Top 5 - Museums

1. Warsaw Uprising Museum - this museum was simply spectacular. There was a pitch-black sewer you could walk through, endless videos, and a very fitting last hall (it was very red and the last exhibit was a big Soviet flag). Above all, though, was the "beating" wall in the middle of the first hall. It has a bass line playing that simulates a heart beat. You can put your ear up to it and feel the heart beating and other miscellaneous war sounds. Then the air raid comes... I swear I was running for cover it was so loud and intense.

2. Beijing Military History Museum - I probably could've spent six hours in this museum. It is nothing short of a brilliant display of exorbitant Communist propaganda. Everything before about 1917 is less about Communism and more about China, but everything after 1917, particularly after 1953, is something you just have to see. There were life-size paintings and dioramas everywhere along with stories about the horrors of the Kuomintang. In spite of that, you have to appreciate the effort put into the place.

3. Mongolian National History Museum - I learned more about Mongolia during two extremely hungover hours in this museum than I did my whole time in the country. Who knew that Mongolia sent an astronaut to space or about how the country become communist? I certainly do now.

4. Estonian Occupation Museum - albeit small, this museum in Tallinn explains all about the Soviet, then Nazi, then Soviet occupations of Estonia. Each time period has a thirty minute video dedicated to it, so be sure to watch them all if you have time. You can also play with some rusty guns and helmets.

5. Abdeen Palace Museum - this museum is fascinating for one reason, and one reason only: the letter room. It's hard to believe that so much technology and care is put into preserving pieces of paper for years and years. The pride and joy in the small dark room is a letter from Hitler to the King of Egypt offering condolences for the loss of the previous king (I think that's how it goes). On that note, there is also a dagger carried by Rommel himself. 

 

Note that this does not include the National War Museum in London, which I want to when I was 11. It was incredibly fascinating then, so I would like to see it again.