Kaiserball

Happy New Year!

Well, I am back in France now, and happy to be literate once again. I think maybe France has its own smell or something, because when I got off the plane in Nice and took a deep breath, it was like, "Oh, this is familiar. Home-ish."

But I wanted to recount in some detail my night at the Kaiserball, which felt like the cumulation of my travels during this vacances noël. All during Germany, it was kind of a scavenger hunt for the accessories I would need for the ball: shoes, tights, earrings, hair decor, clutch, bobby pins. I dragged C into many a Bijoux Brigitte in search of a properly old-fashioned-looking pair of earrings, as the theme of the ball was "That's Entertainment", and I was going for a 1920s Hollywood look.

I finally collected them all, and as my wonderful host and her friend were preparing fondue for our New Year's Eve dinner, I got ready as best I could, given that I had just been traveling and living out of a backpack for the past two weeks.

Vienna

The best part of the ball was entering the palace, I think. Yes, palace. The Kaiserball takes place at Hofburg, the Hapsburg's former winter residence. There were guards in uniforms holding muskets, ladies in glittering dresses, marble staircases, and hall after hall of gilt staterooms.

The ball itself was tous qu'il faut, I imagine. I think the dancers who performed the opening ceremony were actually débutants, the youth of Viennese high society (or so I am telling myself, to make it cooler). Just before midnight, Kaiser Franz Joseph and Kaiserin Elizabeth, otherwise known as Sisi, processed to the thrones at the front of the ballroom. Meaning, of course, actors dressed as the 19th century Emperor and Empress processed to the thrones. At midnight gunshots rang out. Then we had ballet performances, and singers doing covers of everything from classic showtunes to Michael Jackson. All of the music was live, with various orchestras playing in the different rooms.

Objectively, a very cool way to spend New Year's Eve. But I missed my friends, and didn't really get to dance, so ultimately I attended a very lavish ceremony, an impressive spectacle. It wasn't nearly as fun as Jammix!