OMG! The start of a con report?!?
Better late than never?
My trip started Tuesday afternoon with a flight from Providence to Charlotte. Since Jensen was on my flight last year, I kept an eye out for all the guests, but that luck didn’t return this year. The next several hours saw me trying to sleep, watching movies, and doing crossword puzzles. Exciting, I know.
I arrived at the Hilton a little after 10, checked in, and promptly crashed for a nap. I arrived on Wednesday to try to get my body used to the time difference, rather than just jumping into the con like last year. The rest of the day was spent wandering around Parco Leonardo (a mall, reachable by train for 2 euros) - most especially the grocery store (scored some cheap wine, buffalo mozzarella, and rolls) - and gathering my wits for the rest of the trip. I had a craptacularly expensive and tasteless dinner of Caesar salad with a glass of white wine at the hotel restaurant, and vowed to not eat there again unless desperate. Ugh.
I slept in a bit on Thursday, being my birthday and all :) and eventually headed out to Gladiator Training with Kitty and Ally (thanks for the birthday chocolate!). On our way to the cab, I spotted one Tante Noerpel and assaulted her accordingly. Had former gladiators not mentioned that the training site was in the middle of nowhere and hard to find, we would have thought the cabbie was dragging us somewhere to never be seen again. Fortunately, we started hearing cheering, as there was a school group already there taking a lesson.
We spent about an hour learning about gladiators and the times in the little museum before heading outside for some wooden sword combat. The old personal hygiene tools were amazing - including a razor, toothpick, and cotton swab substitute! Most of the catapults/trebuchets/big machines to fling stuff on thine enemies looked like the ones modeled in the final battle at Gondor… :P The instructor quite enjoyed placing gladiator garb on me.
Me & fellow gladiator-in-training Kitty (Thanks to Ally for the photos!)
One of the professional gladiator helmets (as opposed to what was worn by guards, military men, or criminals who weren’t paid to fight) looked eerily familiar, but I couldn’t place it until Ally mentioned, "Cybermen!"
The instructor was a typical Italian guy who flirted mercilessly. (not actually after anything, but I swear my self-confidence goes through the roof over there!) For training, we first had to run through a gauntlet of rock-filled sacks before the real “training" began. We were each clad in a tunic (that we unfortunately couldn’t keep…) and handed a wooden sword. The training consisted of learning 5 attacks and the appropriate 5 defenses. Kitty took to it like a fish to water, but Ally and I kept forgetting the middle parts. LOL so when it came time for our "deathmatches", she defeated each of us in turn.
Could not see with that dang thing on.
Fighting in the circle of death!
Kitty is the champion!
Gladiators!
I once again ran into loveinadoorway (thanks for all the bday swag!) at the hotel, along with Sandra, camui_zuuki & MJ (my roommates - thanks for the hand cream!) and a boatload of others. Naturally, rather than eating a decent dinner, I immediately brought my stuff over to the bar to catch up with the Germans. I ran into way more people than I can remember right now, some of whom came bearing birthday gifts! If I do remember though (and correct me if I left you out - it wasn’t intentional I promise!) I saw sillie82 (thanks for the awesome card!), jiiaffa (thanks for the "Finnish" vodka :P), bflyw, katwoman76 (thanks for the t shirt!), Holly, Alan (thanks for the fruitcake thingey!), Rea (thanks for the duck and bath goodies!), Sam and her sis Jess, Kerstin, Sabine… Many hours passed while many beers were drunk, though I still managed to get to bed at a decent hour in order to be well rested for Roman Holiday the next morning...
(and I sincerely apologize if I left anyone off that list: it was not intentional! and i love every gift you guys gave me, i'm just forgetful Jones right now!)
