Going to a Holocaust museum brings a mix of emotions. I sort of felt excited because I knew Washington DC's Holocaust Memorial Museum would be an amazing experience. But then I also knew it was weird to be excited about going to such a morbid place.

The museum was recommended to us by a well-travelled American and as we approached the building, the long queue winding around the corner showed that other people had also found out it was something special.

When we finally managed to get in the door, we were given an 'identification card,' with a story inside. These booklets set the DC Holocaust Museum apart from a regular museum. Each one has a story about a Holocaust victim. At each floor of the museum visitors are encouraged to read just one page of the booklet which means they only find out their victim's fate at the end of the visit.

The personalisation made the whole museum experience very emotional. I was fascinated by the story in my booklet about a little girl called Flora and towards the end I was horrified by the thought of finding out she had died during the Holocaust.

Packed with exhibits which detail the history of the tragedy, the museum is incredibly informative as well as powerful. Visitors can stand inside a real train carriage and imagine being ferried to concentration camps with hundreds of other victims. Hundreds of photographs make the experience even more powerful.

I finished my tour of the museum in a flood of tears as I watched a documentary where Holocaust survivors told their stories. And then there is a memorial hall where people can take a quiet moment to think about all of the mind-blowing things they have seen.

It's not the cheeriest day out but it is one of the best museums in DC and I thoroughly recommend it. And I'm happy to be able to say that little Flora survived her ordeal and grew up to be a teacher in the United States.

Next stop: Bright lights, big city: taking the train to the Big Apple.

Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.

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