Ball de Vampir 2010

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The next few entries will cover our 4 day weekend. We had so many diffderent things planned and made a few changes once we found there were tickets available for the annual Heidelberg Vampire Ball. It's always held during the week of Fasching.

First things on the list was to figure out what to wear. Not too difficult but as much as we would have like to have gone all out with fancy ball costumes we didn't want to empty our wallets to do so. Nick got a really nice red dress shirt at C&A and I found a fancy black hat with feathers (they have such inexpensive nice clothes..reminds me of a Kohls and Old Navy) and I bought a cute black dress at the BX. Then after researching as best I could, I found a Gothic store in Stuttgart hoping to find fangs and extra glue. The store was called Gemini. www.gemini-fashion.de
Lots of cool stuff there. Also found some black lace gloves and red contact lenses. (These were a little more then we wanted to spend but I can reuse them for future festivites)

We made our way to Heidelberg after breakfast. It's only about an hour away. We stayed at a place called l Hotel IBIS right near the DB.(IBIS is one of our favorite hotels throughout Europe-great rooms and rates) They run a regular rate of 59 Euro and the rooms are really nice. It has a restaurant and bar and you can pay extra to have breakfast included. It's only a few miles to the city center, Stadthalle, and the Castle.
For lunch we ate at Mandys Diner which is right near the post in Heidelberg...http://www.mandys-hd.de/mandysdiner/index_e.html
Its an old Db Rail car turned diner. The inside is filled with all sorts of photos, license plates, movie posters, etc. from America. The music playing overhead is primarily oldies-Elvis and other current songs from today that have been remade to sound like oldies. The food was delicious! Nick had a huge 3/4lb burger with stuffed jalapenos and a vanilla shake and I had a turkey club with BBQ chips and a rootbeer float. Just like home. Even better was that we saw their ameican breakfast menu!!!! We both knew we would be back the next morning for breakfast! If you are looking for American flare definitely head here!

After breakfast and check in, we headed downtown to find the Altstadt -the heart of the city. Nick and I were both very impressed and intrigued with this city. Its history and richness is like no other. Some history on the area is that Germany's first university was founded here in 1386. It's set along the hills of the Neckar River. Many artists and writers were just as intrigued by this place including Mark Twain.

We decided we would first visit the old castle. After 1329 it served as a home of the prince electors but was destroyed three times- twice by war (1622 & 1693) and once by fire in 1764. They also offer an audio tour which guides you through many different areas inside and outside the walls of the castle. There is a charge for the audio tour and also a seperate entrance fee to get into the castle. They also offer private tours which we didnt particpate in.

It was 4pm, getting colder and time to turn in our audio devices. We made the descent down the numbered stairs snapping pictures along the way. This area was also filled with many beautiful homes. Luckily a Starbucks was nearby and we refueled and reheated and heated back to the water to walk over the Alte Brucke....Old Bridge. There we were able to see a nice view of the Neckar River, The Castle, and part of the town.
We wove our way around the town stopping in the different shops. Then we headed back to the car to go back to the hotel to get ready for the ball...so excited!!!!

First thing first was the contacts...I've never worn contacts and my eyes had a mind of their own when it saw a red thing headed near it. After maybe 30 minutes I finally was able to get them in although the right one didn't fit well. Once that was accomplished we got dressed and I started the makeup process for us both. Pale skin was achieved by pale powder that we bought at Gemini back in Stuttgart. Then came dark eyeliner for us both and red lipstick for me. Finally we were ready for the ball. We took a quick cab ride that cost about 10 euro but it made the night easier with not having to worry about parking and driving afterwards. We got there right at 830pm in hopes that the makeup artists there would also provide fangs but unfortunately they didn't and were just doing makeup. We got some drinks and walked around the huge building. It was three stories but only two stories were used for the ball. There were several different ball rooms used for music and other productions and the main ball room had a huge stage with dance floor and then seating from above where you could rest and watch the fun.

The costumes were really amazing!!! Many different styles of vampires and ghouls. Old world vamps with more trendy ones (which is how we were dressed) and a few other randoms.
We danced and people watched all night. One fun part was in one of the ballrooms they had a huge screen playing Rocky Horror Picture Show and then had actors in matching attire acting out the movie as it played. Such a surprise and so very cool!

By 1230 we grabbed some food they were serving, made a mess of ourselves and our makeup, and decided it was time to go. If anyone goes in the future I recommend getting there a little later..Maybe around 10-its a lot more packed plus you're likely more able to stay till it ends at 3am. Next time for us I suppose...LOL!

There were plenty of cabs to choose from when we left and we were back to our hotel in five minutes. Exhausted...time for bed then tomorrow more to see and do!



*We would definitely recommend anyone in the area or near an airport to attend The Ball. It is only for one night but if you like vampires and ghouls it is a must. Then you can enjoy the city during the day!

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