by: Marcy, Felicity, Serry, Sere-Fede
Participant: Annalucia, Lucia
Edited by: Marcy
Translated by: Francesca
Source: queer-as-folk.it
A special thank you to Zarata: the organizers worked very hard to ensure everything ran perfectly. They were always kind and available, so to all of them I say: Thank you!
In this report you won’t find only my own impressions and feelings, but also those of some of the people (not all of them!) who lived this adventure with me: old friends and new entries! Those days were frenzied, full of things, and so intense that I won’t be able to clearly recall when and where I met everyone. I can only say that I love every single one of the girls I met!
My biggest mistake was not to take notes to best remember every single event. Many things are already getting blurry now and I’m trying with all my might to remember everything that happened to me.
The day before I was supposed to leave, Lufthansa announced that, because of a scheduled strike, many flights would be cancelled.
The strike lasted 12 hours. Luckily for us, though, the strike was scheduled to end at 2.00 p.m. and our flight was for 2.40 p.m. So, we shouldn’t have had any issues. And we didn’t.
Our adventure started exactly when it was supposed to. There were three of us: Lucia, Felicity and myself.
We arrived in Bilbao late at night: we were able to claim our luggage only when it was 11,15 p.m. already. We only had time to go to the hotel, take out our clothes and organize our activities for the day after!
Friday March 28th, 2014
We knew there were no activities scheduled for the convention, aside from the registration, but we woke up very early nonetheless! We had to meet with Kimberly (Predec2) at the hotel Melià (where the convention was held), and then go with her to visit the famous " Guggenheim" museum.
Felicity and Lucia arrived at the hotel before I did, and went to look for Kimberly. Once I got there, Lucia dragged me to meet her. It was very nice speaking with her, she was so very kind and I was so happy! I enjoyed our chat and she even gifted us with a playbill from the play "Harbor" with Randy.
After a while, Kim brought us to Elke. I couldn’t wait to meet her; after talking with her via facebook, I really wanted to meet her in person!
After our chat, which I loved, we all went to the museum along with another wonderful girl we met, Catia. She’s one of the first new friends I made during those 4 amazing days and I found out that she was sharing the room with Pam81, that I finally had a chance to meet! I loved talking to Catia, and knowing she follows our website about Gale was such a thrill for me! She said so many nice things that pleased me a lot!
We visited the entire museum but unfortunately at one point we lost Kimberly. We thought she was going to come find us, but she didn’t. I don’t really like modern art, to be honest, it doesn’t impress me much and that’s what I felt this time, too. It can amuse me, but nothing more. We were at the end of our tour of the museum when we saw a few people run towards the entrance: Peter, Scott and Randy were there. Calmly, we went in that direction too, but we never approached them. It was so nice to see Peter lie down on a trampoline that was in the center of the building and had to be used by the public to admire the ceiling. He did that while they waited for Randy who, holding a cup of coffee and walking quickly, finally joined his friends to explore the museum. I greeted him, and he smiled and replied. Felicity was braver and, signaling to Peter asked him if she could take a picture of them. Peter declined, smiling, and then blew her a kiss. We respected their wishes, obviously (although many other people didn’t), and after this brief encounter we just left. We’d seen everything we had to see in the museum and didn’t want to stay there and be a bother for the actors. We went for lunch in a nearby mall and ate at Mc Donalds.
Tour at the Guggenheim Museum (Felicity’s POV)
As we didn’t have any activity planned for the morning, we decided to go see the Guggenheim Museum. So, after we had breakfast and met Kimberly at the Melia, Marcy, Lucia and I went to the museum along with Catia, that we had just met at the Melia. While we were admiring some exhibitions, a group of girls started getting excited because somebody had spotted Peter, Scott and Randy entering the museum. When we were done commenting on the (very weird!) installations, we moved to the Atrium, where we saw first Peter (holding a cup of coffee) and then Scott entering the Atrium. Our sweethearts moved to the center of the Atrium and lay down on some round seats, kind of bouncing mats, where they could look at the installations hanging from the ceiling. Peter only lay down and looked, while Scott relaxed back and even took some photos of the art above. Immediately after, we saw Randy coming in (of course holding a cup of coffee!) and getting very close to where we were standing… Marcy and I greeted him with a simple “Hi” and he responded with a little smile and “Hi!”. Randy approached his friends and all together they moved to the next exhibition room. Of course, as I had my camera ready, I was dying to push the button! So, when I saw them coming out of the exhibition room, I made a sign to Peter, silently asking if I could take some pictures of them, but he gestured “no” and blew me a kiss. I was very disappointed, because I was going to take only a few pictures from distance, without intruding, but I decided to respect their request and blew back a kiss to Peter! Love you, Peter Paige!!!
