Monday 8 December 2008

"Statues" Of Liberty

When you think of the Statue of Liberty your mind immediately turns to New York City and the towering statue off the coast of Manhattan. However, this is not the only place in the world you can see this famous monument. Before I took the ferry out to climb the statue I had already seen it twice before on my travels in two other countries. Can you guess where they were?


The first one I saw was standing in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. I caught a glimpse of it while traveling past on the Metro and have since learnt there is another in Paris on an island in the Seine called the Île des Cygnes. It was given to France as a gift in return for the original built and placed in New York to commemorate 100 years of American independence, and as recognition of their new government. They are both relatively small compared to the monster in the USA but still worth a photo.

The second one I spotted took me a bit by surprise. It was standing in Tokyo on the riverside near to the Rainbow Bridge. It was placed there in commemoration of "The French year in Japan" in the late 1990’s and has stood there ever since (see the photo on the left). Apparently this is one of the larger replicas overshadowing those in Norway, Peru, Argentina and Oklahoma.

Another interesting fact is that the reason why you cannot climb right to the top of the Statue of Liberty in New York is because of fire regulations. Apparently to adhere to the regulations only 5 people would be able to climb every hour and it would not be profitable to maintain or provide support staff for this experience. According to the security guard it will never be climbed by a tourist again.

Let me know if you have seen any other replicas by leaving a comment below.

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1 Comments:

At 9 December 2008 at 08:02 , Blogger Saadia said...

Genting Highlands, Malaysia. Though I am not sure if that's the kind you're looking for!

P.S. Congratulations on Follower No. 2.

 

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