Oh what a night!

Oh yes, ball number one has happened, it was as elegant and gorgeous as I imagined! During our orientation weekend we had preliminary dance lessons which made all the girls giggly for a chance to wear fancy gowns and dance the night away with while all the guys started sweat because it was the first time dancing involved more work then swaying back and forth. As the night approached all conversations turned towards the ball, specifically, who would be able to actually pull off the Viennese Waltz (aside from Luke, who deserves a special shout out for giving us all extra dances lessons which we desperately needed).

 All of us Americans dressed up in our gowns and tuxes, hopped on subways, street cars or taxis and entered the Hofburg Palace with tickets clutched in our hands. Pictures were snapped in the grand staircase and we tried not to drool too much as we found our way to the main dance hall.

There were many rooms opened with different styles of dancing going on throughout the night (traditional, salsa, jazz, you name it and it was probably there).

Room mates! Gwen, Me, Jen and Susan

In the main room was where the opening ceremonies were held, which was with all the debutantes going out with their dates and doing a dance and other formalities (I couldn't see this part, should've worn taller heels). The bands/orchestras/dj's played their music all through the night until the ball ended at 5am!

A group of us stayed until the bitter end, delirious with fatigue and shoes in hands (My feet were sore for at least 3 days after, in fact I still feel that my toes have not recovered) we struggled home to bed for a few hours maybe before German class.

Our German professor took pity on us and held German class in a fancy cafe instead of sitting in a classroom. Thank goodness for that, I don't know if I could've handled real class after a night of dancing and people watching. Needless to say, the ball was almost as magical as a Cinderella fairytale!

After ball class in the cafe