Thanksgiving Gala

This year our kid's school is celebrating 25 years!!

It was decided to hold a semi-formal gala to celebrate the event.  The American ambassador was invited to speak and other dignitaries and consulates from other countries were also in attendance.

The gala was held in the Schloss Cobenzl.  A schloss in German is a castle.  I would say this one is on the small side, but it sure doesn't lack character or great location!  A prime spot overlooking Vienna and the Danube river!

I had a chance to take a look at the venue several weeks before our event.  I wasn't on the planning committee, but I was asked to help coordinate part of the menu, the most important part, PIES!  And I helped a tiny bit with the decorations.   Take a look at this place!  This is several weeks before the gala.

The hall where the gala was held.

 The owner of Cobenzl on the right.  What a character he was!  I think you have to be a character to own a castle!  Ha!

Take a look at some of these features!

The front of Cobenzl.  The deck area in front is huge!  A great place for a summer dinner party!

 The view from the Cobenzl cafe, which is located next to the schloss.

 The cafe itself had loads of charm!  And an outstanding melange!  A coffee known for it's Viennese roots.

In Cobenzl's history, some of it's visitors have been Mozart, President Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth and now me!  Ha!

Then on November 25th we got all dolled up to attend the event.  We even had a Thanksgiving menu of turkey, dressing, green beans and even sweet potato casserole.  Pies and cranberry sauce are a difficult thing for an Austrian to mimic, so various staff and parents contributed this part of the menu.  I was very impressed with the Austrian chef who prepared the meal.  He was given traditional recipes, but it was prepared with an Austrian twist.  Still delicious though!

Jerry was the photographer for the event, so he was up and down all evening.

We took some photos before things got started.  Kristi got to come because Jeremy was asked to be part of the entertainment, along with 3 other trombonists.

We don't get many pictures of just the two of us!

 Our table, complete with name cards!  We got our food late and I was STARVING, so no food pictures, but it was delicious!

Our guest speaker, the American Ambassador (I don't remember his name!  Ha!), on the left with our school director, James, on the right.

It was neat to hear the ambassador speak, but his speech was not relevant to his audience, so it was a bit boring.

Some of the teachers & staff.  Our kid's teachers are the third and fourth pictured from the right.

 Trombonists.  They were excellent!

 The highschool choir also performed.

It was FREEZING up there, but it sure made for a sparkly, white atmosphere outside.  Too cold to really enjoy it though!  But wow, isn't this beautiful?!

The whole area around Cobenzl is just beautiful and their is also a petting zoo.  Once the weather warms up I hope to take the kids.  Obviously, that will be a few months.  

We sure enjoyed our night out!  And Happy Anniversary ICSV!