Wonders of the World

on Sunday, November 26, 2006

Will wonders never cease? It seems the world is ready to get rid of the old 7 wonders of the world and bring in a new 7. This is set to occur in Lisbon, Portugal on the very auspicious day of the 7th of July 2007 or 07/07/07. Cute! This campaign to replace the old wonders was started in 1999 by Swiss adventurer, Bernard Weber. Weber "felt it is time for something new to bring the world together" and to "symbolize a common pride in the global cultural heritage," said Tia B. Viering, spokeswoman for the campaign.

The first known list of wonders was put together by Antipater of Sidon around 2nd century B.C. and had evolved with contributions form others over time until it came to be known as the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World sometime in the Middle Ages. This list included the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria, Colossus of Rhodes, and Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus. Sadly, Lone Grey Squirrel can quickly confirm that he has been to none of these sites which is not surprising on account of LGS’s financial situation and the fact that only the Great Pyramid remains today with 2 Wonders having long ago gone up in smoke and the other 4 Wonders brought down by earthquakes.

Anyway, when the campaign started to find the new 7 Wonders in 1999, over 200 sites were nominated from around the world. Nominations were whittled down by public votes to 77 last year. Then a panel of architectural experts, chaired by former UNESCO chief Federico Mayor, shortened the list to 21. All this time, Lone Grey Squirrel was oblivious to this process but if you too were unaware, it is still not too late to be involved. Visit www.new7wonders.com. and you can still cast your vote for the final 7.

Machu Pichu (stevenellem)

The final 21 contestants are (in no particular order);
1) the Statue of Liberty, USA. 2) the Pyramids, Egypt. 3) Eiffel Tower, France. 4) Taj Mahal, India. 5) Machu Picchu, Peru. 6) the Acropolis, Greece. 7) the Hagia Sophia, Turkey. 8) the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, Russia. 9) the Colosseum, Italy. 10) the Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany. 11) Stonehenge, United Kingdom. 12) the Alhambra, Spain. 13) the Great Wall, China. 14) the Kiyomizu Temple, Japan. 15) the Sydney Opera House, Australia. 16) Angkor Wat, Cambodia. 17) Timbuktu, Mali. 18) Petra, Jordan. 19) Statue of Christ Redeemer, Brazil. 20) Easter Island and 21) Chichen Itza, Mexico.

Hagia Sophia (guenter11)

Petra (maryjanesolomon)

Sadly, Lone Grey Squirrel can also quickly confirm that he has been to only one of these sites, Sydney Opera House. I hope those of you who have traveled more extensively will vote wisely. Nevertheless, I have chosen 7 in my ignorance. Let me know what your choices are and why.

My choice for the new 7 Wonders of the World;
1) the Pyramids (hey, they were already in the old list); 2) Machu Picchu (can you imagine having to build on such steep slopes?); 3) the Acropolis (have to give a nod to the immense influence the Greeks had on civilization); 4) the Great Wall (can be seen from space.); 5) the Hagia Sophia (two cultures meet and it just impresses me…truly); 6) Taj Mahal (a monument to love. How can we leave that out?) and 7) Petra, Jordan (endorsed by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Lone Grey Squirrel,

I came on your site a couple of times today, not stalking you, but reading some of your posts.

Basically I wanted to thank you for coming on my site, Tamar and leaving a comment. My soul was in need of a kind word. Thank you for saying you will pray for me.

I am intrigued, I see you are a scientist and a Christian. I don't think that is the "norm" is it? I guess the scientist I hear of are usually trying to somehow refute that God had anything to do with anything.

It was nice to meet you,

Ellie

Jo said...

Hi, LGS, I don't understand why Pamukkale in Turkey wasn't on the list. It is truly one of the wonders of the world, and it isn't man-made. You must check it out. Just Google Pamukkale and you will see how amazing it is.

Josie

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Dear Ellie,
Thanks for the return visit. Actually, quite a lot of scientists believe in God, including many Nobel laurettes. For me, I studied biochemistry which is really about the way the body works. Believe me, many of us are amazed that it works at all because it needs thousands of things to be working just right when it could so easily go wrong. You really got to believe that there is a Creator. But a personal relationship with God is all the proof, anyone would ever need. I end here. I know I talk too much.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Josie,
I confess to visiting your site everyday. Enjoy it very much. About Pamukkale, you are absolutely right. I guess they are looking at man-made wonders. Pamukkale is one of my dream travel destinations. Have you been there?

Anonymous said...

Hi Lone Grey Squirrel,

I love hearing that there are a lot of scientists out there who believe in God! It makes one more comfortable just knowing that.

Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement.

Ellie

Anonymous said...

Oh, and if I may, I will link you up to my blog...or blogs..would you mind?

Ellie

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Dear Ellie,
It's a thrill to me that you want to link to my blog. (Imagine squirrel jumping for joy). Please do. I am not quite sure how that is done but when I figure it out I'd like to recipocate to Cedar Chest.

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