I had the great privilege of being invited as Guest of Honor to Cartoomics in Milan, Italy in March 2007. I spent nearly a week in Italy, soaking in the amazing culture, visiting beautiful places, and meeting wonderful people.
Thank you, Cosplay City, for inviting me! Catia, Patrizia, Giovanna, I miss you and hope we will see each other again one day!
The following photos are divided in a couple of sections to help navigate better. I took many many more pictures but for volume's sake trimmed down my report to these:

Cartoomics: 23rd March - 25th March 2007
Experiencing an Italian Con was so much fun and educational. I met a lot of amazing people who have become my friends, and countless beautifully crafted costumes and enthusiastic fans. I was asked by Sponsors Yamato Video to appear as Lum at their booth each morning to sign a special Lum DVD they made for the event. I also signed postcards and various other things that people brought to me through out the weekend.
On Friday I wore Lei Fang (Blue Dress Version) besides Lum and did several interviews and photo sessions for press. I got to walk through the gigantic hall that made up the dealer's room and exhibition halls, and chat with a lot of great Cosplayers.
On Saturday, after my Lum appearance, I wore Amethyst Enchantress and was mistaken as someone from Trinity Blood all day lol. I helped judge a costume contest with Mabelle and Eva who are both incredibly sweet and professional girls. It was truly a pleasure to spend time with them and I had fun judging. The costumes were very well made and everyone knew how to get in character! I was amazed at the amount of genuinely great skits - including the best Naruto skit I have ever seen in my entire life!!! And trust me, I have seen many many many Naruto skits....
On Sunday I did much of the same things as Saturday - promotion as Lum in the Yamato Video booth in the morning, then I changed into Athena and judged the second costume contest (they have one each day), which consisted of more than 90 entries, some of them arge groups of more than 10 cosplayers! I was excited at the amount of good costumes and skits still founds amongst such a great number of entries. Best Performance went to an amazing Dead or Alive skit that made me wish I could have grabbed a photo with them as Lei Fang. They looked so awesome and knew really how to fight! There were so many great groups (Rose of Versailles, Bleach, Trinity Blood, X 1999, Excel Saga, Angelic Layer, Sailor Princesses....) that we had a really hard time choosing the winners. I will post pics when I get the chance.

One thing I noticed about Italian Cosplay is that many are from old school animes. The DVD and Video distributors there have been putting out anime for years and they value the older classic shows like Rose of Versailles, Saint Seiya, Urusei Yatsura, Georgie, Lupin etc. Also, anime has been shown on TV in Europe for decades, maybe under different names, but still, people in Europe grew up with anime shows. There are more classic shows being brought to Italy than the newest series' from Japan. Oh, and MTV freaking holds anime nights and broadcasts shows like Nana! How cool is that.
my friends in italy!
Eva and Esmeralda <3
Thank you, Yamato!
The great people at Yamato!
Rose of Versaille Exhibition
I loved the figures they had!
Costume by Ramona
Students from the affiliated Fashion School
made a paper mache mannequin after my Lum costume ^o^
The Lia Wig Store's booth
One of the many many Exhibition halls
Outside the huge Diabolik Exhibition
Hand-made Armor
Sooo pretty~!
With my dear Ramona~
It's the Fairy Godmother!
The costume contest was fabulous...
I snapped as many pics as I could
but still didn't get all the skits
These guys rocked!
This girl did the dance from
Memoirs of a Geisha!
Best Group: Trinity Blood!
The amazing MCs Esmeralda and Stab
Wish I had been in Lei Fang that day!
I was invited to dinner...
...by these guys!
Last night in Milan :(
 

Sightseeing in Milan
I simply adored this vividly gorgeous city. It made me realize how much I had missed Traveling, Europe, and Architecture. I can't wait to go back and explore more of Italy.
The ice on my window
was sooo pretty!
Flying over the Alps!
From the balcony
of my hotel room
Fiera Milano!
A castle we visited
in the middle of the city!
The crest
One of the many plazas
A typical street
I love this building!
A soap store!
The Duomo!
Inside the Duomo
Those pillars were enormous!
People hanging out
These guys sold corn seeds to tourists
The Galleria
The crest of Milan
I love that little corner
Ferrari store in the airport lol
My awesome hotel
was JAMES BOND themed!!
The TINY european elevator

Italian Cuisine
The food definitely was legendary... from the pastas and gelato to the cheeses and wines, just music to my taste buds. Europeans sure know how to indulge, compared to Americans lol. The gem on this trip was definitely visiting Roberto Cavalli's high in demand restaurant/bar. While empty upon our arrival, it filled up with beautiful and eccentrically dressed folk until there was standing room only, and even Mr. Cavalli himself made an appearance, with a wispy supermodel of course. By his greeting of half of the guests, I take it many were fashion industry people.
I plan on trying more cheeses and wines next time I visit Italy, and of course Gelato!!!
True Italia pizza!
oooh dessert...
Soooo many cheeses!
Home-made spaghetti!
The dining room in my hotel
spoiled me each morning
Mango juice at the Gucci store
Behind this tower was...
the Just Cavalli Cafe!
Which was in truth...
an insanely fancy restaurant
Everything was soooo good...
You could see up out of the ceiling
My main course was Tuna
The desserts killed me
Mr. Cavalli's bike O_o

Grande Notte TV Appearance
I was invited by the TV Show Grande Notte on RAI channel, to appear in costume as a Guest and talk about myself and Cosplay. Grande Notte is a Late Night Talk Show equivalent to David Letterman or Jay Leno. They invite celebrities and politicians alike to discuss world issues, in the true sarcastic manner as only late night talk shows can manage.
I was afraid that they might make fun of cosplayers as the show is full of harsh humor, but instead I accepted an award (trophy and all!) for the sake of all cosplayers. The hosts Gene and Afef asked very interested questions about us. I was wearing Lum upon their request as this is a popular and known character in Italy. People who don't know Cosplay hopefully got the meaning of it at one glance.
I tried to emphazise on the fact that Cosplayers are fans and often are not trained or experienced in sewing, but that through their passion and love for the stories and characters, they create amazing things and often get interested in Fashion and Costume Design as careers. So really, Cospay promotes a positive feeling of creativity!
This was my first paid TV Show appearance and rather surreal and strange since it was in a foreign language O_O;. I was so scared of a wardrobe malfunction or tripping while coming down the stairs >_<, and because I had a mic on my ear to help me understand the questions posted, I have the delayed reaction that looks so charmingly idiot, woot ^^;.


click to view video
Thank you Ambition for providing it!

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