My Seven Wonders

Today over at Mama Kat's, we're asked to list off the seven wonders of the world that we've seen with our own eyes. I can't pass up on an opportunity for a trip down travel memory lane and I've always been fascinated with the seven wonders of the ancient world. (It fits so nicely into that ancient Greek thing I've got going on . . . sorry modern Greece, you're kind of painful to watch right now.) And do we all remember on 7-7-07 when we all voted for the new seven wonders of the world? Just me? Okay then . . . .

Only the pyramids survive from the original list of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and lucky enough for me, I 've actually seen them! 

All right, so maybe that's just the Luxor in Las Vegas. Still, I'm counting Vegas in as a wonderment all its own.

Wonder #1) Las Vegas 

I'm not a total liar though. The Colosseum made the modern seven wonders list and I've really seen it! I have to admit that as amazing the Colosseum is, it's hardly Rome's only wonder.  I loved the Spanish Steps, the Forum, and Keats' House too.

Wonder #2) Colosseum, Rome 

I was pulling for Stonehenge to make it to the new seven wonders of the world, but it didn't make the cut. Bummer. To make Stonehenge feel better about its loss, I've visited these ancient rocks three times. (No kidding: April 2003, March 2005, and October 2007.) I love Stonehenge, but I really don't need to see it again. However, I would accompany you on a visit, if you asked nicely.

Wonder #3) Stonehenge, England 

While human made things are impressive and all, I find myself most impressed by nature's own handiwork. Take the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, for example. The Causeway is made up of thousands of perfectly octagonal rock pillars, which you can attribute to volcanic forces or giants, depending on how fanciful you feel. Nearby the Causeway, there's also Giant's Organ - similar rock pillars in the side of a cliff -- and Giant's Boot, a huge rock shaped like, well, a boot.
 

Wonder #4 Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

I live in a place where most trees only reach my hip. (You go wildfire regeneration!) So I'm always in awe when I see a really big tree. I mean, a really, really big tree.

Wonder #5) Big Trees, Everywhere (Example above is the Sitka Spruce in the Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington)

So maybe size does matter. One thing I consider a world wonder actually makes up my backyard. It's Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world. Celebrated in song and story, the lake's just down right pretty.

Wonder #6) Lake Superior, Minnesota, Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin

I really hemmed and hawed for a long time about what the seventh wonder was going to be, but finally settled on Arches National Park, in southeastern Utah. It loses some "wonder"-full points for only being semi-permanent, but in this day and age, what really is permanent, I say.

Wonder #7) Arches National Park, Utah 

My close but no cigar list:
Newgrange, Ireland
The Mississippi River, Midwest
Manhattan, New York 
Eiffel Tower, Paris 
Speyer Cathedral, Germany

What are your seven wonders of the world? Have you seen any of the wonders that I've seen? What's a wonder you want to see?