Elsa in Bergen, Norway Part I

It was after my Paris trip when I thought about where else I could go. I got an idea in my head, and once there, it was stuck and there was no going back. I wanted to go to Norway.

I love Norse Mythology, have never traveled that far North, and through my research for Frozen costumes, I fell in love with the culture. But above all: snow. I will tell you all now, I've always loved winter, snow, frost, ice- if it has to do with cold water, I love it.

I did some research and decided on Bergen as my travel destination. Then, through some strategic planning, I got my parents to bring my Elsa costume from California when they visited for Christmas. Then my school schedule finally was posted and I was able to book my trip over a four day weekend at the end of January. Everything was set.

Unfortunately, my friend was unable to come, so it was a solo trip, and that meant a mad scramble for me at the end to find a photographer. I tried to contact from Norway cosplayers and communities, but that wasn't successful, so a quick Google search led me to a photographer who was available.



That set back dealt with, I was ready to go. Then, the day right before my trip, we had our class planning session for our Afternoon Tea event and I was made Team Captain of my group of thirteen students. This meant I had homework to do on my trip. It was a bit of an added pressure on my shoulders, but when it came time to leave, I couldn't have been bothered by it.




My flight was delayed an hour and fourteen minutes because of ice on the runway in Bergen, but it was all worth it for when we landed, after exiting the plane behind a little girl with an Olaf suitcase, we stepped out into the snow. It. Was. Snowing!

Sadly, that was the last time it snowed on my trip, but there was plenty of the white stuff on the ground, unlike when it briefly snows in London. By the time I left, a fair amount had melted and turned to ice. So who knows, maybe my arrival caused it to stop snowing and I just froze everything.

I stayed at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel at Bryggen; it was very nice, in a great location, and had the best free breakfast ever. Smoked salmon, lots of fresh fruit, all types of eggs, gluten free bread, assorted cheeses- including gjetost! It was amazing and delicious.


The only other two places I ate were Bryggeloftet & Stuene and the Frozen Cow Cafe. I went to Rema 1000, the local grocery store, a lot when I didn't want a full meal.

















Bryggeloftet & Stuene I went to for the seafood. Bergen it a fishing town and a port, so very nautical and Norway is known for their fish. In fact, in Bergen just after the sun rises, everywhere smells of baking bread, and after it sets, it smells of fish cooking in white wine and garlic. The first time I went to this restaurant, I had to get the Norwegian cod, and the second time I had mussels and chips. Both very filling but perfectly seasoned with fresh, light seafood and amazing flavours.
















The Frozen Cow Cafe (like them on Facebook!) I found during my search for a photographer. While looking through several cosplay communities, I saw one group had just did an event at this cafe and looking through their website, it looked like my kind of cafe. You are greeted by Tonari no Totoro drawn on the door and a Luna the cat head pillow in the lounge area. They sell a multitude of sandwiches, hot beverages, and frozen yoghurt. They even have manga and card games to entertain you during your time there. And amongst the playlist of songs, I heard 'Le Festin' from Ratatouille and some Howl's Moving Castle soundtrack in the mix. Yeah, I could live there.

Finally, time to get to Sunday: the day of my photoshoot. Elsa does not like to travel on planes (you'd think she would only have problems with ships...too soon?), so I had some beading/dress issues. This caused a bit of a delay in my meeting up with photographer Stian, but he was great and patient. I was his first cosplayer shoot, so he was excited to do a different kind of shoot. If you get a chance, go look at his Venice photos, they are stunning!







The first place we took photos was inside Rosenkrantz Tower. The Shakespeare nerd in me loved this. I did often imagine Elsa as the new Fortinbras. Still not sure we were allowed to shoot in there, but the one tour guide with her small group of tourists smiled at us, so I don't think it was a problem. We got a few shots in a couple of rooms there before moving on.







The next location was suppose to be atop one of the many snow covered mountains that surrounded Bergen, and to get up there, we were to take the Ulriken Cable Car. Upon seeing the entrance to the cable cars, though, we ran into a problem.

To be continued...



-Charlotte

P.S. Love Experts

Hermione Granger at Gloucester Cathedral

Three Americans and a girl from Singapore in a car traveling through Cotswolds...

It isn't the start of a bad joke, or even a good joke, it is the start of yet another adventure.

Between the end of term and Christmas, we had a week off and no one wanted to just sit at home, or in London for that matter. Our friend and classmate from Arizona, Michelle, proposed the idea that we go slay a dragon and take back the Lonely Mountain as our own!

Okay, no, she didn't propose that. She said she was going to rent a car and drive around the Cotswolds for a day trip. Through talking with the other three people willing to sign on to the journey, that day trip turned into an over night trip. The car was soon rented, the hotel booked, and I began my research on what I wanted to see in the Cotswolds.

