Unnnnnggghhhhh

That would be the sound of me waking up after only 5 hrs of sleep. And I had rather a lot to drink last night, although mental re-run of the evening didn't bring up anything embarrassing. The fact that I can do a complete re-run is rather reassuring -- no blackouts, but then I didn't have *that* much.
Reception was definitely a success, with more than 300 guests but enough to eat and drink.

Somewhat jarring moments:

1) Arriving at the opera and discovering that there was only one Austrian flag, too big and in a horrible dirty-but-washed-out state. Solution: putting the Macedonian and EU flags about 4m apart and stationing the soldiers with *their* Austrian flag right in the middle.

2) Being informed, 5 min later, that no tonic water had been delivered (I'm going to kill Jasna, the secretary who ordered the soft drinks, and whom I specifically asked to check for the tonic). Fortunately supermarkets have generous opening hours here, and so I just gave money to the catering guys, and they went to buy some. Had a gin-and-tonic as reward.

Icky moment:

Right after shaking 300-plus people's hands. Major YUCK. Had to dash off and wash hands immediately, although usually I'm not so obsessed with hand-washing. But *that* was more than even I could take.

Solemn moment:

Austrian anthem, at full blast. Love it.

Moments of gratitude:

1) To myself, for having had the serendipitous idea to shorten the straps of my top: due to the rhinestones on the front, the neckline tends to go lower and lower, and with shorter straps that wasn't a problem.

2) Sitting down to dinner after the reception was over. Unspeakable relief for feet and stomach.

Moment of elucidation:

Realizing that Ambassador was *really* suffering from stage nerves before his speech. Before, when we talked briefly on the phone, I thought he was merely being slightly obnoxious. But no, it was pre-speech jitters. Speech went well, though, also because the mic was working (as opposed to the German reception, where it did so only intermittently before completely dying, which was horribly embarassing).


In an hour or so I'm going to do a 1-hour uphill walk to clear my head. It's going to be a long day today (concert tonight in Vienna with Janine), and I don't want to feel all wrung out.

Oh, and yesterday I allowed the hairdresser to both dye my hair and do highlights. He coloured them a wonderful deep red, with golden highlights. It does look quite fabulous, if I say so myself. And short, short and spiky.