Shilpa welcomed New Year in Spanish style.

Year 2008 was an eventful year for Shilpa Shetty. She is looking forward to a fresh start and plans to start a new business venture this year.

Interestingly Shilpa who usually performs on New Year eve preferred to spend time with her family.

She celebrated New Year with her beau Raj Kundra and Family in Spain. Shilpa was in the beautiful city of Puerto Banus in Marbella, Spain. She says, "I can't describe the beauty of the city and its culture. There were orange trees in our villa in full bloom which I happily plucked and gorged on."

Speaking about Spanish tradition of celebrating New Year she says, "They say you learn something every day and at 12 Midnight on New Year's Eve, at a restaurant, I learnt how the Spanish bring in their new year. 12 seconds before the clock struck twelve they gave us 12 grapes called the 12 grapes of luck to eat one by one for every second before we screamed Happy New Year."

She continues. "It's not easy to eat them all but the more you eat the luckier the year is, it was a new experience." Shilpa is looking forward to Neeraj Pathtak's Sunny Deol starrer The Man "I like to start the New Year clean slate… like it's a new beginning." She signs off.

--SAMPURN