Vienna - A Magical Saturday

On the Saturday morning, we visited Schonbrunn palace which was the summer palace of the imperial family. It was good fun walking outside in the gardens of the palace with Ron. Shame that it was winter and very grey.

In the afternoon we went ice skating with Beth, Alison, Dani, Manny, Martin, Kenneth and Klaus. Klaus is an excellent skater (he plays ice hockey) so he scared us a couple of times. I fell flat on my tummy once, and had nasty bruises on my knees but it is starting to clear.

After skating, Ali, Beth and I went to the hairdresser and got ready for our gala dinner. I was exhausted came dinner time, the photos show large dark circles under my eyes, not the best.

I was given a certificate of « Outstanding Achievement » in contribution to the Company in 2006. I was so very surprised and a bit moved, especially since Ron was wounding me up 5 minutes earlier, saying that I only scratch the surface of my potential in 2006 and that I had better do better in 2007. I received a gold bullion from the Philharmonic of Austria worth a 100€, I am going to keep it.
After dinner, I danced the waltz !!! In Vienna !!! With a long black dress !!! On a real ensemble of 10 musicians. It was a dream come true... You see I grew up watching the New Year's Vienna ball every single New Year's day, and I loved Strauss and I loved how the ladies moved accross the ballroom and the beautiful dresses they wore. I could hardly believe I was there. I danced with:

• Leo who was not a very patient teacher, too strict for my liking
• Mike, who was more lost than I was and kept stepping on my feet, too sloppy for my liking
• Olivier, who was a good lead and waltz very quickly until my head was dizzy
• Winfred, who was a lovely dancer and teacher, and I had the most enjoyable dance with him, and it was on the waltz of the Blue Danube, so I could not have hoped for a better experience.

I am expecting the official pictures of the trip next week.