On 1/21, we left Prague, Czech Republic early in the morning, and went to the bus station; we still had not decided where to go next! Would it be Krakow, Poland and even colder weather... but giving Toli the country mouse the chance to graze in the open fields? Or Vienna, Austria and less nature... but also the chance to go to one more Viennese Ball (and make up for our less-than-ideal Blumenball experience)? A coin decided for us: tossed it twice, and we got the same reply... off to Austria. And this time, we were determined to do things right.

The ball was the Ball der Wiener Philharmoniker (Ball of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) on 1/22, at the Vienna Musikverein (Music Association; the orchestra building). We had a whole day and a half to prepare ourselves. And, we were in a town whose primary tourist sights we had already seen, and where we knew exactly where to go for a hotel (Pension am Lerchenfeld (Hotel on the Lark Field), where we had stayed during our previous one-night stay). So we slept, took slow relaxing walks, surfed the net, scouted the Musikverein grounds and got tickets (student tickets again, saving over 70%), breathed in some fresh air and absorbed some sun, and hang out at a nice restaurant, followed by a classy cafe (non-smoking section... woo hoo!). The day of the ball, Christine got her hair done, and we got flowers for her hair and a corsage for Toli. In the end, we had a wonderful time all dressed up and dancing the night away among the crème de la crème of Austria... foreign dignitaries, politicians, Seiji Ozawa... and us.

1/21
Rathausplatz
Christine dances in front of the Rathaus, all lit up for the winter ice skating rink.

1/21
Stephansplatz (St. Stephen's Square)
Advertisements on the bell tower of the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral). Capitalism at its best.

1/21
Cafe Landtmann
Christine is always in the mood for a coffee and pastry.

1/21
In front of Cafe Landtmann
Toli poses with a tuxedo-ed horse, thus revealing that all great actors start by waiting tables, including Mr. Ed. If a horse can wear a tux, surely Toli can do so yet again (even if this would mean that during our trip he wore his tux more times than he had done since he got it from his father).

1/22
Hotel Sacher, Philharmonikerstrasse (street of the Philharmonic Orchestra)
Christine attacks the Sachertorte (Sacher (Hotel) cake) in the display window.

1/22
Volksgarten (People's Garden)
Christine celebrates the blue sky.

1/22
Volksgarten
Christine celebrates the blue sky.

1/22
Volksgarten
Toli in front of the Tempel Theseus (Theseus Temple), imitating the statue next to him, which represents the beauty of youth.

1/22
Volksgarten
Toli in front of the Tempel Theseus.

1/22
Volksgarten
Toli in front of the Tempel Theseus.

1/22
Volksgarten
Toli in front of the Tempel Theseus. Having realized he is no longer young (due to his backache thanks to the cold weather), Toli decided to act as a mature Ancient Greek man. So he is molesting beautiful youth. ("Wasn't that what I was expected to learn when high school stuffed Ancient Greek down my throat?").

1/22
Volksgarten
The shrubs are wrapped for the winter, a la Christo. At first sight, Toli couldn't tell what they were; the first interpretation that popped in his mind was that it was some sort of artwork representing hunched figures in the cold, as a memorial to the Nazi roundups of Jews... funny how visiting Dachau, Germany, the Anne Frank house (in Amsterdam, The Netherlands), the Jewish Quarter of Prague, Czech Republic, all mixed with remnants of the movie Schindler's List to create this first instinctive interpretation.

1/22
Volksgarten
The shrubs are wrapped for the winter.

1/22
Volksgarten
The shrubs are wrapped for the winter.

1/22
Rathausplatz
The Parlament (Parliament). When politics mix with architecture, you get edifices precariously perched.

1/22
Rathausplatz
The Parlament and its Sapphic columns.

1/22
Rathausplatz
A Sapphic column of the Parlament.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine done up in curls.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine goes under the mega-dryer.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine under the mega-dryer.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine under the mega-dryer.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine may come from Texas, but she had to go to Austria to get big hair.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine sits patiently, while Rene puts the finishing touches on her hairdo.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine and her Austrian 'fro, I mean frisier.

1/22
Rene's Salon
Christine and her Austrian 'fro, I mean frisier.

1/22
Pension am Lerchenfeld
Christine as big-haired Sandy from Grease.

1/22
Pension am Lerchenfeld
Christine as big-haired Sandy from Grease.

1/22
Pension am Lerchenfeld
"Aaaahhh! My hair is so big!!!" says Christine, and Pascal back in Austin could hear her.

1/22
Josefstädter Strasse U-Bahn stop
Christine's final hairdo, after an intervention by Toli.

1/22
Josefstädter Strasse U-Bahn stop
Back view of Christine's hair.

1/22
Josefstädter Strasse U-Bahn stop
Back view of Christine's hair.

1/22
Josefstädter Strasse U-Bahn stop
Side view of Christine's hair.

1/22
Josefstädter Strasse U-Bahn stop
Side view of Christine's hair.

Ball der Wiener Philharmoniker, 1/22
Musikverein
Christine and Toli get ready for a fun evening.

Ball der Wiener Philharmoniker, 1/22
Musikverein
Christine.

Ball der Wiener Philharmoniker, 3:07a, 1/23
Musikverein
An exhausted Christine and Toli after the ball.

1/23
Pension am Lerchenfeld
Toli's corsage (€3) managed to last the night...

3:47a, 1/23
Pension am Lerchenfeld
... but Christine's infamous curls (€25) did not.