Man made inspiration

My creative angle of the Eiffel Tower, Paris (© Fiona Heavey)

We all have different reasons for choosing our holiday/ trip destinations, but for many we want to see world famous icons, landscapes, buildings and stand in awe, as thousands have before us and of course get the perfect picture to show off to friends back home!

Lonely Planet posted their “most iconic human-made structures” this week, and the geek that I am this made me very excited as I drooled over the places I have yet to set my eyes on.

Out of the ten named, I have only actually seen and touched three of them, which is sort of pathetic for someone who loves travelling and thinks about it 24/7!

These include the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Chrylser Building in NYC and Big Ben, London.

All three are super impressive. The Eiffel Tower is really not all that amazing when seen during the day, but it has become a world wide icon for romance and viwed at night all lit up or dangling over the edgewith a loved one really does make it special. (Must be why I have visited it twice)

Big Ben symbolizes London, it also is a symbol of democracy as it stands high over the Palace of Westminster and although it is not really tall or large or impressive it certainly strikes a cord and is a must for history fans.

The Chrylser for me was exciting because of the movie King Kong (remember the big ape at the end?). It is more modern that the other three and so although it dominates the New York skyline didn't impress me as much. (Although I do have a nifty photo from there.)

The remaining seven icons listed by lonely Planet are all structures I really want to see in the next 5-10 years.

Big Ben at 4.12pm (© Fiona Heavey) 

These include:

• Angkor Wat, Cambodia
• Taj Mahal, India
• Great Pyramids, Egypt
• The Great Wall of China
• Machu Pichu, Peru,
• Mount Rushmore, USA
• Stonehenge, England

None of them need an explanation from me on how amazing they are, I will leave that until the day I actually get to touch their exterior.

 I do think that the Lonely Planet did miss out on The Colosseum and The Pantheon in Rome, as well as the Acropolis of Athens amongst many more. And we should not forget out own Newgrange which is one of the most impressive man made structures in the world.

But this list is certainly a starting point of an impressive photo collection and with a sale on with aerlingus at the mo, three of Lonely Planet's top ten could be viewed, touched and photographed on a budget!