Jaunted

Overall, there weren't many surprises, with "diverse, tolerant, open and welcome" San Francisco taking best American city for the sixteenth* year in a row, and the Italian Government Tourist Board's Riccardo Strano accepting Florence's prize for best European city. (Strano: "I'm a little bit surprised. It's the first time... not really.") If there was a loser of the night, it was Sarah Palin, who was the butt of a few jokes for her comments about seeing Russia from her house and disparaging international travelers.

One big upset was Virgin America's stealing best domestic airline away from JetBlue in its very first year of operation. Turns out David Cush needn't have looked so nervous when we bumped into him before the ceremony. (Poor Midwest Airlines, the third nominee in that category, again went away defeated.)

For host Jane Krakowski ("Ally McBeal," "30 Rock"), traveling is more about expanding her palate than her passport, from Viennese pretzels to "shodka vots" in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But her story about being recognized in front of a shop o' dildos in Amsterdam had more color in it than most of the editors' "Memorable Travel Moments" presented throughout the evening--although we'll never forget that photo of Wendy Perrin on an ATV. After Krakowsi found herself taking photos with a Midwestern family in Amsterdam's red-light district, she felt embarrassed -- until she thought, "What parents brought their kids here?"

The Traveler after-party had no kids at it so far as we could tell, but an influx of famous faces poured in via the red carpet where non-VIPs had checked in earlier in the evening. Conde Nast's imported tweeter Sheila Scarborough of Family Travellogue even wondered aloud "What all the glitz had to do with travel."

We spotted "Pretty In Pink"'s Andrew McCarthy and a ladyfriend; the big photographer "get" was Aubrey O'Day, whose firing from Diddy girl group Danity Kane was shown on Tuesday's finale of "Making The Band." Drowning her sorrows in Grey Goose, or toasting the next phase of her career?

In the VIP section we caught up with "30 Rock" actress Katrina Bowden, who plays Tina Fey's slutty yet naive assistant on the show. Bowden's favorite destination are the Bahamas, Mexico and London, "Because my dad's family is from there." She reminisced about family road trips, including the classic Vegas-to-Grand-Canyon route, but her next big trip is planned for Thanksgiving:

I'm taking my mom to the Mexican Riviera! Usually we do the holiday at my cousins' house in Tennessee but they're not hosting it this year. I'm like, "Mom! Let's go to Mexico!"

Of course, on the way out of VIP we bumped into a very nice guy who we realized later was Matthew Settle, who plays Rufus Humphrey on "Gossip Girl." (He was shaking hands with some of the smokers on the library steps later.) Suddenly we have a little insight into Lily Bass nee van der Woodsen... Maybe just a little.

Best of the Rest: Superlatives from the Readers' Choice Awards:

• Best City in the Americas: Jaunted editor Paul Brady's current home, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• Best Caribbean/Atlantic Island: Bermuda.

• Best Asian Hotel: The Oberoi Udaivilas, Rajasthan, India.

• Best U.S. Hotel: The Peninsula, Chicago.

• Best Asian Resort: Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

• Best Atlantic Ocean Resort: The One&Only Ocean Club, the Bahamas.

• Best Caribbean Resort: The Ritz-Carlton in Grand Cayman.

• Best Mexican Resort: TIE: The One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos and The Tides in the Riviera Maya.

• Best Car Rental: Hertz.

• Best Foreign-Only Airline: SilkAir.

• Best International Airline: Singapore Airlines.

*We initially reported that it was San Francisco's fifteenth win for Best City; it was actually the sixteenth. Our bad! Thanks to Conde Nast's Amanda Meyer for the correction.

Related Stories:
· Conde Nast Traveler to Relaunch Website [Jaunted]
· Paris Hilton Loves Conde Nast Traveler [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]