We (grudgingly) awoke bright and early the next morning . Ines and MJ went down to breakfast while I slept a bit more, since I had some bread and buffalo mozzarella waiting for me. The bus left around 7:30am. I unfortunately can’t say anything exciting about the bus trip as I just sat back and stared out the window, trying to keep motion sickness at bay. Stupid head. We arrived at the location - castle saint angelo - and waited for the guys to show up. We were quite the unruly mob, or as much as a crowd of fan-girls and -boys can be in a foreign land :P. We had enough time for some decent photos though:
A bit later, the guests were spotted walking towards us. As expected, they were nearly swarmed when they got closer. Actually that’s not entirely accurate - they weren’t surrounded, but everyone on the trip seemed to cluster together a safe distance in front of them. From that moment, they seemed to be "on" - or at least Sebastian was (to the surprise of… no one). They took some time to chat with everyone, making their way through the mass, though Misha was most notably always surrounded. I hung back and did the usual "make wiseass remarks when appropriate" shtick. When we finally began the tour, I had a chance to talk with Rob. I remarked that I knew he wouldn’t remember me particularly, as he meets so many people at conventions, but asked if he remembered the Cock Flavored Soup mix I gave him in NJ. That he did. Either Chad or Sebastian was in earshot for said conversation, and of course had to chime in with some comment about cock flavored soup… little did I know this was just the beginning of a weekend full of references to gay porn.
I don’t remember too much about the tour, especially since the guide, while very knowledgeable about the subject matter, was hard to understand. (this coming from a native English speaker who’s had many heavily accented professors and teaching assistants in her day, so I can only imagine how much harder it would have been for the non-native speakers!) But a few highlights I do remember:
I could be mistaken, but it seemed like Misha made sure to talk to every single person on the tour. We were walking through some hallway when he came up to me and asked how I was doing. The conversation rolled (and turned for the dirty or twisted, I can’t remember which right now) quickly from there. As things are do with Misha.
Sebastian was very chatty and flirty, as we all learned during the Cocktail Party, panels, photos, and autographs. We also heard some of his many languages.
Chad posed awesomely inappropriately in several places. I *think* the guide was saying this room was the most sacred in the place, when I looked to my left and saw this:
{insert photo of chad posing inappropriately here}
(I can’t find this photo. If I do, I’ll replace)
Dr. Badass indeed. He liked my 3 Stooges belt and T shirt of George W. throwing the devil horns. And I don’t remember what else we talked about.
Richard initiated a chat with me, saying how last time we talked he thought I was living in Europe or something. I thought he meant the "I’m supposed to work in the UK for a year" but was actually referring to my semester abroad (in Munich) during undergrad. That was cool - he must have a great memory.
Mark seemed... I dunno. He seemed like he really didn’t like Americans and didn’t want to have anything to do with them at all. Or it could have just been me. I don’t know if I did something to offend him (like what I have no idea) or if he’s just that way. But I had that feeling all weekend - like I should just keep my trap firmly shut when around him so he wouldn’t be disgusted by me. I’ll see him in Mannheim, and more so at Rising Con, so we’ll see how that pans out.
There was a sign for the Bar/café on a wall at one point, at which Richard immediately pointed and said that’s where he was headed.
The view from the top was outstanding. I took a ton of pictures from the same location, just rotating my body a few degrees. All the guests were very nice about taking photos with us, and ended up posing together (hence the infamous jump photo). And I got Rob to do "tiger" (as seen in the Roman Holiday video shown late Sunday)
Same shot, different focus:
One interesting outcome of this photo op is that I learned Rob Benedict’s secret: he really can fly.
Seriously. Rob can fly.
After several group photos (guests and fans), we exited the castle and eventually made our way back to the bus. Though not before more chatting and ridiculous photos… (i wanted to put a photo of Sebastian flexing and posing, but I apparently didn’t take one and can’t find any online)
I think I feel asleep on the bus ride home… or at least came very close to it! Once back at the hotel, I headed up to the room to freshen up a bit and grab some water.
Next up: meet & greets with Chad and Sebastian, photos with Mark and Jared, autographs with Jared and Jason, Friday panels and cocktail party!
Please don't repost my photos or claim as your own. As Wil Wheaton says, "Don't be a dick!"
