New Year’s Fireworks
January 1st at the strike of midnight, the very first seconds of the year, was a top moment of the year.
For our trip to Australia, we booked The Langham in Melbourne. Our experience at The Langham in Boston was amazing, largely due to our Amex upgrade that gave us access to a hotel lounge and complimentary room service. Our experience in Melbourne wasn’t quite as delightful, with an uneven experience at the hotel bar, minutes stuck in an elevator, and some other issues related to housekeeping. However, the location was great and the view of the city was lovely.
On New Year's Eve, we received a half bottle of sparkling wine and an invite to the hotel patio to watch the fireworks. I almost handed the champagne back as a non-drinker and asked if they could send up some Heineken Zero, but I graciously accepted it. From the hotel window, I could see the patio so I deduced that we would be able to see the fireworks from our own window (real Einstein over here). Having not stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve since 2015 , I wasn’t confident that I would be awake for this firework show, but if I was, I should at least see it from the comfort of my hotel robe in my hotel bed.
After an amazing multi-course dinner, we made our way through the crowded streets, back to our hotel. The city was alive with people headed towards the fireworks viewing location. Imagine the throngs of people in Time Square that are waiting for the ball to drop, except all of these Australians as basking in the 75 degree weather!
I threw my robe on and plopped on the bed by 11. I told Sung I might just go to sleep but he said we should stay up for the fireworks. I forget what we put on the tv, but we waited. At 11:59, the 10 second countdown began. 3, 2, 1, and HOLY SHIT I have never seen so many fireworks in my damn life! The sky lit up right in front of us. Little did we know that we actually booked the perfect hotel to watch the firework show. What a way to start a new year - in a foreign country, on a beautiful night, fireworks everywhere, and hope that bright skies were ahead for 2023.
This New Year's Eve, we will go back to our tradition of making dinner inspired by our travels. We are making Korean/Scandinavian fusion, which will be…ask me next year after I’ve made it. I love our tradition but I was happy to break it in 2022/2023 to see an amazing show.
