The New 7 Wonders of the World!!

They were announced last Saturday, so I'm really late with this post!!

The winners are:

• Chichén Itzá, Mexico
• Christ Redeemer, Brazil
• The Great Wall, China
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Petra, Jordan
• The Roman Colosseum, Italy
• The Taj Mahal, India

So 3 of my picks got elected: the Colosseum, Machu Picchu, and the Taj Mahal. Four if you count the Pyramids of Giza, but:

After careful consideration, the New7Wonders Foundation designates the Pyramids of Giza—the only remaining of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World—as an Honorary New7Wonders Candidate.

This decision has also taken into account the views of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture. The Pyramids are a shared world culture and heritage site and deserve their special status as the only Honorary Candidate of the New7Wonders of the World campaign.

So, technically, we really have 8 now.

I must say I'm pleased with all but one of the picks, and I think you can guess which one: Brazil's Christ Redeemer. I mean, forget the religious connotations and how much that might bother me, that statue was not the most deserving among the candidate statues and, above all, there were many other candidates that deserved it more than that.

For example, Cambodia's Angkor, Turkey's Hagia Sophia, or Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle. And certainly, mysterious statues like those of Easter Island or even something like the mystifying Stonehenge were more deserving of such a status than the "simple" Christ Redeemer, about which every thing's known.

Anyway, these 8 wonders are now on my list of things to see and places to visit in my lifetime, although I'll most certainly go to Rio de Janeiro for more than just the Christ Redeemer, like its Carnival celebrations, the samba, its beaches, and the Sugarloaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar).

I think it's time to plan a trip!!