7 Wonders Trivia

I'm working a several posts at the same time currently, so I wanted to keep this one light and fun! Here are some fun facts about the Seven Wonders of the World. This required some research, so I hope you like it.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that still survives. Can you name the other six wonders?
They are:
1) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II.
2) The gigantic gold statue of Zeus was built by the sculptor Pheidias at Olympia.
3) The temple of Artemis was erected in the Asia Minor city of Ephesus in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature.
4) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a huge tomb constructed for King Maussollos, Persian satrap of Caria.
5) The Colossus of Rhodes was a massive statue erected by the Greeks in honor of Helios the sun-god.
6) The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos.
The Great Pyramid of Giza was built near the ancient city of Memphis for Pharaoh Khufu in the period of the Fourth Dynasty, between 2613 and 2494BC. The Greeks referred to it as the Pyramid of Cheops. A true wonder, it is immense: according to Mysteries of the Unknown, it covers a ground area of 13.1 acres composed of some 2.3 million limestone blocks average two-and-a-half tonnes each, enough stone to build a wall of foot-square cubes two-thirds around the globe at the equator, a distance of 16,600 miles.
**The oldest statue in the world is the Great Sphinx of Egypt. Carved out of limestone, it stands 65 ft high and is 240 ft long.

New Seven Wonders
At a declaration on 07/07/07 in Lisbon, Portugal, after worldwide online polling, SMS and telephone voting the New Seven Wonders were declared as being:
1) The Great Wall, China
2) Petra, Jordan
3) Christ Redeemer, Brazil
4) Machu Picchu, Peru
5) Chichén Itzá, Mexico
6) The Roman Colosseum, Italy
7) The Taj Mahal, India

Now is time for the fun facts:

• The Great Wall of China is a lot greater than anyone thought. The first formal measurement of the world's largest man-made structure revealed the wall was more than twice as long as previous estimates. In an archaeological survey that took five years to complete, China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced yesterday that the wall measures 13,170.69 miles.
•  
• No one has ever seen the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, it is thought to be completely based on myth- like the city of Atlantis.

Now this last one brings up an interesting discussion topic. If mythological locations could be considered wonders of the world, what would the actual 7 wonders be? Here's my listing:

1. The city of Atlantis
2. Soloman's Staircase
3. Machu Picchu (It's still amazing!)
4. The City of the Caesars- Also known as the Wandering City and the City of Patagonia, a mythical city that is believed to have been located on the southernmost tip of South America in the region known as Patagonia. 
5. Angkor (This place must have been beautiful!)
6. Shangri-La, a mystical valley in the Himalayas. It is a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. The people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan.
7. Avalon (Jesus and King Arthur went there!)

*** Fun side note to my list of mythical wonders, the nazises went hunting for at least 3 of them! Atlantis, Shangri-La, and the City of Caesars. If the Nazises wanted them then you know its good.  

Vacation Rentals I HIGHLY recommend

So as I've mentioned previously, I stayed in this amazing vacation rental this past summer in the south of France. Well I found in on Homeaway.com I'm a big fan of this site, but there are several like it and I'm sure they are equally reliable. Today I'm going to list a couple great deals I'm found in my research. The locations are going to be all over the world, so I hope you find one that will be perfect for that next big trip.

1. Mammoth Lake, California: $840 per week for up to 8 guests. That breaks down to just $15 a night!!!! Rental #957906, it's a beautiful 3bed, 2.5bath.

2. Beaucaire, France: A max of $980 per week for 8, so $17.50 per night. This rental is all about the balcony! The true bonus is that the little town has some amazing restaurants. If you like wine and mussels, you can't find a better place. Rental car is really required. Rental #309491

3. Killarney, Ireland: Max= $788, but a smaller rental only sleeping 5. That's a bit more expensive at nearly $23 per night. The bonus is that it's super charming. Rental #927397

4. Athens, Greece: $860 for 6 people, which is  $20.50. Bonus is that it's a mixture of City and Seaside, but you will want a rental car. The view is worth the drive. Rental #995499

5. Prague, Czech Republic: $700 for 4 people making it only $25 per night. The city of lights is a very affordable destination and the winters are pretty mild. I visited in January and only need a light coat and scarf! The city is full of history, and should be on any backpacker's list. Rental #63031

6. Monteverde, Costa Rica: $750 for up to 14 people!!! So $7.50 a night, AMAZING! You'll need a rental car, or I suggest a JEEP- the roads are bad. This is a great area, you have a ton of stuff to see: a volcano, a cloud forest, coffee plantations, ziplines... and it's only a 2 hour drive to the beach! Please check it out. Rental #170000

7. Sunshine Coast, Australia: $675 per week, but only sleeps 6 making it $16.50 per night. This is a condo, not a free-standing house like the others so far. I'm not as familiar with Australia's Public Transit, but according a friend who is local you do not need a car. It's just north of Brisbane, which is a fairly large city. Rental #404407629

Those are some of the great deals I've come across so far. There are just tons of them on the site, all it takes is a some research. Let me know if you need any advice on it!
~Greet