We spent our afternoon at the hotel where the convention was held, waiting for the registration, and to get our passes and the "specials" we’d bought: coffee break, cocktail party, pictures, autographs etc…
That afternoon we were joined by Serena from Modena whom I’d unfortunately met only after I’d already booked my trip with Lucia and Felicity. I mean, I’d met her before, since we live in the same city, but it was so special to share with her this convention too! It’s something that really brought us close…
At 5.30 p.m. the Close Up started. Serena and Lucia were there. I received the first picture via whatsapp at 5.32 p.m. and it was from Serena. I immediately sent it to Alessandra, who was working very hard trying to follow the event from Italy and keeping the website updated…
Before I leave you to Serena’s part of the report, I want to also talk about two other girls I met that same evening and that shared with me their impressions of the boat ride: Serena and Federica from Milan.
SERRY: I was feeling so very emotional because I was about to meet my heroes for the first time! The bus journey from the hotel to the boat seemed endless to me but it was only ten minutes long!
Once there, we got off the bus and saw the boat immediately and, nearby, a mirage: Randy, as gorgeous as the sun, stood there and, alongside him, my beloved Scott! The girls from Zarata told us we were to wait for the other guests and stand behind a white line.
As soon as Scott saw us, he said hello in every language! And that’s where we all started taking pictures!
After a half an hour wait, finally Peter and Gale arrived: heavenly vision!!!
The actors said hello to one another and Peter was very affectionate with Randy!
The organizers told us we could go aboard and we didn’t wait a minute longer! Once we got in, we sat on the lower deck of the boat while the actors went on the upper deck, which was exposed to the outside air. We all looked at one another thinking WTF!?!?!
One of the “zarata” girls told us that, if we wanted, we could go upstairs, and I thought, “Well, of course we want to go upstairs! Goes without saying!”
We all rushed towards the stairs but, the man I’d say was the “captain”, stopped us and told us that for security’s sake not all of us could stay upstairs at the same time. So, in the end, we split in two groups and I was in the group who stayed upstairs for the first hour!
Obviously, I sat behind Gale so I could look at him without disturbing him, since he seemed a bit uneasy. He sat there all hunched down and seemed to be staring in the distance! Meanwhile, Scott was taking care of him, and he also brought him some food and drinks. I took a few pictures and sent them to Marcy for the website!
It will come as no surprise that the more “available” with fans were, immediately, Peter and Scott who chatted with us, took pictures etc… Peter then went downstairs to get a beer and said “cheers.”
At the end of the first 60 minutes we had to switch; we went downstairs and with us also came Randy and Scott to get something to eat and some drinks. It was Randy ’s second time. In Italian I commented: "again?!" and he understood and replied: it’s not for me! *laughs*
I chatted with Scott about dogs and showed him the pictures of my dog, “ooooh she’s beautiful! Is it a hound?” he asked, and I told him “yes, an Italian hound. Her name is Stella,” and he replied sweetly “ooooh Stella bella!”
Then he talked about his own dog and about his cat, and said that they love each other and even sleep together!
I was surprised when they announced that we could switch again, I really wasn’t expecting it! I went back upstairs and again sat behind Gale who seemed more at ease; next to him sat a fan and if I’m not mistaken they were discussing football.
I enjoyed seeing Gale more relaxed and that was the moment we reached our destination!
SERENA and FEDERICA: After a short bus ride we arrived at the port where the boat was waiting for us. We were all very nervous because we had no idea what to expect. We were told to wait behind a white line. We looked up and very close we saw Randy and Scott chatting happily with the organizers and with Elke. After a while Scott turned, smiled and said hello to us.
