[Gocamino] Pilgrims' Ball

[blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
Vienna is the place of balls (dance balls, that is) and they have lots and lots of them. These "Balls" are not discos or anything like that. The people who go go to them dance waltzes and, some times, polkas, to live music. The Tourist Information office gives out booklets with a "Balls Calendar" that lists them and their addresses.  For today, Saturday, there are 18 balls listed, among them the veterinaries' ball, the pharmacists' ball, the surgeons' ball, and (ominously) the mechanics and knife-sharpeners' ball, etc. etc. The list of balls also shows a "Pilgerer Ball" which means "Pilgrims' Ball". I don't know whether it has anything to do with Camino pilgrims, but on Monday I'll call up the "Freunde der Jacobsweg"  (Friends of the Camino de Santiago) and will ask.
Anyone can attend most Balls by paying a modest entry fee. While the Viennese are well dressed as a rule, we visitors can get away with anything fairly decent; nor are we expected to excel on the waltz floor, and are generally too inhibited to even try.  But after a couple of glasses of "sekt" (Austrian champagne) which cost 3 Euros each, we give it a whirl and end up having, literally, a ball  (I wonder if that is where the expression came from).
-I went to the butchers' Ball, despite being a vegeterian, and had a terrific time.-
Another way that highlights the different drummers that we march to is in the depiction of Santiago and the shell. The scallop that we know is actually only one half of the shell. In Viena one often finds  both halves of the open scallop with a tiny metal figure of Santiago, as a pilgrim, inside it.
These figures are also produced in crystal by Swarovski. It turns out that the Swaroskis are an ancient Austrian family, quite devout, that has had cardinals in their family history. (They produced all the striking chandeliers in the Metropolitan Opera House, as well as the New Year's ball that falls in Times Square to signify the New Year. Last Christmas they donated the star that topped the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree).  
There is also a beautiful Swaroski Santiago cross, which is the same cross on the Santiago "torta" (cake). The crystal crosses are very beautiful, with a red stone in the center.
(Also, In the Karlskirche museum there is a statue of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday riding a she-donkey and wearing a very wide-brimmed hat!)
When I get home I'll send photos of these things to Dave so that he can post them here for all to see.
Lastly, I got some news from the Pilgrims' office in Santiago, including the 2006 statistics, and I'll post everything tomorrow since I've got to run.
.....No..... I'm not running to the Pilgrims Ball (sigh!), but rather to another event. 
Hugs!
Rosina