February | 2025 | KandL Blog

Six years ago, I went on a work trip to Vienna: Europe Trip. This year, I had the chance to go back, and Kathryn came along for the ride. Here’s a quick report from our K&L Vienna 2025 trip.

Flying over the Alps.

I had a work meeting to attend, so Kathryn did some initial exploring. She visited the Mozart Haus.

This is the view from the window where Mozart composed The Magic Flute.

Programs from some of his concerts.

Meanwhile, back in Utah…

The next day was a full day of adventure walking around the city. St. Stephen’s Cathedral is quite a masterpiece of medieval construction.

We climbed the 343 steps (7x7x7) up the massive south tower to the observation room.

Mozart

Hoffburg Palace

The Vienna Ice World ice skating rinks and pathways in front of Vienna City Hall. This was pretty incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it. There wee even different levels connected by ice ramps.

The Votive Church, pictureception.

Incredibly ornate facade

And equally impressive interior

Such a cute cross walk symbol. The world might just be a better place if all crosswalks were like this.

Another side of the Hofburg palace

Ball time. Time to get dressed up.

This was the real reason Kathryn came to Vienna. The company that we came to visit invited us to attend the Techniker Cercle ball at the Musikverein. It is a prestigious annual event requiring coattails and evening gowns. When we originally got the invitation to extend our trip through the weekend and attend the ball, I was hesitant. Never have I ever even considered something like this. When I mentioned it to Kathryn, she had a much different reaction…more of the “are you crazy, of course we’re going” kind. So, here we are, all ready to go.

The evening started with an incredible dinner in the exclusive top floor glass room of the DO & CO hotel overlooking the Stephan’s Cathedral.

It was an incredible multi-course meal with some of the most delicious food.

The ball officially started at 10 pm and concluded at 4 am.

The ball began with the presentation of the debutantes. This is the formal introduction of young ladies (ages 18-24) into society. You only get to do it once. They performed the parade and then some traditional dances.

After the presentation of other officials and dignitaries, and the playing of the Austrian National Anthem, the European Union anthem, and one more Debutante dance, the ball officially opened.

At midnight, things got a little wild when one of the business guests asked us to come dance the Quadrille them. An instructor at the called out the dance steps in German while we performed them. Then it gets progressively faster each time. It would have been helpful to have learned the dance ahead of time. I’m sure it wasn’t that complicated, but it was just wild out there not knowing what to do and being packed in so tight! We did our best.

Around 1am, we worked our way up to the upper balcony and enjoyed a sit and sip of some Coke. I can confirm it was just as refreshing as advertised.

Around 3:30 am, most of the business guests we came with had headed home, including the one that had invited us. So, we did ourselves proud dancing the night away and outlasting the locals, and we decided to call it a night. Kathryn’s feet were shot by this point and was her crutch on the slow walk back to the hotel. One last picture before bed.

4am silliness. What a day!

After a little nap, we headed back out to see a few more sights. That round glass building was were we had dinner the night before.

Getting some pastries from the famous pink Aida shop.

St. Peter’s Church

Looking straight up at the dome

The main alter

An unnamed martyr that has been laying here since 1733. That’s different.

We took a tour of the Vienna State Opera. This is the view from the emperors box. Afterward, we had to rewatch Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation to spot familiar locations