The area of the Cotwolds is a vast, idyllic countryside slightly North and a lot West of London, from about Oxford almost to Cardiff. It is made up of many towns, all fairly small in size, with even smaller roads. It is also made up of a lot of sheep or 'ships' as pronounced with a Singaporean accent.

Being perfectly English and spanning over 8 films, trying to find all the filming locations in the Harry Potter films would be a feat. I knew they filmed all over, so it was no surprise when I discovered a somewhat iconic filming location for the films located in Gloucester. The Gloucester Cathedral is home of the beautifully ornate Hogwarts Halls, and final resting place of King Edward II. 

That was pretty much the extent of my research.

Dark and early one Monday morning, I met up with Alana and SiRui and we went to Heathrow to meet up with Michelle. We then took a bus, walked to the car rental, and were on our way. We spent all day driving from town to town, taking in the glorious image of the sunny English countryside. Many pictures were taken, many towns were driven through, and soon the sun had set at 4 pm. We didn't have to check in to our hotel yet, and not knowing what else to do, I offered my Gloucester Cathedral idea and we were off.

All three of them were delighted to discover that this was a Harry Potter film sight, and they quickly put two and two together and realized the reasoning behind my choice of wardrobe. Being half an hour until closing, we were the only ones touring the Cloisters. I would have liked to have seen them during the day, as they were lined with stain-glass windows, but night time was still as magical.

We walked around, took pictures, and enjoyed looking at the ornate ceilings. Soon we had to be on our way and after getting turned around a bit, we eventually made it to our hotel. Only it wasn't a hotel, it was a manor. It was gorgeous and had delightful room names. SiRui and I stayed in the King Arthur room while Michelle and Alana stayed in the King Charles room. 

The Manor grounds were amazing, both at night in the fog as we explored it after dinner at a local pub, and during sunrise as I did on my own. Wandering these grounds at these unusual times made me even more feel like Hermione. It was brilliant.

It was short notice, and unexpected, but it was amazing and I had a great adventure with great company.

-Charlotte

Loki in Asgard

I had just begun work on my Loki costume when Disney announced their Rock Your Disney Side, 24 hour day at the Disney parks. This would be their third 24 hour day, and having gone to first one, I knew how tiring and crowded that day could be, but then there was the further information that this was also a day where guests could wear costumes. I was grabbed, hook, line, and sinker. 

Yes, technically, this event happened before I had even thought up this blog, but it still applies. Well, at least I think it does.

Of course, this day fell on a slightly tricky day for me. It was my last semester of university so I was busy with finishing that, and I would be living back with my parents for the summer before moving to London to further my studies. It also was the first day of Fanime, an anime convention that I always went to and I didn't want to miss too many days of it. 

Magically (Disney Magic), I was able to go along with my friend, Brittany, all as a graduation gift. So between studying for finals and packing up my apartment, I was able to mostly finish Loki, and before I knew it, we were on our way. Loki took up the entire inside of my carry on luggage so we joked about what the expressions on the TSA's faces would be if I had to open it up. I didn't have too, sadly.

We arrived the day before the 24 hour day, so we wandered around Downtown Disney before checking into our hotel. I awkwardly made a Build-A-Bear Thor 'Bear' Odinson. If you have ever seen the process of building a bear you would know what I mean by awkward. That evening was spent watching The Incredible Hulk and a marathon of X-Men movies on television while I typed away at my final script due the next night at midnight. I also finished sewing some things on my Loki costume and curled Brittany's hair for her Agent Carter costume the next day. Let the image of Loki curling Agent Peggy Carter's hair seek into your brain.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish my script until 2 in the morning. People had been queuing up to get into the park since midnight. Deciding sleep was more important, we slept for three hours before getting up and getting dressed in time to make it into the park at 6:00 when it opened. 

Head this warning: never, NEVER try to spend 24 hours in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure on 3 hours of sleep. It won't end well.

Our costumes were very well received. We were thrilled every time someone recognized Brittany, as Agent Cater wasn't as mainstream as she is about to be. There was a guest dressed as Belle who instantly became Brittany's fan girl over her costume.

Found a photo of me riding the carousel taken by Kelly Michelle.

But of course, Loki's army is every where, and ever strong. There was one character host cast member that was obsessed in letting me know how much he loves my costume. A guest dressed as Snow White took a picture with me while kneeling. And someone even thought I was Tom Hiddleston at one point. Silly, I know, but at least that means compliments to my costume.

