The Australian travel magazine get lost arrived in the mail yesterday with my article on travel in 70s, those halcyon, pre-Internet days when total separation made total immersion a whole lot easier.
Immediately preceding my piece is one you would never find in an American travel magazine, as it lists the 10 countries with the most beautiful people. The authors write about the men as well as the women, shielding themselves from charges of sexism. Still, judging nations on their citizens' attractiveness is not something an American publication would dare to do.
Lebanon was #10, giving credence to stories my old newspaper's foreign correspondent used to tell me. Japan was #9, an uninspired choice (I would have chosen Korea). They were followed by Ethiopia, Italy, Israel and Colombia (Secret Service men are no dummies). Denmark was #4, which perhaps explains, better than a culture of low expectations, why the Danes are also said to be among the world's happiest people. Argentina was #3, Ukraine #2 (though almost any Slavic country could have taken its place) and Brazil was #1, giving South America three of the top 10 countries for male and female pulchritude. Regarding the latter, I found one glaring omission: India.
