Happy New Year!

We celebrated New Years Eve in Berlin this year. Berlin was a quick flight from London so many of my friends flew in especially for New Years Eve and flew out on New Years Day. It was well worth the effort.

New Years at the Brandenburg Gate

I have been to Berlin before (click here for the post), so the focus of this trip was to celebrate the end of 2012 in true London expat style! We sipped on cocktails by the Brandenburg Gate while listening to international acts play loudly from the stage. My favourite moment was when the British boy band, Blue, came up on stage and started to sing. The girls and I initially thought that they were impersonators, but when we looked closely, we recognised their faces and their voices! Soon, we were belting out the tunes to “All Rise” as if our lives depended on it.

NYE count down at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Did I mention that on NYE, not only does Berlin celebrate with great music, but they celebrate with fireworks… everywhere. On NYE only, fireworks can be used by any man and his dog and as you walk through the streets, all you can see and hear are the fireworks. I initially spent most of my time trying to dodge the fireworks, but after a while, I noticed that the police were keeping everyone in check and people were behaving relatively well. We were even allowed to light up our store bought fireworks for a good 30 minutes!

We lit up our sparklers as the countdown began and as the final seconds of 2012 came to an end, we all cheered and hugged each other. The entire area surrounding the Brandenburg Gate was filled with cheers as the choreagraphed fireworks display brought us into 2013. 2012 was a great year and we knew that 2013 would be an even better year!

The After Party

The after party was held at the Neon Splash Party. Basically, the rule of this party is that you dress in white and everyone throws neon paint at each other. Add in a cool DJ and a fun loving crowd and you have yourself a note worthy after party. I walked in wearing white and walked out covered in neon. We left the party at 6am and slept until well into the afternoon. Love it!

NYE 2012 at the Neon Splash Party

How was your New Years celebrations? Wishing you all the best for 2013!