New Year's Eve - with a splash of Italian.

A perfect and unforgettable NYE with great (and new) friends.

Around 8pm Howard and I headed over to Ariel and Veit's place. Ingredients for the evening included:

- 14 fun people from Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, SA, Germany and the UK

- perfect Cape Town weather

- copious amounts of Champagne

- a stunning dinner and wines by candlelight.

The evening was relaxed and fun. Everyone came from a variety of backgrounds and got on famously. We toasted our hosts and, of course, midnight. Heart-felt wishes for a wonderful year ahead were shared, fireworks were seen over the ocean and then the lure of the infinity pool kicked-in.

Laura, from Florence, dived into the pool fully clothed. Actually, 'dived' is an exaggeration. In her little black dress and high-rise Roberto Cavallis, she kind of teetered in. A quick succession of others followed.

I wondered how 2009 would play out.

At 4am a number of us headed into town for the remnants of the celebrations there. These were a bit sad, but the good looking (no, make that incredibly good looking) and up-for-it crowd was not.

Just after six, I took a cab back home to Camp's Bay with a crazy driver. Despite feeling lousy, it was an unforgettable Cape Town moment as we drove along the coast road, the sun rising over the Twelve Apostles.