Happy New Year!
Champagne is usually drank at New Year’s Eve, as well as weddings and birthdays. Or in the case of the late Lily Bollinger, as quoted in the Daily Mail in 1961:
” I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and I drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it, unless I’m thirsty.”
As for us, we had cava (sparkling Spanish white wine), in place of the much more expensive champagne and just as good, last night. And also with eggs this morning for brunch. Just like last year!
A bit about yesterday: Minutes before the clock struck midnight, we briskly walked to Place Poelaert where a crowd of people had already gathered at the viewing point in front of Palais de Justice for the countdown. We arrived just in time.
Fireworks appeared across the city, set alight by Brussels’ 19 communes. Firecrackers were shot up into the air above the crowd at Place Poelaert. Shouts of “Bonne année!” were everywhere. Champagne bottles were popped in the streets. Whiffs of hash lingered in the air as the rain continue to fall onto the crowd.
We made our way to Place Royale where even more people were watching the elaborate fireworks display over Mont des Arts. There was also more champagne being poured, and more umbrellas threatening to poke someone’s eyes.
Here are some dim images that I took with my Blackberry as the crowd started to thin after the fireworks display ended. Empty champagne bottles. Umbrellas. Puddles of water. Wet bodies dancing in the rain.
Angelina Hue 