A surprise trip to Westeros: Day Two

After all the fun, excitement and extreme nerdiness of day one of Dan's 30th birthday surprise, it was time to chill out and take in a bit of Northern Ireland's gorgeous countryside on a Game of Thrones film locations tour. I'd booked us on a tour with McComb's, because I'd seen some great reviews and heard that they also transport the cast members, so I thought there might be a chance to get some inside gossip. Not that I would know what the hell they were talking about...

The map below, which was at the Game of Thrones exhibition we attended the day before, shows some of the locations around the north coast that we'd be visiting on our coach trip. You can also plan your own tour as details of the locations are on Discover Northern Ireland, although obviously you don't get the insider info.

Shortly after leaving Belfast we reached the first filming location. We really weren't allowed to stop for a gawp and it's not officially part of the tour, due to some legal restrictions, but we were able to do a drive by as it's visible from the road...

This is the exterior set of Castle Black, which has been built on the side of a quarry. Not a great photo I know, but we just had to get a quick snap as the bus went past. However, you can see where they've painted the wall white to create, y'know, The Wall. I'm not sure of its exact location, but it's on the way to Larne, which we discovered was the home town of a hero pigeon called Paddy who is commemorated with a plaque next to the harbour. We also learnt that there are no wild snakes in Ireland.

Next on the list was a stop off at Cushendun Caves, County Antrim, which played the part of the Stormlands. Apparently the locals of this village prefer to keep goats as pets, rather than dogs or cats. There's even a statue to commemorate one that had to be put down during the foot and mouth outbreak. Yeah, we could certainly tell we were out in the sticks.

Top right and bottom left are the cave where the Red Witch gives birth to the Shadow Assassin. Top left and bottom right is where she comes ashore in the boat with Davos Seaworthy.

We had thought about posing for photos as the Red Witch giving birth, because we embrace any opportunity to be silly, but the ground was really wet and muddy, so it was out of the question. Despite it being a nice day it was also freezing once we got in the cave and occasionally you'd get drips of water from the ceiling land on your head or down your neck. I really have no idea how the actress managed to do that scene naked. Our guide informed us that the drips actually caused problems during the filming of that scene, so someone had to be on hand with a towel to keep wiping the ceiling.

This was another drive by shot and is a lovely bit of greenery that appeared in the very first episode. This location was used for the scene where Ned Stark beheads a deserter of the Night's Watch.

Then it was on to the Iron Islands, home of Theon Greyjoy, which looks a lot cleaner and prettier than it appears in Game of Thrones and is really Ballintoy Harbour, County Antrim. The wee building you see is a little shop and cafe in real life, but to make it look the part for the series they pulled some tiles off the roof and pulled the guttering down.

The harbour, top left, featured in the scenes where Theon arrives back in the Iron Islands and also when he leaves to attack Winterfell on his ship... Sea Bitch.

The beach, bottom left, is where Theon is christened when he returns to the Iron Islands and is located up the hill slightly from the harbour. Our guide did offer to chuck water over anyone wanting to be christened, but we all decline. Apparently only one crazy fan has ever said yes to the offer.

Here's Dan at Renly Baratheon's camp from season two, which in real life is actually a... Any guesses? A National Trust car park! I know, the glamour.

In case you're not sure what one of those looks like, here's a shot of it with some buses...



So this is actually located in Larrybane, Carrick-a-Rede, County Antrim, and serves as the car park for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which is one of the area's main attractions. The rope bridge, measuring 20 metres and located 30 metres above the sea, was originally constructed by fishermen so they could get from the tiny island of Carrick-a-Rede to the mainland. Thankfully, there wasn't enough time for our bus party to cross the bridge, which was lucky since I'm not good with heights and hadn't brought any spare pants with me.

Obligatory tourist snap.
This is what the view opposite the car park looks like.

This is the King's Road, which features in season one when Arya escapes from King's Landing. It looks beautiful in the day time, but I imagine it looks pretty spooky at night or when it's foggy.

These beech trees are really know as The Dark Hedges and are also in County Antrim. They were planted by the wealthy Stuart family and are about 400 years old. Our guide informed us that the lady of the family wanted to create a fairytale entrance to their estate, which would look beautiful during the day, but sinister come nightfall.