My trip started Tuesday afternoon with a flight from Providence to Charlotte. Since Jensen was on my flight last year, I kept an eye out for all the guests, but that luck didn’t return this year. The next several hours saw me trying to sleep, watching movies, and doing crossword puzzles. Exciting, I know.
I arrived at the Hilton a little after 10, checked in, and promptly crashed for a nap. I arrived on Wednesday to try to get my body used to the time difference, rather than just jumping into the con like last year. The rest of the day was spent wandering around Parco Leonardo (a mall, reachable by train for 2 euros) - most especially the grocery store (scored some cheap wine, buffalo mozzarella, and rolls) - and gathering my wits for the rest of the trip. I had a craptacularly expensive and tasteless dinner of Caesar salad with a glass of white wine at the hotel restaurant, and vowed to not eat there again unless desperate. Ugh.
I slept in a bit on Thursday, being my birthday and all :) and eventually headed out to Gladiator Training with Kitty and Ally (thanks for the birthday chocolate!). On our way to the cab, I spotted one Tante Noerpel and assaulted her accordingly. Had former gladiators not mentioned that the training site was in the middle of nowhere and hard to find, we would have thought the cabbie was dragging us somewhere to never be seen again. Fortunately, we started hearing cheering, as there was a school group already there taking a lesson.
We spent about an hour learning about gladiators and the times in the little museum before heading outside for some wooden sword combat. The old personal hygiene tools were amazing - including a razor, toothpick, and cotton swab substitute! Most of the catapults/trebuchets/big machines to fling stuff on thine enemies looked like the ones modeled in the final battle at Gondor… :P The instructor quite enjoyed placing gladiator garb on me.
Me & fellow gladiator-in-training Kitty (Thanks to Ally for the photos!)
One of the professional gladiator helmets (as opposed to what was worn by guards, military men, or criminals who weren’t paid to fight) looked eerily familiar, but I couldn’t place it until Ally mentioned, "Cybermen!"
The instructor was a typical Italian guy who flirted mercilessly. (not actually after anything, but I swear my self-confidence goes through the roof over there!) For training, we first had to run through a gauntlet of rock-filled sacks before the real “training" began. We were each clad in a tunic (that we unfortunately couldn’t keep…) and handed a wooden sword. The training consisted of learning 5 attacks and the appropriate 5 defenses. Kitty took to it like a fish to water, but Ally and I kept forgetting the middle parts. LOL so when it came time for our "deathmatches", she defeated each of us in turn.
Could not see with that dang thing on.
Fighting in the circle of death!
Kitty is the champion!
Gladiators!
I once again ran into loveinadoorway (thanks for all the bday swag!) at the hotel, along with Sandra, camui_zuuki & MJ (my roommates - thanks for the hand cream!) and a boatload of others. Naturally, rather than eating a decent dinner, I immediately brought my stuff over to the bar to catch up with the Germans. I ran into way more people than I can remember right now, some of whom came bearing birthday gifts! If I do remember though (and correct me if I left you out - it wasn’t intentional I promise!) I saw sillie82 (thanks for the awesome card!), jiiaffa (thanks for the "Finnish" vodka :P), bflyw, katwoman76 (thanks for the t shirt!), Holly, Alan (thanks for the fruitcake thingey!), Rea (thanks for the duck and bath goodies!), Sam and her sis Jess, Kerstin, Sabine… Many hours passed while many beers were drunk, though I still managed to get to bed at a decent hour in order to be well rested for Roman Holiday the next morning...
(and I sincerely apologize if I left anyone off that list: it was not intentional! and i love every gift you guys gave me, i'm just forgetful Jones right now!)
