Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
events of recent years (the fall of the Berlin Wall, September 11, Hurricane Katrina), and
spend hours watching moving film footage, perusing Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs
and reading works by journalists killed in the line of duty.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
MUSEUM
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(
www.ushmm.org
;
100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl; 10am-5:20pm)
For a deep understanding
of the Holocaust - its victims, perpetrators and bystanders - this harrowing museum is a
must-see. The main exhibit (not recommended for under-11s, who can go to a separate
on-site exhibit that's also free) gives visitors the identity card of a single Holocaust vic-
tim, whom visitors can ponder while taking a winding route into a hellish past amid foot-
age of ghettos, rail cars and death camps where so many were murdered. Only a limited
number of visitors are admitted each day, so go early.
Washington Monument
MONUMENT
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
( 202-426-6841; 2 15th St NW; 9am-10pm Jun-Aug, to 5pm Sep-May)
Peaking at
555ft (and 5in), the Washington Monument is the tallest building in the district. It took
two phases of construction to complete; note the different hues of the stone. Tickets are
free but must be reserved from the
kiosk
(15th St, btwn Madison Dr NW & Jefferson Dr SW;
8:30am-4:30pm)
, or you can order them in advance by calling the
National Park Service
(
877-444-6777;
www.recreation.gov
;
tickets $1.50)
.
Bureau of Engraving & Printing
LANDMARK
(
www.moneyfactory.gov
; cnr 14th & C Sts SW; 9am-3pm Mon-Fri, to 7:30pm summer; ;
Smithsonian)
The Bureau of Engraving & Printing, aka the most glorified print
shop in the world, is where all the US paper currency is designed. Some $32 million of it
rolls off the presses daily. Get in line early at the
ticket kiosk
(Raoul Wallenberg Pl, aka 15th
St)
on Raoul Wallenberg Pl.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
MONUMENT
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(Constitution Gardens)
The opposite of DC's white, gleaming marble is this black,
low-lying 'V,' an expression of the psychic scar wrought by the Vietnam War. The monu-
ment follows a descent deeper into the earth, with the names of the 58,267 dead soldiers,
