Our week-long trip to Vienna was magical, particularly New Year’s Eve, when we saw Die Fledermaus at the Staatsoper and then threw ourselves out into the celebratory crowds to wander the streets past midnight. Wish you could have been there.

And thanks to my Flip camcorder, you can be!

I took three videos on December 31, which will give you a small idea of what Vienna was like on New Year’s Eve.

First, a midmorning marathon. When we stepped out of our Marriott Hotel at around 10:30 a.m. (because we were both staying up and waking late), we found that the #2 tram wasn’t running on the Ringstrasse due what was billed as the “traditional New Year’s Eve race.” Check out some of the runners, and watch for Spider-Man, Wonder Woman … and a lot of Smurfs.

After our night at the opera, we made our way through the cold, cold night to St. Stephen’s Cathedral, because that’s where we figured most people would be heading. (And from the flow of the crowd, we were right.) The streets along the way were filled with stages alternating between live music and DJs playing recorded music. Here’s a band performing on one of those many stages.

Any idea what they’re singing? Is it a song I should have recognized?

Finally, here’s the crowd around a DJ’s stage, boogying to K.C. and the Sunshine Band’s “Give It Up.” A few people got so into it that they climbed a lamppost for some pole-dancing. And don’t think, just because of the one guy in a T-shirt, that it was warm that night. It was below freezing! What you don’t see is that the guy stripped off his parka and tossed it to a friend moments before I started recording.

Something else you don’t see is that less than a minute after I stopped recording, police rushed the lamppost on which they were dancing, almost knocking me and Irene over in the process, and hauled them down. I don’t believe they were arrested, just on the receiving end of a warning not to do it again.

And there you have it—a small taste of New Year’s Eve in Vienna. This December 31, I suggest you try to get there to experience it yourself!