A Cosplayer Abroad: Anna Sackville-Bagg at Culross Palace

Scotland was always some place I had wanted to visit. I love the rolling green hills, the tartans, the bagpipes, and the history- it was just appealing to me. I also had two costumes that are characters from Scotland so I decided this shall be my last long trip before I return to the states.

After a quick mentor review for school that basically is summed up with ‘yes everything is fine with me at school’, I got back to my flat, grabbed my bags, and made my way to King’s Cross. Originally, there was suppose to be a bus strike on this Friday the 13^th, but that was postponed and luckily I was able to take a bus. Usually this bus ride would take 15 to 30 minutes tops, it took 45 minutes to get there and I had 10 minutes to print my tickets and get to my train.

Of course, there was a queue at the ticket stands and, of course, my train was on the farthest platform. It would have been quicker to just run through the walls! Finally on the full train and I realized, I somehow didn’t book a seat reservation… so I sat for four and a half hours on this high little piece of wood, no longer that a foot, jutting out from the train wall in front of the toilet. I had planned to get my essay on chocolate done while on the train, but that was impossible to instead I just read Neil Gaiman’s Ocean at the End of the Lane. It is a good book, and I would highly recommend it.

Finally, and grumpy, I made it Edinburgh, then it was time to find the hostel I was staying at. That’s right my very first hostel. You may or may not know this, but I have a degree in cinema, and I took a class on horror films. Let’s just say, Haggis Hostel is the perfect horror hostel name. It is cheeky and unsuspecting based on where it is located, but if you know what haggis is made of then the name can be quite ominous.

When I finally found the doorway for it, I was immediately put off by the brightly coloured paintings of cartoon backpackers of different nationalities pointing the way up the stairs. I get it, usually the cliché thing was to backpack through Europe before going to college...or after college…either way, I wasn’t here for the campy, hippy vibe.

Surprisingly, this was a very nice and clean hostel that was pretty much right across from the train station I would be going to every day and it was pretty cheap. I shared a room with three other girls, and they were like me! Keep to yourself, and go about your day without needing each other’s life stories. The only time we talked to each other was to ask if it was okay to turn the light off at night. So no worry over having to make small talk and apologize that ‘yes I am studying pastry, sorry I didn’t bring you anything…’

That night I went to Lebowski’s Bar, and yes, that Lebowski. I was expecting an over the top bar with large photos of the Dude and bowling balls everywhere, but maybe I’ve just been to one too many themed, Hollywood restaurants. This was a traditional pub through and through; the only thing that made it about The Big Lebowski was the name and White Russian menu.

After a fantastic dinner and drink, I walked back to the hostel and prepared myself to wake up early for my first location visit.

The idea in my head was to go to Culross Palace and be there as the sun was rising. This would reduce the amount of people out and about to stare at me in my costume and the lighting would be ideal for photo purposes and the fact that Anna is a vampire. Also it was Valentine’s day so what would be more perfect than to be the most romantic vampire at sun rise on Valentine’s Day?

That didn’t happen. I woke up early, but getting ready took longer than expected. I hadn’t worn this costumes since Monday of Fanime 2013 (everyone thought I was Cersei Lannister…) so I didn’t fully recall how long it would take to get on.

Waiting at Inverkeithing...

There were two trains I had planned on getting and I missed both of those times, so I got the next available one to Inverkeithing. Where I waited at the bus stop for about an hour until finally a bus headed to the Dunfermline Bus Station came along. Then at the Dunfermline Bus Station I waited fifteen minutes, all the while having people just kind of staring at me strangely. Inverkeithing, Dunfermline, and Culross are all located in Fifie, which is more suburb Edinburgh. Where wearing this costume in Edinburgh, I would have fit in more, but not so much in Fife.

Finally, the bus to Culross comes and I head off. I get out, missing my stop by one, but it was only about a block away and I got to walk along the shoreline so I didn’t mind. The only people that were out were people walking their dogs and a lot of bicyclists, and some commented on my dress saying ‘that’s a fancy dress’.

Culross isn’t a very big town, so I was able to find the palace easily- it helps that all the building are white and the palace is bright yellow. In case you aren’t familiar, The Little Vampire, is about a little American boy that moves to Scotland and befriends a vampire and helps his family. The Culross Palace is where they filmed the end of the film where the Sackville-Bagg family are moving into their new home, aka the palace. Just so you know, ‘the palace’ isn’t an actual palace, it housed a wealthy merchant.

There was literally no one around, so I took my coat and hat off, put the fangs in, and took some quick photos on my iPad with the timer.

I had contacted one Scottish cosplay photographer earlier in the week and she was really nice, but she was out of town that weekend and directed me to other photographers who might be of help. I ultimately decided not to contact them and just do it on my own. I wouldn’t get the best photos, but then I didn’t have to drag them through my crazy bus and train adventures. I felt this was the best choice.

I took my photos fast as it started to drizzle a bit and then put my hat and coat back on before wandering into the gardens. They were spectacular and had a lot of higher up terraces that supplied me with spectacular views.

While waiting for the bus, which was set to arrive in fifteen minutes, an older gentleman walked over. He asked if I had gotten off at the wrong stop as he had seen me wandering around when he was out walking his dogs, I assured him I had every intention of getting off here. And he gave me a quick history of the town, as he had lived there his whole life. It was a coal-mining town and they use to get the coal from the hillsides and from the ocean. Now it was a small town with extremely expensive houses. He was a nice, older man.