Forty Destinations

Having listed the Top Seven Wonders of the World I Have Seen, the Top Seven Wonders of the World I Haven't Seen, and the Top Seven Wonders of the Natural World I Have and Haven't Seen, I can now begin to imagine an Around-the-World trip for the Ruiz Benton Five (and whoever else wants to join us). Add two more 7-item lists--The Family Heritage Itinerary and The Great Cities Itinerary-- and I can start drawing my map:

The Family Heritage Itinerary
1. Chicago (especially the Neo-Futurarium, the University of Chicago, Millenium Park)
2. Madrid (side trip to Chinchon; also: el Retiro, el Prado, la Reina Sofia, la Plaza Mayor, el Puerto del Sol)
3. Buenos Aires (side trip to Arrecifes, where Maria Rosa grew up)
4. Vienna (Staatsoper)
5. Montreal (where Mari spent a semester abroad)
6. Xiamen (Gulangyu)
7. Ipiales, Colombia (I was once sixty miles from Ipiales; sorry I didn't get there then)

The Great Cities Itinerary (Cities I've Visited) in no particular order
1. New York
2. San Francisco
3. London
4. Rome
5. Venice
6. Istanbul
7. Hong Kong
Also considered: Paris (Centre Georges Pompidou, Louvre Museums); Fez and Chaouen (Morocco); Stratford-Upon-Avon; Figueres (Spain). And these places I haven't seen: Edinburgh, Bilbao (Guggenheim Museum).

And so, these are the 40 Destinations we end up with (listed by region; those I've never visited are in bold):

North America (9)
1. San Francisco; 2. Sequoia National Park; 3. The Grand Canyon; 4. Yellowstone National Park; 5. Glacier National Park; 6. Chicago; 7. Montreal; 8. Niagara Falls; 9. New York City

Central and South America (9)
1. Tikal in Guatemala (at right; Mexico's Chichen Itza was on my original list of 7 Wonders to See, but I've since decided that Tikal looks more interesting); 2. Ipiales, Colombia; 3. Canaima National Park (includes Angel Falls), Venezuela; 4. Machu Picchu, Peru; 5. The statues of Easter Island in Chile; 6. Ischigualasto / Talampaya Natural Parks, Argentina; 7. Buenos Aires (side trip to Arrecifes); 8. Iguazu Falls, Argentina; 9. Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina

Sub-Saharan Africa (3)
1. The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater (Sopa Lodge), Tanzania ; 2. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Uganda (Mountain Gorillas); 3. Devil's Pool, Victoria Falls, Zambia

Europe (7)
1. London; 2. Stonehenge; 3. Madrid; 4. Rome (the Colosseum); 5. Venice; 6. Vienna; 7. Athens

North Africa and The Middle East (5)
1. The Sahara Desert (Tinfou, Morocco); 2. The Pyramids; 3. The temples of Luxor and Aswan (see image at left), Egypt; 4. Petra, Jordan; 5. Istanbul (Hagia Sophia)

Asia (7)
1. The Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow; 2. The Taj Mahal in Agra, India; 3. The Potala Palace in Llasa, Tibet; 4. The Guilin Mountains of China; 5. The Great Wall of China (Beijing); 6. Xiamen; 7. Hong Kong