visited the location where Martin Luther King made his “I have a dream” speech, and finally The White House

Around midday we visited The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was an extremely moving and intense experience. Please note, no photography is allowed. After you have passed through security you are given small four page book, which is designed as an Identification Card. Each book has a victim of the Holocaust with their background, capture and outcome. The person is either a survivor or a victim.

When you get to the end of the book their fate is finally revealed; they have been murdered or they have survived the horrifying ordeal. Unfortunately the person presented in the book was imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp for being a homosexual. He died at Dachau seven years later which reminds you of the stark reality of war.

The set up of The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is undeniably impressive. It starts at the beginning of Hitler's dictatorship which is located on the 4th floor and goes through the 3rd and 2nd floors in a chronological order of events until you reach the aftermath of the Holocaust. Then on the 1st floor there is a chapel and even two holocaust survivors that you can speak too. The design of the museum makes it really easy to follow and you feel completely immersed in the entire experience.

There is an exhibit that explained the gassing process that was used to kill large amounts of people at once, and also an exhibit showing nothing but shoes from thousands of people who disappeared into the death camps. There was also an exhibit about Dr. Josef Mengele's gruesome and inhumane experiments. Because of the brutality shown in these exhibits, it’s only a place for mature adults.

Overall, it was a sobering experience to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a must do if you ever visit Washington DC. It took us just over three hours to move through the exhibits and by the end we were emotionally exhausted.

So, anyway Saturday night was a repeat on the previous night and it feels like Groundhog Day. Eh, I apologise now to my stomach BGR for dinner and then off to Maddy’s Sports Bar for the final quarter.

Bye for now.
Mark