I'm in Vienna: Bored.

I'm so bored in Vienna. LOL JK. Opposite. I have never been so busy, or had so much fun, than in the last three days.

On Thursday night I went to the Hofburg Palace for the Technical University Ball. To say the least, it was a ball. I got ready at my friends' apartment (they only live 1 Ubahn stop from the Hofburg), and we celebrated our first ball with drinks and LOTS of pictures!

My hair for the ball.

We made our way over to the ball around 8:30 and looked crazy in the process. Wearing floor-length gowns and tuxes with leather jackets, fleeces, and peacoats over them looks absolutely ridiculous. We walked a few blocks and were at the Hofburg! We were all screaming and squealing the entire time... it was so exciting.

Waiting at the U4 Kettenbruckengasse Stop with Ben, Allison, and Bailey!

We checked our coats and made our way to the grand ballroom for the Opening Ceremony. A lot of IES kids were planning on skipping this traditional ceremony, but my friends and I felt it crucial to our ball experience and gave ourselves plenty of time to get rid of our coats, explore a little, take some of pictures, and find a spot to watch the opening ceremony. We found a great spot right behind some reserved tables and had a perfect view of the ceremony.

The Opening Ceremony of the ball is when a group of young men (dressed in tuxedoes) and women (dressed in white gowns) perform a series of dances for the crowd and the honorary guests. Some of the guests included headmasters from tons of European universities and other distinguished Viennese men and women. The honored guests filed into the room and sat in chairs, and then the dancing began. The orchestra played "The Barber of Seville," and then the dancers danced an originally choreographed dance, which included a waltz and polonaise. The ceremony ends when the Master of Ceremoies (I think he was the Head of TU) yells "Alles Walzer!" (Everyone waltz!) It was beautiful and I am so happy we arrived early enough to see it!

The Hofburg is an absolutely outstanding building. To give you an idea of how big this place is, I read in a Frommer's book the morning after the ball, "Don't be put off by the daunting tally of 18 wings, 19 courtyards, and 2,600 rooms." We were allowed in maaaybe 15 rooms, and the place still went on and on. It was incredible.

The grand ballroom where the Opening Ceremony was became the Waltz room for the duration of the ball. A nearby room was the Swing Room; when we walked in the band was playing "Route 66"! There was a Folk-Dancing Room, a Jazz Room, and a Salsa Room. There were also a lot of rooms that had chairs and tables, and some rooms that had bars and room to socialize. All of the rooms were amazingly gorgeous and ornamented with unbelievable gold, marble, etc. I danced in all of the rooms (even the waltz one!) and had such an amazing time and a night I will definitely never forget.

I'm not sure that my words are enough to describe the amazing-ness of this palace or ball, so I will post a billion photos on this post.