Winners and Losers

As reported on the BBC web site, the winners are:

Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza in Mexico

India's Taj Mahal

The Great Wall of China

Machu Picchu in Peru

Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer

The Colosseum in Rome

Jordan's Petra

Follow this link to some interesting up close pictures of Taj Mahal

I can't argue with any of those, except the Christ Redeemer statue, whihc is only about 70 years old and stands a mere 105' tall, admittedly its got a great location, but so does the lodge on the Grand Canyon's South Rim.

The only three finalists that I've visited all failed to make the final cut. The Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, and the Statue of Liberty. Frankly, I can't fathom that Stonehenge isn't on the list and I would certainly take Lady Liberty over Christ Redeemer.



Of course, She had no chance given the rest of the world's views of the US at present, but Liberty stands for ideals of universal freedom and democracy. Americans may not always live up to those ideals (although I'd argue it's our leaders that more often fall short) the Statue of Liberty calls us to aspire to those values.





And besides, Lady Liberty once graced the waters, err, frozen waters of our own Lake Mendota.