If you're looking for a romantic way to celebrate New Year's Eve then Paris has got to be the ticket. Join the crowds on the Champs-Elysees to enjoy the fireworks at midnight; the action on this famous avenue tends to get going around about 9 pm.
Before then you might want to try one of the restaurants recommended by Gridskipper this week, with the proviso that you usually need to book in advance. And don't expect a New Year's Eve meal to be cheap, either. The Hotel Ritz's restaurant l'Espadon, for example, has a meal costing €2,008 ($2,900), but there are better deals to be had, just get booking now!
And if an expensive meal and a crowded Champs-Elysees stroll isn't your thing, there are a number of boat companies who offer dinner cruises on the Seine at the not-that-unreasonable cost of around $200. With luck you'll still see the fireworks show, and you probably won't have any of the famous Paris pavement dog poo under foot.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the famous Times Square New Year's Eve Ball, and to mark the occasion, the folks at Waterford Crystal have seriously juiced up their famous sphere. The new ball, which will replace the one that's been used since the millennium celebration, will be twice as bright and have "enhanced color capabilities and state-of-the-art LED lighting effects."
Yup, its gonna be shiny and high-tech and probably way cooler than the old model but its still, well... just a ball. And if you ask the tourists committed enough to spend their night packed into cattle pens to watch it drop, it's a ball that you can barely see.
Far cooler and way kitschier, we think, then adding one more body to the frenzy in Times Square, would be to ring in the 2008 at one of the unique "dropping ceremonies" in smaller cities across the country.
Hook up with the locals in Flagstaff, Arizona and watch as they send a 70-pound silver pinecone down the flagpole. Or hang with the folks in Mount Olive, North Carolina as their massive dill takes a plunge into a pickle tank. Our favorite just might be the Key West celebration, during which organizers drop a six-foot, red, high-heeled shoe filled with a drag queen named Sushi.
Other weird objects used to mark the passage of time include a crab (Easton, Maryland), a mossbunker fish (Point Pleasant, New Jersey), a sausage (Ellmore, Ohio) and a wrench (Mechanicsberg, Pensylvania).
If you're set on seeing the ball drop in Manhattan, we understand. Just head to Little Times Square in Manhattan, Kansas to catch the aluminum apple make its run down the flagpole. It may not be as impressive at the original, but we guarantee it's heaps more energy efficient.
New Year's Eve in Hong Kong is not as big a celebration as the Chinese New Year which follows a little later, but there are plenty of ways to ring in 2008 if you're in HK.
For one, you might remember about six months back we talked about the new Ngong Ping 360 cable car that was closed after a gondola crashed to the ground during a test. Since then, they've sacked a few workers and done extensive testing--and the cable car up to the Tian Tan Buddha is going to reopen on New Year's Eve. You can't be the first to ride it--a brave local politician has taken that honor--but you could still celebrate the coming of '08 with a ride.
Elsewhere in Hong Kong, you might want to catch the fireworks over the harbor, and the best positions will be anywhere along the waterfront in Wanchai or Tsim Sha Tsui, although everywhere will be pretty crowded. For serious eating, drinking and partying, try the Lan Kwai Fong district, renowned for having excellent entertainment all year. If you're shaky after a risky ride on the Ngong Ping 360, it's the place for a drink to calm those nerves.
Big sis HotelChatter has found a great Tokyo hotel for us for New Year's Eve, and Japan's coolest city is certainly a great place for us to celebrate the start of 2008.
The Japanese like to celebrate the coming of the new year, or oshogatsu, by visiting a temple to pray--choose one of the big Tokyo temples like the Meiji Shrine and you'll be stuck in a large but very interesting crowd.
All over Tokyo, you'll also experience the tradition of the "watch night bell", where a bell is rung 108 times, apparently because that will get rid of the 108 worldly desires. (Don't ask us for a list.) All of that makes for a noisy but quite spectacular New Year's Eve, as long as you don't overdo the sake.
Let's face it: Despite the stratospherically high expectations most of us have for New Year's Eve, it's got the worst track record for disappointment of any national holiday, just edging out Valentine's Day. So unless you're keen to shell out $200 to push your way through an awful crowd, suck on weak cocktails and get denied a kiss at midnight, skip the bar scene and sign up for something practically guaranteed to boost your endorphins.
The New York Road Runner's Club is hosting its annual Midnight Run, a four-mile jaunt through Central Park, and this year, they're adding to the sweaty thrill with fireworks choreographed to music. The club will also throw its usual pre-race costume parade and a dance party. On the other side of the planet, more than 200 service members stationed in Al Asad, Iraq, will execute their own version of the Midnight Run at the stroke of midnight--eight hours ahead of New York.
While there will be some token prize money handed out, the organizers remind NYC marathon wannabes that this doesn't count as a qualifying race. If you're getting in the holiday spirit just to get a number, you might as well turn right back around and get sloshed at R Bar with the rest of us.
Berlin's got a great reputation as a party town--think Love Parade, for a start--and the New Year's Eve celebrations in Berlin are really something to experience. Silvester, the name used for NYE by many across Europe, is a huge event in Berlin in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which seperated East and West Germany before the Berlin Wall came down.
On December 31 this year organizers predict at least one million people will gather to ring in 2008; the strip leading to the gate will be filled with stages, screens, party tents and food and drink stands. At midnight a huge fireworks display should be the highlight of the night.
Get your spot near Brandenburg Gate early--the first performances begin at 6:30 pm, and squeezing in later amongst a million others might be tricky. Germans might be serious for most of the year, but they'll be partying hard come New Year's Eve.
We can't usually think much beyond midnight on December 31 but it seems that if you're in London as 2008 arrives, you should be aiming to keep yourself fit enough to enjoy the New Year's Day Parade on January 1.
Running for over twenty years and now featuring 10,000 performers, the organizers say it's the biggest New Year's Day event of its kind--we're not surprised, since most people find it hard to get out of bed on January 1. If you can make it to London, though, you'll be treated to marching bands, Charlie Chaplin lookalikes, circus performers and samba dancers, all to be enjoyed with a crowd of half a million spectators.
The parade route runs two miles around many of London's famous spots, and a nice thing about it is that the goal of the event is to raise money for London charities. It sounds like the place to be if you're welcoming in 2008 in London--hangover or not.
For those planning to spend the coming New Year's Eve Down Under, one of the best spots for watching the Sydney Harbour fireworks will be on top of the Sydney Tower, high above the ground.
There are several packages available for revelers who want to get high above Sydney: You can get tickets for the Observation Deck at the tower itself, or head up to the Skywalk, made up of glass-floored platforms suspended over the city. A local radio station will broadcast live from the deck and play the fireworks soundtrack up there, too.
Tickets include an OzTrek virtual reality ride plus a glass of sparkling wine or soft drink, but you'd better stop at one sparkling wine: Party-goers heading out to the Skywalk will have to pass an alcohol test (and measure below 0.05%) before they can hang out above Sydney.
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by amandak
