Game of Thrones may be a medieval fantasy but there are plenty of actual trips and activities you can do to get in the spirit of the show. In preparation for the Season 2 premiere this Sunday on HBO, we asked Ben Moroski to round out the top five.
1. Walk the Wall
Since booking a flight to the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros probably isn’t in the cards, try the next best thing: a visit to the real wall that inspired its icy doppelganger in Game of Thrones. Hadrian’s Wall, commissioned in AD 122 by Roman Emperor Hadrian, served as a defensive fortification to hold back the barbarian advances in northern Britain, much like the Ice Wall protects Westeros from the mysterious hordes of the North. Walk the 84-mile-long trail that runs along Hadrian’s Wall through the beautiful countryside from Bowness-on-Solway to Wallsend. Along the way, you will witness Roman ruins, medieval castles and even the famous tree used in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. And don’t forget to collect all seven stamps in your National Trail Summer Passport to prove that you walked the entire trail.
2. Look Into the Jaws of Death
They serve as the family crest of the House of Stark in Westeros but have you ever wondered what a real dire wolf looked like? Visit the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, CA to find out. A specially lit wall displays more than 400 skulls of the extinct carnivorous mammals that once roamed North and South America. Additionally, explore many other exhibits that include camel and mammoth skeletons also exhumed from the tar pits. The Page Museum is open 9:30 am to 5:00 pm every day. Guided tours are also offered daily.
3. Travel Like a King (or a President)
Many characters in Game of Thrones, including King Robert himself, take shelter at the Inn at the Crossroads on Kingsroad during Season 1. For those who want to adopt the same traveling spirit, the Inn at the Crossroads in Charlottesville, VA makes a perfect stop on your journey. Originally known as the Crossroads Tavern (the Game of Thrones inn is also know by another name, Crossroads Inn), the Inn at the Crossroads in Charlottesville served as a stopping point for presidents like Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Still in operation nearly 200 years after its construction, the cozy inn is located near the beautiful James River and an easy distance from many historical landmarks.
4. Take a European Vacation
If you want to satisfy your inner television buff while still getting the “culture” your grandmother always insisted upon, hop across the pond to Northern Ireland and visit some of the sites used as locations in Game of Thrones. Be sure to take in historic Castle Ward in County Down, which doubled as Winterfell, Eddard Stark’s family home in Season 1. Also visit the Tollymore Forest Park, which received a snowy makeover to serve as the forest in the North from the opening sequence of the pilot episode. If you are still not satisfied, another plane trip might be in store, this time to a sunnier locale: the island of Malta. There you can visit the ancient city of Mdina, which was used in Game of Thrones to represent the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms, King’s Landing. While you are there, don’t miss Malta’s most breathtaking natural wonder, the Azure Window on the island of Gozo. You can see the Azure Window in Game of Thrones Season 1 as the backdrop for Danaerys Targaryan’s wedding to Khal Drogo.
5. Prepare for Battle
Every warrior needs to know how to handle a sword. What better way to prepare for Game of Thrones Season 2 than by testing your mettle (and your metal) against fellow swordsmen? At the Chicago Swordplay Guild, you can do just that. The Guild offers introductory classes in both Medieval Longsword and Renaissance Rapier in six- and twelve-week sessions with no prior experience necessary. With branches in Milwaukee, WI and Denver, CO, the Chicago Swordplay Guild is the perfect place to sharpen your talents in preparation for combat with warriors from the Seven Kingdoms or wildings from beyond the Wall.
Are you setting your DVR for Sunday’s season two premier? For more ideas for your DVR cue, check out:
By Ben Moroski for PeterGreenberg.com