We went to our breakfast at Ariel's Grotto then finally went to the place we had been waiting to go to all day. I know it doesn't usually get this kind of visitation desire, but when you put a passage to Asgard in it and a Cap meet and greet, of course we would want to get to Innoventions as soon as it opened.

First was Thor. There was a 40 minute wait for us, so we waited, next to a guest dressed as Hawkeye, and we all took a nap while in the queue. We made it into the Bifrost room, and soon were standing before Thor.

I was ready for some witty, brotherly repartee, what I wasn't ready for was speechlessness. On a past visit, we had dubbed Thor, Mighty Mumbles, but he wasn't even mumbling. And when he did finally speak, all he talked about was how shiny my costume was. Then looking at his costume, and the throne room and how shiny it was, I pointed out that I fit right in, appropriately.

We took some photos before moving onto the Cap line, where we napped some more before I pretty much had the exact same conversation about shininess with him. Although he also did admit that the costume was a bit tight. Loki already knows this.

What was great were the photos of Brittany as Agent Carter with Captain America. So perfect.

At the end of our time in the park, with the intent of returning at 3 am but ultimately falling under a Sleeping Beauty spell instead, we visited Thor once more. This visit to Asgard was much more enjoyable and what I had been expecting.

While waiting, the cast members were hesitant about letting me back in Asgard, which caused guests to chuckle, and when the narration mentioned Loki in the Bifrost Room, the cast member directed everyone's attention to me and I innocently put my hands up. We were last to take photos with Thor so we had time this go around to make witty retorts back and forth. Thor even tried a Loki impression, and why Loki sounded like a high pitched woman in his impression I will never know. This time it also sort of felt like I wasn't a guest but like I was a character you could meet and greet.

We finished the visit with one last back and forth ending with Loki winning and a thunderous Thor laugh.

"Have fun back on Midgard."

Sly, Loki smirk. "I'll be sure to say 'hi' to Jane Foster for you."

Thor dipped his head back and let out a single, loud, "HA!"

-Charlotte

 

P.S. The next day we flew back home, I dawned my Loki costume again, and I made it in time for the Fanime Mavel/Dc gathering and the Disney Extended gathering.

For a food perspective of this venture, check out my Disney Eats Blog!

Colette Tatou at Ratatouille: The Adventure in Disneyland Paris

I am pretty sure there is a character from every Pixar movie that I want to cosplay. I just really love Pixar. One character on my cosplay to-do list, that had been on there for a while, was Colette Tatou from Ratatouille. Well, I finally found the perfect time to make it.

Disneyland Paris had a Mickey's Halloween Party on Halloween, and I didn't have school that weekend. It was also perfect because they had just opened a Ratatouille area. Time for Colette to visit Gusteau's

Also, thanks to school, I already had quite a few elements to the costume.
Chef shoes: check.
Chef trousers: check.
French chef impression: check. (How else are we suppose to entertain ourselves during our breaks?)

I know for Halloween you are suppose to dress up as something you aren't. Well I'm not a badass French chef, I'm a pastry student. That is different enough for me!

The wig was tricky to find as Colette has a weird purple, red, wine, plum, black hair colour and no bangs. Finally, I found a long haired wig on Amazon, then used a lamp and my head to try and cut it. Not perfect, but it did the trick for the time being.

Had I access to a sewing machine, I would have made the jacket and apron, but I didn't so I ordered those from Amazon as well. The apron was perfect. The jacket came with short sleeves. I ordered a long-sleeved one. I kept that for later use, and went to my local kitchen store and bought a long-sleeve white chef's jacket. I had a discount there for being a culinary school student so it wasn't hefty on the wallet.

This jacket, though, was too big. With tricky maneuvering, I managed to pin it so I could take the back and shoulders in. I sewed those before shortening the hem.

I was now ready to go!





My friend, Kira, borrowed my Wendy Darling costume, and before we knew it, we were at Disneyland Paris.










The Ratatouille area was small and in the back of the Walt Disney Studio Park. Disneyland Paris has two parks. Disneyland, which is very much like the Anaheim Disneyland, and The Walk Disney Studios, which was like Disney California Adventure only more focused on movie making.




The Ratatouille area has the Ratatouille: The Adventure ride and the restaurant Chez Remy, along with a fountain and archway. Also, the giant Gusteau's sign. This is where I posed for my photos.







Kira became my photographer, with our high-tech iPhone cameras. The photos aren't perfect, but the experience was. People were actually calling me Colette, then smiling and being happy at seeing me. Especially the cast members working the Ratatouille ride.

I mean, ultimately, isn't that what cosplay is all about? To bring smiles to people by bringing these characters to life? I think if you can do that, then all your time and effort is completely worth it.


-Charlotte