Awoken from the dead
yes I have arisen. It is 3pm-ish, post-Queen's Ball. The sun is glaring through the windows again, and I have the urge to eat breakfast and lunch all rolled into one. Not that I didn't eat a ton last night...So, the Ball. It was quite a surreal experience I must say. And a great time. Looking back, with the drinks and the haziness of being sleepy, and the music and lights and strange experience of seeing the sun rise circa 4am, it all begins to feel like a mystical dream, a bit reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. I'm sure that's what they are aiming for, given that the ball is set in historic Queen's college so you are running around in long ball gowns and tuxedos in a setting from the 14 and 1500's with classical music and canapes and fireworks.
Ryan and I met other friends at classmate Rory's veranda at Sidney Sussex College (also my college) for drinks and snacks before hand. You could have bought dining tickets for the ball for an extra 30 quid each, but we had heard of the endless food available all night and decided to forgo the additional dining experience. So we enjoyed champagne and music, olives and hordeurves, and a few of our classmate's parents even came by for the pre-ball cocktails since they were in town visiting.
Then off to the ball, which took over the entire college. I suppose if you were living in college you would just HAVE to go, otherwise there would be no sleeping. There were at least 4 or 5 different large courtyards, a garden area along the river, and many old rooms with different goings-on. There were many tents with musical acts playing, a string quartet, jazz, a girl singing Tori Amos tunes, hip hop, ballroom dancing, dj's playing popular dance music, the Kaiser Chiefs, a band called Sleepwalker that did a great job of keeping me awake for the final hour, and more.
The food and drink were everywhere and endless, which was helpful when trying to stay awake all night. I saw steaks, crepes, doughnuts, hot dogs, ice cream, cotton candy, oysters, oreo banana milkshakes (?), pizza, fajitas, fondue, strawberries and cream, mojitos, champagne, chambord, beer and wine, other fruity cocktails and of course the vodka luge shaped like (take your pick) a male or female body. There was also a casino, a hypnotist, comedians, carnival games and rides, Sheesha, massage, and of course the fireworks show.
It was an amazing experience, and great fun with so many MBAs from the class there, everywhere we went we bumped into more friends, one classmate one the casino grand prize of the night, and many of us stayed long enough to take part in the Survivor Photo at 5:45 AM before walking slowly home in the hot sunshine. After catching up on 7 or 8 hours of sleep, I can look back with fond memories...
posted by Jen @ 3:25 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home