A 'Game of Thrones' Weekend

Near the beginning of June, Laura and I met in Northern Ireland to visit extended relatives who live outside of Belfast. Laura was new to this area of Ireland but I had been there twice before, once after Christmas and then with my parents in March. It is always worth the visit because of all the yummy home-cooked meals! My stomach may always believe I am a poor student. We were blessed with great weather so we celebrated with our first barbeque of the season.

 Beautiful BBQ weather!

 The amazing view from my relatives' backyard.

 Laura with Ben the Bassett Hound. Beware of his slobbery mouth!

 

On one afternoon we went together as a group to the nearby estate of Castleward. This property is owned by the National Trust and has a great assortment of walking trails, little shops and artist studios. During our visit I learned two very interesting facts about Castleward. The first is that the mansion was built in the 18th century in two architectural styles. Apparently, the couple who built it could not agree on which style so they made one side Classical and the other Gothic. With a happy marriage comes compromise!



 

The Classical side (above) faces the road, while the Gothic side (below) looks out at the sea. 

 

 The second interesting thing about Castleward is that it is currently used as one of the filming sites for the wildly popular television series Game of Thrones. For those who do not watch this show, it is a compelling plot based in medieval-like times, where warring families are vying for possession of the kingdom's throne. My kind sister managed to get me addicted to Game of Thrones back in April and I have been slowly catching up in episodes. Needless to say we were both fairly excited to know we were standing on the spot where it was filmed, though honestly I didn't recognize any of the landscape. The show is known for its battle violence and gory bits, so I think non-televised Castleward is too peaceful to identify episode backdrops.

Just look at the lovely grounds and massive trees.

 By a strange coincidence, we also discovered that there was a Game of Thrones exhibit for one week at the Titanic Center. How could we resist? It was a small but enjoyable display of costumes and props used through mostly the first and second seasons. It was neat to see how realistic the items were up close. I had not realized that some of the characters (Daenerys, Joffrey) are really short in real life. Here are some pictures to illustrate the items in the exhibit.

Costumes of the families Stark (above) and Lannister (below).

 



The sword of Night's Watchman Jon Snow.

The replica head of Eddard Stark for display on a spike.

One of the dragon models (one of the few things from season three).

We had the chance to try our hand at shooting flaming arrows of wildfire, but the best part was sitting in the Iron Throne. This throne was forged from 1000 surrendered swords, though when you sit in it they feel much more like painted plaster.

 

After our Game of Throne excursion and Laura spent a looong time in the Titanic exhibit, we got to take a walk through Belfast city centre to the area around Queen's University. Here are some of the sights along the way.

 A better image of the distinctive Titanic Center than the one I supplied back in January, plus now they have the added Nomadic. This ship ferried first class passengers from French banks to the Titanic.

A glazed ceramic fish near the waterfront which is decorated with various tiles related to Belfast.

City Hall with a statue of Queen Victoria out front.

We passed the historical Crown Bar, but alas no time to have a pint.

 





That is our trip to Belfast in a nutshell. It is actually today that I part ways with my sister Laura until the end of summer. This evening I set out on my trip to UK's Glastonbury Festival and Laura will fly home to Canada towards the end of the week. Her six month journey around the world is coming to an end. My adventures are not quite over though so stay tuned. I am sure I will have quite the stories from the biggest outdoor music festival in the world!

 

Happy Summer,

Shannon