I don’t think that there’s really anything one must see before they die, but it’s a phrase people like to use and it makes a good headline, so I rolled with it. Anyway, what follows is a quick summary of a few landmarks and where to find them. A bit like JK Rowling’s upcoming Potter prequel: ‘Fantastic Landmarks and Where to Find Them’ … maybe that’s what I should have named this article?
Taj Mahal
I included the Taj Mahal because it’s a sign of humanity’s ability to create something really beautiful and it shows our obsession with death, which drives our society forward as we constantly search for new ways to live and to live longer, whether it’s reaching out into space or researching medicines and our natural world. The Taj Mahal is one giant gravestone, really, and it shows just what humans are capable of.
Statue of Liberty
Lady Liberty, found in New York -or rather in the waters near New York – she was gifted to America by France and has stood proud and strong ever since. She is a symbol of everything America stands for. She is a sign of hope and a beacon of light that shines out into uncertain futures. She greeted wave after wave of immigrants and refugees from ‘the old world’ as they came to start a new life, seeking the American dream: fortune and happiness. For that, I think she should be celebrated.
Hollywood Sign
You may think that Hollywood and LA in general represent greed, corruption, and superficiality, but you’re wrong (kind of). Movies have the power to change the world and they bring so much happiness to so many people across the globe. Where would the modern world be without Star Wars, Gone with the Wind, or The Godfather? Who knows? But the Hollywood sign is a symbol of motion pictures and their ability to bring joy and wonderment to the world and I think anything that celebrates happiness and unity is something that should also be celebrated itself.
America is filled with symbols of human ingenuity and brilliance and to see them all would be a mammoth task, but you could go on an escorted holiday and find them all. I’m going to move away from America now, as it will monopolise this list like it does so much else.
Stonehenge
I included Stonehenge because it’s a mark of how much humanity still has to learn. We still aren’t 100% sure where it came from and how it was made. Found in South England in the county of Wiltshire, this giant monument of large stones perched atop one another has baffled generations and has always been seen as a place of mystical power, especially by the Druid people.
Burj Khalifa
This is the most modern landmark on this list, and that’s deliberate. I decided to end with the world tallest skyscraper, found in Dubai, because it shows what were are capable of when we work together. Human brilliance managed to create something so massive. Yes, the biblical story of the Tower of Babel comes to mind, but that’s myth, the Burj Khalifa is real and tangible and stands as a monument to what we as the human race are going to go onto next. There’s a lot of bad in this world, but I still think it’s an exciting place to be, and Khalifa along with the Shard in London, are symbols of that future.