Saturday, January 7, 2023

My new years since 2013

2015 NY Lisboa Hard Rock Cafe
Since 2013, almost all my new years have been in Europe or the USA: 2013 (Lisboa), 2014 (Lisboa), 2015 (Lisboa), 2016 (Lisboa), 2017 (Zurich), 2018 (Lisboa), 2019 (Atlanta), 2021 (Kanab), 2022 (Utqiagvik), and 2023 (Fairbanks). 2020 was my first new year in Sri Lanka again after eight years. Most new years have been quite exciting since I left Sri Lanka.
 
2013: Praça do Comercio/Lisboa, the most remarkable one ever.

The most remarkable one was the 2013 new year itself, my first one in Lisboa, with my EMDC friends. No other new year's memory could overtake that one, I am sure. We repeated this experience in 2014 and 2016.

2014: Praça do Comercio/Lisboa, after a trip in Scandinavia
The second remarkable one was the 2014 new year. We had a cruise to Helsinki from Stockholm, then flew to Copenhagen, and also visited Malmö. But we came back to Lisboa for new year's eve. It was an eventful Christmas - new year vacation. A most remarkable year-end vacation to date.

2015: Lisboa - Hard Rock Cafe
We were too late to go to the Praça do Comercio and decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe instead and had some drinks with the festive mood amid a huge crowd.

2016: Praça do Comercio/Lisboa
Same as 2013 and 2014. But we arrived quite late and couldn't reach the usual spot in Praça do Comercio. But we witnessed the firework show a few 100 meters away from our ideal spot in front of the river, blocked by a happy crowd.

2017: Zurich
2017 in Zurich was equally exciting when we traveled to Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein. 2017 was also the first time we celebrated the new year in a country other than our resident country. No wonder 2017 became the year of travels.

2018: Lisboa, idling at home
2018 was the only new year (since moving abroad in 2012 August) when we decided to idle at home during midnight. It also implied either we were getting used to Lisboa New Year's Eve and not too excited anymore, or we were getting old!

2019: Atlanta, in SunTrust park
2019 in Atlanta was quite fun as well. But we did not wait until midnight. The SunTrust park had countdowns for every hour since dark, at 8 pm, 9 pm, 10 pm, ..., giving a new year countdown experience early on.

2020: Back in home, Moratuwa - Sri Lanka
A vacation in Sri Lanka brought back memories of 2012 and earlier new years.

2021: Kanab, UT
A road trip with a colleague. It was a small boring town. But our hotel had a good view.

2022: Utqiaġvik, AK
A walk in temperatures reaching -40 to witness the fireworks on a frozen Arctic lake. A magical moment.

2023: Fairbanks, AK
Yet another Alaska new year. This time it was frozen Chena River.

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