I've only been to the Taj Mahal in India. It was absolutely fascinating and breathtaking. But the city of Agra itself was horrible! Taj Mahal is basically a jewel amidst a sh!thole.
shareI find them all completely fascinating, (which sites are we considering to make up the seven btw?), but, not to play the pure stoner caricature or anything, the pyramids of Giza have an insane level of esoteric magnetism for me. I've gone through many periods of obsession with ancient Egypt and Egyptology, and spending some time at Giza is on my bucketlist for sure. I have a photo of the Great Pyramid and Sphynx in my office bathroom, (adjacent to another of Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz), and so think about it every day at least a few times.
Also, for my money, one of the most fascinating, magical sites known to man, that should be on top of any lineup of world wonders, but never seems to be, is Gobekli Tepe. Obsessed.
Gobekli Tepe is definitely an interesting site. It's so long before recorded history, there's only some vague guesses about the people and purpose of it. Oh, to be able to travel through time and see what was up.
sharewhat are the seven?
shareThe 7 Wonders of the Ancient World are ...
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Colossus of Rhodes
Temple of Artemis
Lighthouse of Alexandria
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
of these seven, only the Great Pyramid still exists
The New 7 Wonders of the World are ...
The Great Wall of China - 700 BC
Petra (in Jordan) - 312 BC
The Colosseum (Rome) - 80 AD
Chichen Itza (Yucatan, Mexico) - 600 AD
Machu Picchu (Peru) - 1450 AD
Taj Mahal (India) - 1643 AD
Christ the Redeemer (Brazil) - 1931 AD
in addition, The Great Pyramid (2560 BC) has honorary status on this list.
Of these, I have been to one -- Machu Picchu. To quote Jeff Spicoli, it was "awesome, totally awesome."
I believe all seven of the original list existed in what was considered the western world at the time.
shareI have seen The Colosseum.
shareI've been to the Great Wall, Chichen Itza, and the Colosseum.. We had a trip planned for Egypt then had a medical emergency come up 2 weeks before departure and had to cancel. That was right before all of the trouble started and we have never tried to go again.
shareThe Colossus of Rhodes
shareI've always wanted to see Petra ever since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, amazing looking place. I wonder if that old knight is still there, and if so does he have wi-fi now?
shareI've read that Petra was The trading capital of the known world at the time. It basically sits in the middle of the old Silk Road, right?
shareYeah I've read and watched vids on that too, I wonder why its so huge though.
shareWell the part we're probably thinking about was a temple (might still be), so it's no surprise that a city that was supposedly swimming in wealth would build a huge one. What astounds me is the skill required to literally carve it from the rock so beautifully.
Skills that are most likely lost now.
The Library at Alexandria
shareI visited Chichen Itza in December - very impressive.
shareI've been to the Colosseum. I've also been to Versailles (yes, I know it's not a world wonder ;)).
I was amazed to find that the Colosseum is constructed from concrete!