We bumped into Joffrey and Tyrion while we were there...

I thought this teeny tiny shop was cute. It's next to a lovely village pub we stopped at for lunch called the Fullerton Arms in Ballintoy. I went all Irish and had a beef and Guinness pie.

So after soaking up a bit more scenery on the way back, and a stop off at the Giant's Causeway (more on that later), that was it for the tour and the nerdiness. I really can't praise the tour company enough for the trip, our guide really knew his stuff, to the point where he was offering season five spoilers/location details to those who wanted them, and he was good fun. At some of the locations he even got his iPad out to show us scenes where the locations appeared, which was great for me as I had no idea what we were looking at!

It was a long day though. Having left at 9am, we arrived back in Belfast about 6pm and because I was unwell for the entire trip with a stinking cold we headed back to the hotel for a Lemsip. I know, rock 'n' roll right?

A surprise trip to Westeros: Day One

Dan was adamant he didn't want to do anything to celebrate his 30th birthday, no parties, no surprises, no surprise parties... But I had other ideas. Having discovered the Game of Thrones exhibition would be hitting Belfast's Waterfront the week of his birthday, I booked tickets via a raven and spent all the gold dragons we had on securing our passage across the Narrow Sea. Things were about to get nerdy.

Our arrival in Westeros

I was lucky enough to blag tickets for the first time slot on the exhibition's opening day, which I'm still stunned about given how quickly they were all snapped up.

As soon as we got in we headed straight for the Iron Throne, which apparently weighs half a tonne and took four weeks to construct. Top right is Tyrion Lannister's costume and bottom left is a dragon's head, which is one of two items I wanted to take home. I would've quite liked to take the Iron Throne home too, but since we'd actually come by plane, rather than ship, our baggage allowance wouldn't accommodate it. Actually my living room wouldn't either since it full of records.

Clockwise from top left: wall related stuff, my reaction to ascending the wall, a model of the trenches at the top and Dan recalls how he about shat his pants at the top of the wall.

The Ascend the Wall virtual reality experience was by far the best bit of the exhibition. You put on a headset and headphones, before being shut in a cage and taking a rickety lift to the top of the wall. You can even feel the rush of wind in your hair. Once you're at the top you spin round and run through the trenches right to the edge of the wall, then look straight down. The video moves so quickly it makes you feel unsteady on your feet - it was surprising how many grown men were screaming while doing this - and at one point I even had to hang on to the sides of the cage so I didn't fall off the wall. Well, it wasn't falling off the edge of the wall that concerned me, it was more the thought of falling face first into the side of the cage and smashing my face up.

Here is a direwolf's head. This is the other item that I really wanted to take home. Although I would prefer a live direwolf if possible.

Lannister costumes

Jaime Lannister's severed hand

I hear that another character has his cock chopped off, which is then sent to his father in a box. I was hoping the cock in the box would be part of the exhibition, but sadly it was not. 

Daenerys Targaryen costumes

She is a teeny tiny lady

Jon Snow costume and sword, with Ygritte costume

Some of those swords were almost as big as me

Tribute to the dead 

The 30th birthday celebrations wouldn't be complete without a beheading.

That dude wasn't even part of the exhibition, he was just some super fan who stood outside all day chopping heads off. This was right after we were interviewed for an Irish radio station, during which I admitted that I didn't watch the show. Controversial, I know. I've since started watching it - mainly so I can go 'seen that, seen that, sat on that...' - and have just finished season one. Unfortunately, I've also seen the In Memoriam wall, so now I know who dies. Bugger.

So that was the exhibition. The rest of day one was spent wandering along the riverside, buying records and climbing to the top of the Victoria Square shopping centre. I don't recommend doing that last one in the heat, the views of Belfast are amazing, but I would advise taking the lift. I couldn't feel my legs after I'd walked to the top.

As the majority of Game of Thrones is filmed in Northern Ireland, at Titanic Studios and out in the beautiful Irish countryside, I had another surprise up my sleeve for day two. Things were going to get nerdier...