Happy New Year’s Eve! Though my plans for tonight are vague at best, I know one thing: Champagne will be involved. I rarely feel classier than when I’m holding a flute in a dimly-lit room, straining to see where the plate of hors d’oeuvres has landed.

-Holyn Thigpen, AO Community Editor

The Ice Cream Cocktail Born in a Spectacular Victorian Food Hall

Soyer Au Champagne is basically an ice cream float for adults. Consisting of cognac, orange curaçao, maraschino liqueur, and Champagne topped with ice cream, it’s the brainchild of French foodie Alexis Benoît Soyer, considered by many culinary historians to be the U.K.’s first celebrity chef. In Soyer’s “Symposium”—a sprawling experiment in global gastronomy in what’s now Royal Albert Hall—this dessert-like drink wowed a who’s who of Victorian-era artists, politicians, and high society figures.

I’LL CHEERS TO THAT →

AO’s Top Places to Travel and Transform in 2026

Planning your next trip? These extraordinary destinations invite wonder seekers (that’s you!) to travel differently in the new year. From glowing caves and mirror-like salt flats to ancient cities carved from stone, each place offers a chance to see the world—and yourself—anew.

CHOOSE YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE →

Champagne Supernova

How did a Champagne-stocked steamship end up in a Kansas cornfield? — Cruisin’ for a boozin’
Stalin and his Soviet chums created a Champagne for the working class — Pop bottles with the proletariat
Marathon runners once drank Champagne as an energy drink — Toasting at the finish line

AO’s Insider Guide to Spain’s Camino de Santiago

Part travel memoir, part insider map, this guide by author, investor, and life-long traveler Scott Goodson traces a midlife pilgrimage walked against expectation. Wander through medieval towns, experience unforgettable meals, and find the kind of conversations that only happen on foot. For anyone curious enough to wander slightly off the path, take this as your starting point.

BUY THE GUIDE →

Place of the Day

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

One Times Square

In a triangular intersection at the heart of New York’s busiest neighborhood sits One Times Square, the iconic setting for the annual New Year’s Eve ball drop. Hovering high above the city streets, the Times Square Ball patiently awaits December 31, when millions of spectators around the world gather once again to count down its descent and the coming of a new year. The ball is never taken down, so if you happen to find yourself in a nearby skyscraper, keep a look out for it.

PRIME REAL ESTATE →