Imperial War Museum

9 July 2012

Well, I had classes as usual, and I finally got my presentation over with. I’m pretty happy about that.

After class, some of us headed over to the Imperial War Museum. That was a really cool museum. They had some pretty cool tanks and a replica of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. They also had some coding machines. Unfortunately, the enigma machine wasn't one of them, but that's okay.

Me in front of the museum

This is a piece of the Berlin Wall

This is a shell from the largest gun ever built...that's got to be a BIG gun!

This is the replica of the Hiroshima bomb

Coding Machine

The coolest part of the museum was the Holocaust exhibit. Sad does not even begin to describe it. I was fighting tears almost the whole time. They had videos of the concentration camps, and it was chilling to see real people with their clothes torn and their bones exposed like that. And the children. They were the hardest to look at. I simply cannot understand how any human being could be capable of doing those kinds of things.

There were also videos of Holocaust survivors telling their stories. That’s what really jerked at my emotions. One woman said that people often ask her if she could ever forget what happened to her. She said that it’s like a rock that is thrown into a lake. It makes a large ripple, but the ripples eventually get smaller and smaller, until they disappear. But the rock is still there at the bottom of the lake. So even though the ripples of the Holocaust have left her, those memories and still in the bottom of her heart, where they will remain forever.

Another thing that was hard about walking through the exhibit was the detail that the plaques used in describing the methods the Nazis would use to kill the prisoners and what they would do with their bodies afterward. Or their so-called “experiments.” There’s a reason they had a sign in front of the exhibit that said, “This exhibit may be inappropriate for children under the age of 14.”

Afterward, I couldn't decide if I liked this museum or the one in D.C. better. They're both so amazing! Anyway, after we left, we went to Camden Street. It’s another market like Portobello, but not as cool. Although, Palmer and I did find some good food there! So it was worth it. :)

Later, we just went grocery shopping and stopped at Ben’s Cookies. Those are seriously the best cookies I’ve ever had! SO good.

The rest of the night was just reading for my class. I wish I could spend ALL day playing, but I do have to be responsible some of the time.