Condé Nast Best in the World

Each year Condé Nast Traveler pubishes its Readers' Choice Awards, which it calls "The Best In the World." From hotels, to resorts, to cruises, to islands, to airlines, to cities--it's all there.

This special issue, published in November 2007, arrived at my home this week, an issue I always look forward to reading.

I went through list after list until I came to the "Top Cities" page. Right there, at the top of the "Top 10 United States Cities" was San Francisco. No surprise there!

And then I read the "Top 10 Europe Cities":

1. Florence
2. Rome
3. Venice
4. Paris
5. Salzburg
6. Vienna
7. Barcelona
8. Bruges
9. Siena
10. Edinburgh

And suddenly it hit me--in the first half of this year alone, I had traveled to seven of these destinations (Florence, Rome, Venice, Paris, Salzburg, Vienna, and Siena). Prior to teaching abroad, I could claim one (Paris). But thanks to DVC and the opportunity to teach in the Study Abroad program in Florence, I was able to visit 70 percent of the top cities in the world, and, hey, I even lived in one of them! I can't believe how fortunate I am, and I will be forever grateful.