A painting party at Bottle & Bottega

Celebrating New Year’s Eve with the same old bubbly and dancing events can get old after awhile. Inject a little more creativity into your celebrations with these inspired Chicago affairs: Read More »

Flamenco in Barcelona

The year is coming to an end. Has it been a good one? It has for me, musically speaking. I’ve gotten to see many a fantastic concert in 2011, and hope to have similar good luck in 2012. As with movies and food, when it comes to tunes I am open to just about anything. I’ll enjoy an opera as much as I’ll enjoy a rock n’ roll show, which means I could see music every night of the week in Barcelona (I don’t, I have laundry to do, a dog to walk, yoga, a life).

Two shows that have sparked my interest in the coming year are coming up soon in early January. The first is Capullo de Jerez + Artistas Invitados at Sala Apolo. This is your chance to see topnotch flamenco in Barcelona! Skip the tourist traps on Las Ramblas and get a ticket to this show, just 18.00 euros online.

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Tix

http://www.arteporderecho.com/es/

Listen to him here:http://youtu.be/jveZKWRZVec

The other concert is Edith Crash, a French singer who I don’t really know too much about, other than I like what I’ve heard. She’s a passionate singer with a sort of Ani DiFranco energy about her. One to check out! She’ll be at Niu at 8:30pm  on Saturday the 14th and tickets are just 5.00 euros.

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Listen here: http://youtu.be/m6lFGreunzI

Venue and tickets: http://www.niubcn.com/

Post and photos by Regina Winkle-Bryan. See more of her tips on Spain at: The Spain Scoop.com

The general rule when you go out to drink is to always have a designated driver in your group of friends to be a sober driver.

But sometimes, especially on certain holidays like New Year’s Eve, people forget and then are tempted to drive after drinking alcohol.

If that happens to you, and you don’t have a place to sleep it off, there are some programs in certain cities that will get you home for free.

One of the biggest is sponsored by AAA and is available in several states under names like “Tipsy Tow” or “Tow to Go,” and offers free tows within a certain distance for anyone who has had too much to drink, even for non-AAA members.

Here’s a listing from AAA of areas covered:

• AAA Alabama (Statewide. Program is called “Tow-for-Life”)
• AAA Arizona (Statewide)
• AAA Auto Club South (Statewide in Florida, Georgia, West and Middle Tennessee. Program is called “Tow-to-Go”)
• AAA Merrimack Valley (Program is called “TOWEDD.” From December 16th-January 1st.)
• AAA Montana (Missoula, Bozeman, Helena and Billings)
• AAA Nevada (Statewide)
• AAA Northern California
• AAA Oklahoma (Metro Tulsa, Metro Oklahoma City, Shawnee, Bartlesville, Enid, Muskogee and Lawton)
• AAA South Dakota (Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, Mitchell and Yankton only)
• AAA Tidewater Virginia (Greater Hampton Roads area including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. Program is called ‘Tow-to-Go”)
• AAA Utah (Statewide)
• Auto Club of Southern California (including Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas)
• New Jersey Automobile Club (Morris, Essex and Union counties only)

AAA Mid-Atlantic offers free taxi rides instead in the Baltimore area only.

Call 1-800-222-4357 if you need to use these AAA programs.

In some cities, the public transportation system runs for free during key drinking hours on New Year’s Eve. Among them are Austin and Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; San Francisco and Los Angeles, California.

Please stay safe this holiday weekend. Do not drive, or ride with, someone who has been drinking. And if you need to use any of the above programs to get home, please do. They’re free, so there’s no excuse not to.

[Image: AAA]

The holidays at the end of the year tend to be the busiest time to visit Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, with the week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day bringing the parks near to or at capacity.

So if you are planning to celebrate New Year’s Eve at Walt Disney World, here’s what you can expect and how to get the most enjoyment out of the evening.

For starters, Disney’s Animal Kingdom doesn’t participate in the festivities since the animals are in bed by then.

Magic Kingdom will feature their “Wishes” night time show with a special holiday overlay on the castle at 8:30pm and “Fantasy In the Sky” fireworks at 11:51pm. They will also have a special showing of the New Year’s Eve fireworks on December 30 at 11:50pm. Park hours are 8am to 2am on December 31st, 2011.

Epcot will have special showings of “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth,” their nightly laser and fireworks show, at 7pm and 11:42pm. Park hours are 8am to 1am.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios features two showings of “Fantasmic!” at 6:30pm and 8pm, with a showing of the “Lights! Camera! Happy New Year!” fireworks display at midnight. Park hours are 8am to midnight.

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