Scott is very handsome, very much like George Clooney and he’s a very funny guy.
Randy is gorgeous, there are no words to describe him, he really is a ray of sunshine!
It was so weird seeing the expressions on passers by… they looked confused at us all taking pictures of the guys and staring at them with dreamy eyes!
We had to wait for Gale and Peter to arrive. I thought it was Gale’s fault, because he’s always late! But it wasn’t! We heard that there was a friend of Randy’s who had asked to be allowed to come to the boat ride too; there wasn’t room for everyone in the car, so they had to come in separate groups.
Randy kept giving us his trademark smiles and I bet you know what those did to us all! LOL! He even sat down and chatted while he waited.
Finally, after 30 minutes Gale and Peter arrived and went towards the others almost running.
Peter is beautiful, pictures don’t do him justice.
Gale, the mystery man, takes your breath away. We looked on until we realized that it really was him underneath the hat and the glasses! He was really there and he hugged Scott and started talking to him.
Finally we were allowed on the boat and we sat down. The four gorgeous actors said hello ( Scott said it in Italian too!) and then went on the upper deck.
The organizers told us that we were going to be split in two groups and that each group would have its turn to sit with the guests in the upper deck.
We obviously didn’t lose a moment and went upstairs. Scott, Randy and Peter were sitting in first row on the left side of the boat, while Gale sat behind Peter.
I, Sere, was sitting in the row beside Scott and company, Fede in the one beside Gale and, Lucia, was sitting behind.
The tour started.
At one point, Scott turned towards us, said hello and asked if we were okay and then he started chatting with Randy and Peter.
Gale stared at the landscape from behind his dark glasses and he wasn’t looking at all at the fans.
The first part of the tour was a little embarrassing, everyone was just snapping pictures of the guys (except for the lady sitting beside Gale who was instead taking pictures of the sights).
Gale wasn’t talking or moving: he was like a beautiful statue, completed with cap, glasses, full beard, leather jacket and tight jeans.
The guys all looked good! And they were there, in front of our eyes.
The first one who moved was Peter, he went downstairs and when he came back he had a glass of beer in his hands. He then started moving around the boat, to see the sights and take pictures with his cell phone. The guys started kidding around and on a few occasions both Randy and Scott turned towards Gale and spoke with him.
At one point Scott turned towards us, I decided to be brave (it’s Serena talking here!) and I asked him if I could have a hug. He said yes so I went towards him and hugged him. I thanked him and he told me that it had been his pleasure and then I sat back down.
We arrived near the Guggenheim, and Gale seemed very interested; meanwhile Scott rose to point to us the giant spider he had taken a picture beside the day before.
Fede and I realized only then that behind us sat Lucia, another Italian on board!
Then it was time for the second group to come sit upstairs so we went to the lower deck with Lucia to drink some wine. While we were talking, Scott came downstairs to get himself a sandwich. Serena ( Modena) asked him where he had left his dog and she also showed him a picture of her own dog; I then showed him the picture of my cat and told him that his name is Ciuffo. Scott repeated “Ciuffo??” with a face that’s impossible to describe! He told us that his cat licks his dog, and he really described the scene before going back upstairs.
Then it was Randy’s turn to come down to get himself a sandwich. Someone asked him if he was hungry and Randy said that the sandwich wasn’t for him. He started to go back up but then he turned around and smiled at us.
After a while Randy and Peter came downstairs again, and Peter went to the bathroom. Randy sat beside his friend and there were two free seats beside him. We decided to get closer but we didn’t want to crowd him so we left a seat between us and I ( Serena) sat with my back to him. Lucia was sitting in front of me and Federica was on the other side.
We were speaking with a Russian girl when Randy got up to use the bathroom. When he got back, we moved so that he could go back to his seat and then we kept speaking to the Russian girl.
I realized that Randy was listening to us, so we included him, and Federica translated for us.
We lost track of time. We complimented him for his last show (singing with the Skivvies at the 54 Below )
And he gave us a bright smile!
Federica asked him what he had planned after Bilbao and he said that, at the end of the month, he’d be playing with the Skivvies again.
Lucia talked to him about the Italian website and told him that we don’t want to have any kind of gossip on it but that we only share news about his projects (Please Note: No one actually asked Lucia to say that!) and then she also told him that he could contact her to give her news to put on the website if he wanted.
