TRAVEL: The BEST

  The Star Advertiser this morning featured an editorial that makes sense.  Here is the final paragraph:

As the delta variant continues swirling among us, stay masked in public and do not underestimate the damage that COVID-19 can do to you, or your loved ones. And consider this choice: A weekslong, $317,810 battle in the hospital against severe COVID-19 — or a quick, free and effective shot in the arm? So much undue pain and expense could be prevented, by less than an ounce of vaccine.

The morning New York Times showed this graph that defied expert judgement.  Pundits and medical professionals were united in predicting that the COVID-19 pandemic--with the then relatively new Delta variant which was twice as efficacious for spreading the virus--would only get worse because unvaccinated 5-11 year olds would be returning to school, universities and the NFL would be allowing full attendance at football games with no mask requirement, Broadway and other theaters announced openings, and restaurants would return to almost normal.  So what happened?  See to the right.  The wave is dropping.   There is general puzzlement as to why. Incredibly enough, the best answer as to why things did not get worse was that this pandemic tends to have two-month cycles no matter what we do.

Both October issues of Travel + Leisure and Conde Naste Traveler picked the best cities in the world.  T+L had the finest of everything, meaning airlines, airports, cities, cruises, hotels, etc.  How did they come up with these lists?  Essentially, the magazine ran a survey of readers and others from January 11 through May 10, 2021.

25 best cities.  I've been to almost half.  Summary:

• #1      San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
• #2      Uaipur, India.
• #3      Istanbul, Turkey.
• #4      Ubud, Indonesia.
• #5      Kyoto, Japan.
• #6      Florence, Italy
• #7      Mexico City, Mexico.
• #8      Oaxaca, Mexico.
• #9      Chiang Mai, Thailand.
• #10    Bangkok, Thailand.
• #11    Taipei, Taiwan.
• #14    Rome, Italy.
• #19    Tokyo, Japan.
• #23    Seoul, South Korea

Why San Miguel de Allende?  Good weather, the arts and so called experiential living.  But is it safe?  According to the San Miguel Writers Conference:

• Mexico has 31 states, with a total area three times the size of Texas.
• On average, the murder rate is 2 per 100,000, the same as Evansville, Indiana or Fond du Lac, Wisconsin,
• Mexico City is 8/100,000.
• San Miguel de Allende:
• Safe to walk day and night.
• Taxis cost under $3.
• Yet, according to Travel Safe-Abroad:
• Beware of pickpockets.
• Avoid bars after sunset.
• Use only licensed taxis.
• No natural disaster risk.
• Medium muggings.
• Now and then terrorist-gang showdowns.
• Businesses pay protection money to gangs.
• Lots of armed police.
• Watch out for scams.

This is the best city in the whole world?  When you go to more traditional and comprehensive surveys, the major ones like London, New York, Tokyo and Paris dominate.  Of course, they all too have safety problems.  

Further:

• The top five cities in the U.S. were Charleston (right) Santa Fe, New Orleans, and New York City.  Honolulu was #10.

• 
  You would never guess the top three cities in Europe:
• #1  Istanbul (right).
• #2  Florence.
• #3  Krakow.
• Top three international airlines.
• Singapore.
• Qatar.
• Eva.
• 
  Top three airports.
• Singapore Changi (right).
• Istanbul.
• Incheon.
• Best cruise lines by size:
• Mega:  Disney followed by Cunard.
• Large:  Seabourn
• Mid:  Windstar
• Small:  Quasar
• River:  Uniworld, while Tauck, the one I took, was #2.
• Crystal was nowhere near the top in any of these.
• Top hotels were mysteries, led by two African safaris.  The Raffles was in Istanbul and Waldorf Astoria on the Maldives.
• I never heard of most of the hotel brands, led by Leela Palaces, with Park Hyatt at #24 and Four Seasons at #25.
• Viceroy in Chicago was the top U.S. hotel, and I only stayed at #8 Windsor Court in New Orleans and #10 Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.
• The Top Three in Las Vegas were Wynn, Waldorf Astoria and Four Seasons.
• The Top Three in Honolulu:  Halekulani, Prince and Montage Kapalua Bay.
• The Top Three in Tokyo:  Park Hyatt, Aman and Ritz-Carlton.

Conde Nast only picked the top 20 cities:

• #1      Tokyo
• #2      Osaka
• #3      Kyoto
• #4      Singapore
• #5      San Miguel de Allende
• #6      Istanbul
• #7      Merida
• #8      Marrakech
• #9      Porto
• #10    Aspen
• #11    Bangkok
• #12    Seoul
• #13    Charleston
• #14    San Sebastian
• #15    Chicago
• #16    Alexandria (Virginia)
• #17    Santa Fe
• #18    New York City
• #19    Greenville
• #20    Salzburg

Many of these cities would be stops in that fantasy global journey I featured a week ago.

Let me end with my favorite scoundrel, Donald Trump, who lost even more money, will choose executive privilege to fight off his January 6 coup attempt hearing, is getting more and more implicated with a wider range of strategies to overturn his election loss, and could further hurt Republicans in upcoming midterm elections.

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