Just for this summer, adjoining the Model Railroad Garden on the south, is the wonderful international set of world-famous structures. Obviously, I saw them in their first week, their hillside still brown. The whole looks like this, in halves.
Some are historical, including two of the ancient seven wonders of the world, the Great Pyramid of Khufu with the Sphinx and the Pharos/Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt.
Some are simply ancient, such as one I've longed to see before I die, the Incan Machu Picchu in Peru, the portion here with the Temple of the Sun, and then the tallest pyramid of Mayan Tikal in Guatemala.
Other ancient structures include the mysterious Moai of Easter Island, almost like small afterthoughts here, given how gigantic the originals are, and the Great Wall of China.
Everyone recognizes what is often considered the most beautiful building in the world, the gem-studded tomb built by Emperor Shah Jihan for his favorite wife and himself on the riverbank at Agra, India, the Taj Mahal, though few know of the sacred Buddhist Boudhanatyh Stupa, equally exotic, in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Few know of the hidden beauty of Petra, Jordan, carved into rosy sandstone cliffs, the Treasury done in some detail here.
Most people have seen the Byzantine Hagia Sophia, one of the world's greatest churches/mosques, in Istanbul in movies, a fine version here.
My favorite is the popular Japanese tourist site, White Castle/Himeji Castle, with its famous ground plan of a maze and dead ends to trap enemies, featured in, notably, Kurosawa's Kagemusha and Ran, also in Richard Chamberlain's Shogun and Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai. All the structures are marvels of natural materials, clearly evident in any close-ups, but the use of bamboo for the roof tiles on this castle keeps me revisiting it.
And everyone recognizes the Parisian signature piece, which will be a wonder in itself if it survives Omaha's winds and thunderstorms.
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