Tickets to the Grand Prix Monte Carlo, where modesty is not an operative word.

This winter, NYC & Company will launch its "Third Night" promotion. What does this mean? At nine luxury hotels, visitors will get a complimentary third night free after booking and paying for two consecutive nights.

The inauguration should be one of the busiest times for tourism in Washington DC for years (an expected 15,000 to 18,000 people will act as volunteers alone). Flights and hotels are selling out fast, and a number of hotels have a host of special packages for the celebration.

Not a sequel to the UK zombie film 28 Days Later. It's Abandoned London on Christmas morning. Tweets from the Denver Continental crash. "Polar Bears" mark the New Year worldwide (BBC). With the Spielbergian blockbuster looming, one take on Belgian boy-reporter Tintin (Economist). Flying while Muslim is not a crime (MSNBC).

After a year of surprises, hijinks, and general flashiness in the world of celebrity, a Boldface recap is in order. And so in the tradition of end-of-year lists, here's a rundown of our favorite celebrity travel moments, both naughty and nice, clever and curious.

It's a sign of the times: The Air Transport Association recently put off its annual forecast event for the media, saying, in so many words, that any predictions it issued now would be worthless. But that hasn't stopped other pundits and analysts from weighing in. So here, with a giant grain of salt, is a stab at predicting what's in store for air travelers in 2009

Marc Collins, the brains behind the French music collective Nouvelle Vague, brought together top young women vocalists from around the world for Hollywood, Mon Amour. The new album is not so much a reinvention of the songbook to 80s blockbusters as it is a complete melting away of the cheese from a synthesized decade.

Last week, Daily Traveler reader bsaylor13 asked: As I recall, I saw somewhere that if there were no charges in place for an airline to charge for checked bags when the reservation was made, that the airline cannot charge when the flight is used if it occurs some time after the reservation was confirmed.

Wyndham Hotels has rolled out its ClearAir initiative, offering allergy-friendly guest rooms in eight of its hotels. By the end of 2009, 10 percent of all Wyndham rooms will be converted by PURE, making Wyndham the first national hotel chain to mandate allergy-friendly rooms systemwide.

I had the dubious pleasure of making my way through airport security three times last week: a round trip to see my family in New York, plus an extra trip to SFO thrown in when my original flight was canceled. And every single time, the TSA's "black diamond self select" program failed.

Woodberry Kitchen looks like an English countryside stable and tastes like farm-to-table-inspired Seattle, but it sits happily in Baltimore's suburbs. This eco-friendly restaurant, Spike Gjerde's joint venture with wife Amy and Grand Cru wine bar's Nelson Carey, opened a little over a year ago to much fanfare.

The Eurail Group, owner of the popular Eurail Passes for European rail travel, has announced further expansions to its product range. As of January 1, 2009, the Czech Republic will be included in the Eurail Global Pass, and Bulgaria is a new option in the One Country Passes.

My partner in devoration, Mollie Chen, recently pulled up a bar stool at Boston wonder-chef Barbara Lynch's new cocktail spot, Drink. On the stool over was another wonder child, cocktailian Misty Kalkofen, who a couple years ago shook up some sumptous flips and fizzes for me at Cambridge's Green Street Grill.

Just in time for its 100th birthday, the newly hip Tel Aviv has plenty to celebrate, with a spate of new hotels and redevelopment, a happening contemporary art scene, and vibrant nightlife.

Now in its fifteenth year, the Gold List covers everything from clifftop retreats on the Amalfi Coast to South Pacific resorts, contemporary urban hotels and more with reader ratings on rooms, service, food, location, and other criteria. . .