We (grudgingly) awoke bright and early the next morning . Ines and MJ went down to breakfast while I slept a bit more, since I had some bread and buffalo mozzarella waiting for me. The bus left around 7:30am. I unfortunately can’t say anything exciting about the bus trip as I just sat back and stared out the window, trying to keep motion sickness at bay. Stupid head. We arrived at the location - castle saint angelo - and waited for the guys to show up. We were quite the unruly mob, or as much as a crowd of fan-girls and -boys can be in a foreign land :P. We had enough time for some decent photos though:
A bit later, the guests were spotted walking towards us. As expected, they were nearly swarmed when they got closer. Actually that’s not entirely accurate - they weren’t surrounded, but everyone on the trip seemed to cluster together a safe distance in front of them. From that moment, they seemed to be "on" - or at least Sebastian was (to the surprise of… no one). They took some time to chat with everyone, making their way through the mass, though Misha was most notably always surrounded. I hung back and did the usual "make wiseass remarks when appropriate" shtick. When we finally began the tour, I had a chance to talk with Rob. I remarked that I knew he wouldn’t remember me particularly, as he meets so many people at conventions, but asked if he remembered the Cock Flavored Soup mix I gave him in NJ. That he did. Either Chad or Sebastian was in earshot for said conversation, and of course had to chime in with some comment about cock flavored soup… little did I know this was just the beginning of a weekend full of references to gay porn.
I don’t remember too much about the tour, especially since the guide, while very knowledgeable about the subject matter, was hard to understand. (this coming from a native English speaker who’s had many heavily accented professors and teaching assistants in her day, so I can only imagine how much harder it would have been for the non-native speakers!) But a few highlights I do remember:
I could be mistaken, but it seemed like Misha made sure to talk to every single person on the tour. We were walking through some hallway when he came up to me and asked how I was doing. The conversation rolled (and turned for the dirty or twisted, I can’t remember which right now) quickly from there. As things are do with Misha.
Sebastian was very chatty and flirty, as we all learned during the Cocktail Party, panels, photos, and autographs. We also heard some of his many languages.
Chad posed awesomely inappropriately in several places. I *think* the guide was saying this room was the most sacred in the place, when I looked to my left and saw this:
{insert photo of chad posing inappropriately here}
(I can’t find this photo. If I do, I’ll replace)
Dr. Badass indeed. He liked my 3 Stooges belt and T shirt of George W. throwing the devil horns. And I don’t remember what else we talked about.
Richard initiated a chat with me, saying how last time we talked he thought I was living in Europe or something. I thought he meant the "I’m supposed to work in the UK for a year" but was actually referring to my semester abroad (in Munich) during undergrad. That was cool - he must have a great memory.
Mark seemed... I dunno. He seemed like he really didn’t like Americans and didn’t want to have anything to do with them at all. Or it could have just been me. I don’t know if I did something to offend him (like what I have no idea) or if he’s just that way. But I had that feeling all weekend - like I should just keep my trap firmly shut when around him so he wouldn’t be disgusted by me. I’ll see him in Mannheim, and more so at Rising Con, so we’ll see how that pans out.
There was a sign for the Bar/café on a wall at one point, at which Richard immediately pointed and said that’s where he was headed.
The view from the top was outstanding. I took a ton of pictures from the same location, just rotating my body a few degrees. All the guests were very nice about taking photos with us, and ended up posing together (hence the infamous jump photo). And I got Rob to do "tiger" (as seen in the Roman Holiday video shown late Sunday)
Same shot, different focus:
One interesting outcome of this photo op is that I learned Rob Benedict’s secret: he really can fly.
Seriously. Rob can fly.
After several group photos (guests and fans), we exited the castle and eventually made our way back to the bus. Though not before more chatting and ridiculous photos… (i wanted to put a photo of Sebastian flexing and posing, but I apparently didn’t take one and can’t find any online)
I think I feel asleep on the bus ride home… or at least came very close to it! Once back at the hotel, I headed up to the room to freshen up a bit and grab some water.
Next up: meet & greets with Chad and Sebastian, photos with Mark and Jared, autographs with Jared and Jason, Friday panels and cocktail party!
Please don't repost my photos or claim as your own. As Wil Wheaton says, "Don't be a dick!"