He seemed interested, and while we were taking notes, he smiled to us. He seemed amused and intrigued by our chat.
While Lucia wrote down her info for him, he asked us where we were from and, when two of us replied with the name of the same city, he asked us if we’d come together.
I took the chance to ask him if he knew a few Italian words and he replied with: “Quanto costa” (“How much is it?”), “Ciao” (“Hello”), “Grazie” (“Thank you”), “Mille Grazie” (Thank you very much”), “ Prego” (“You’re Welcome”), “Buongiorno” (“Good Morning.”)
We asked him if he’d ever been to Italy and he said he comes very often because a friend of his lives near La Spezia, with her husband Salvatore who is from Sicily.
We laughed and joked some more and then Lucia asked him for a kiss and he smiled and complied, so I decided to be brave and asked for one, too.
We said our goodbyes after that and the organizers told us that, if we wanted, we could go back upstairs. We went and we immediately saw Scott, so we went to stand in front of him.
We spoke with him for a while, and we were a lot more at ease. He’s very sweet with fans. Lucia asked for a kiss and then again she spoke of the website (Please Note: again, no one asked her to do that). I asked him if he remembered me from twitter and, after reminding him of my account, he said he does remember! (I may have been a bit of a stalker….hihihihi).
We asked again if he knew any Italian words and he replied with: “Ciao” (“Hello”), “Buongiorno” (“Good Morning”), “quanto costa” (“How much is it?”), and “Ferrovia” (“Railway”), the latter surprised us a lot so we just looked at him and giggled!
Scott then said: “Dov’è la ferrovia?” (“Where’s the railway?”). He then said another word that we didn’t understand so we laughed again. So he started waving and repeating: “Lobster, Lobster” so Federica smiled and told him that in Italian we say “Aragosta.” Lucia tried to teach him more words and she started with “cane” (“dog”) and “gatto” (“cat”), and he repeated them but didn’t seem very convinced about it so he laughed. I also asked for a kiss and he gave it to me, too.
With Federica’s help we asked if it was possible to have a sixth season of “Queer as folk” or a film and we told him that his twitter post had made people crazy.
Scott was very diplomatic, and he told us that if they should find a good script they’d be absolutely thrilled and happy to do it, either a sixth season or a short film.
Meanwhile Peter came close and listened to our discussion. Lucia asked for a kiss and he almost kissed her lips. She stopped him and said: Italian Kiss, so they kissed on the cheek. We asked him about his knowledge of Italian words too and he said: “ciao ciao” (“bye bye”), “quanto costa” (“How much is it?”), and “grazie” (“Thank you.”) I also ( Serena!) asked for a kiss and he gave me a hug too.
We kept smiling and joking around. It was like speaking with friends, we weren’t embarrassed, only amused.
I spotted Gale speaking with a lady. Twenty minutes later I decided to try and went towards him and called out for him. I said hello and he turned towards me and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I asked with a trembling voice if he knew some Italian, but he apologized and said he hadn’t understood my question. I asked again and he said he doesn’t… and that’s when he was called away.
Waiting for more pictures, Felicity, Catia and I chatted with a Spanish girl, very nice and sweet, called Carmina. We spoke of ice skating and of Spanish culture.
Lucia also tried to send us pictures, but she had connection issues and wasn’t able to...
We were sitting comfortably on the seats at the Melià, when the girls came back, half frozen for the bad weather but so very happy.
Lucia introduced me to two amazing girls, who later became a fixture of my days at the con: Serena and Federica from Milan.
I can’t remember who asked me if I was Claudia, the girl who works on the facebook page connected with the website. When I told them who I was, they all complimented me and made me all emotional. It’s so good when someone tells you that yours is the very first page they visit in the morning when they go online. So many compliments, so many people complimented me those days and I’d like to use this space to thank every single one of them!
After the girls told us all about the boat ride, we decided to go to dinner. The nearby mall had a great choice of restaurants, so we split into two groups and everybody went to eat what they wanted! We chatted until late at night and then we went to sleep, to prepare for a very intense day, the very first day of the convention.
Commenta »Edited by Marcy