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Celebrate the New Year in Europe and North Africa!

© Stuart Buchanan MacWatt

London welcomes in 2004 with its now celebrated New Year's Day Parade. As Big Ben strikes noon over London, some 10,000 performers start out from Parliament Square in a colourful parade that ends nearly three hours later in Berkeley Square. The biggest parade of its kind in the world will turn Central London into a colourful kaleidoscope of music, merriment and laughter. On 22 January London's Chinese community celebrates the Chinese New Year with its own colourful carnival while in Paris the Eiffel Tower is bathed in red illumination for the week.

Further north, Scotland drenches itself in whisky and nostalgia for Burns Night on 25 January, though most will stretch their celebrations over the entire weekend.

The 31st International Comic Strip Festival provides us with a good excuse to visit Angouleme in Poitou-Charentes, (22-25 January). This is a very Gallic version of San Diego's Comicon festival. This being France, however, expect to see prominence given to Asterix, the irrepressible Gallic superhero, beating hell out of the Roman legions while munching his way through gargantuan quantities of pork.

January sees Sales shopping sprees in most, if not all, European cities. The ultimate experience in January shopping bonanzas however takes place in Dubai. Recharge your credit cards and join some 2 million visitors to this oil rich corner of Araby for the month-long international shopping festival, (15 January - 15 February). Expect up to 50% discounts on gold and diamond jewellery, Persian rugs or magic carpets.

Sick of sales and want to exercise off those extra pounds you put on over the Festive Season? Lose weight while benefiting UNICEF by joining the crowd of runners in the annual 2.5 mile / 4 km run down Unter den Linden, starting at the Brandenburg Gate at 12:00. Recover over the weekend with a visit to one of Berlin's fascinating weekend antiques and flea markets. Venues, descriptions and how to get there can be found under my Berlin Travel Tips below. My own favourite is the Berlin Kunst und Nostalgie Markt which opens every Saturday and Sunday, 10AM - 4PM at Am Kupfergraben. Great for collectibles and Berlin memorabilia.

Am Kupfergraben is also venue of the Museum Island, the renowned museum complex of five separate museums. These are home to a wonderful collection of 19th-century art and also a well-known archaeological collection. The Pergamon Museum is particularly noteworthy for its superb collection of classical Greek, Roman, Islamic, Babylonian and Middle Eastern art and architecture.

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