10 Wonders of the World
There are many lists of the Wonders of the World, new and old. I define a wonder as a one of a kind place that’s either unqiue in nature or that required an amazing feet of engineering – plus both have to have historic significance.
As a history buff, I can really get into this stuff. Whether it’s an ancient archeological dig or a brand new man-made edifice, I’m all over it. That’s why I love writing about one of the major advantages of a Collette Vacations escorted tour – actually getting there.
I consider myself an enterprising and self sufficient traveler. I don’t like to ask for help or directions but the idea of putting together my own trip to a far away wonder of the world, seems pretty daunting.
Of course, I’ll handle the research. However, I’ve come to the realization that it pays to travel with a tour operator. Can you guess which one I would recommend?
Here’s my personal top 10 wonders of the world:
- Pyramids of Giza
- Machu Picchu
- Great Wall of China
- Stone City of Petra
- Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River
- The Kremlin
- Panama Canal
- Grand Canyon
- Taj Mahal
- Empire State Building
If the last one feels dated, I suggest you look up the F. Scott Fitzgerald essay, “My Lost City.” I consider this F. Scott’s finest piece of prose. You’ll never look at NYC or the Empire State Building the same way again.
What’s on your wonders list?
posted by John Geysen
Collette Vacations
Tags: Escorted Tours, Wonders of the World
One Comment to “10 Wonders of the World”
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Okay. A few people have asked, so here’s the passage from F. Scott Fitzgerald.
From the ruins, lonely and inexplicable as the sphinx, rose the Empire State Building and, just as it had been a tradition of mine to climb to the Plaza Roof to take leave of the beautiful city, extending as far as eyes could reach, so now I went to the roof of the last and most magnificent of towers. Then I understood — everything was explained: I had discovered the crowning error of the city, its Pandora’s box. Full of vaunting pride the New Yorker had climbed here and seen with dismay what he had never suspected, that the city was not the endless succession of canyons that he had supposed but that it had limits — from the tallest structure he saw for the first time that it faded out into the country on all sides, into an expanse of green and blue that alone was limitless. And with the awful realization that New York was a city after all and not a universe, the whole shining edifice that he had reared in his imagination came crashing to the ground.