Day 20 - Since arriving in Belfast, our first stop in Northern Ireland, we have come to realise that Game of Thrones is a big thing over here. A lot of the filming was done on location all over Northern Ireland and in the Titanic Studios in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. It has made a huge contribution to the much needed tourist industry here. The tour guide on our hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus in Belfast was the first to mention this. She grew up in the Troubles and said how important it was now that tourists come to NI. She was quite emotional when she told us of friends at Uni who had been "lifted" and were never seen again and of the bomb scares and checks which were an everyday occurrence. To see tourists back in NI meant to her that the Troubles were now over. The GoT tourist industry has also helped enormously. We followed the "Glass of Thrones" trail in Belfast which has six stained glass windows each representing scenes from series eight.
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| Glass window for House of Stark. |
For more information go to
https://lovebelfast.co.uk/glass-of-thrones-lagan-weir/
The same sentiment was expressed by the lovely friendly bar maid at the Fiddler's Green pub here in Portaferry. She grew up in the Falls Road and remembers the Troubles and said that when she was a child it just seemed normal. She now realises how bad it was and she doesn't tell her children about it because it is history now as far as she is concerned. The pub also has a B&B attached and they have had GoT visitors from China, Brazil and Malaysia and, as she said, they would never have had tourists from so far afield before. She also said how important tourism is to the Peace and to the local economy. "Especially the Doors" she said, and I asked her to repeat what she had said because I didn't understand. "The Doors" she repeated as she handed us a passport. The ten Doors tell the story of season six.
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Door 2 at the Fiddler's Green
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To quote from the Journey of Doors passport, The Dark Hedges are an avenue of 18th century beech trees and they were used as the Kingsroad in GoT. In January 2016 a storm brought down some of these iconic trees and they were salvaged and used to carve the doors using symbols to illustrate season six. From the passport we saw that two of the Doors are local, one right here in the Fiddler's Green pub in Portaferry and one in the Cuan pub in Strangford, just across the Narrows. So we got our passport stamped for the Fiddler's Green one (door 2) and yesterday we went to The Cuan in Strangford (door 1.)
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| One of the "Direwolves" |
The Cuan is a charming hotel in Strangford and they have all sorts of GoT memorabilia because the cast stayed in the hotel while filming here. The local castle was used as Winterfell and two of the Direwolves live here. "We are expecting a coach party of GoT tourists in about 45 minutes and the wolves will be on show across the square" she told us as we were having coffee. So we went for a walk and came back, but nothing was happening. Irish time again! We were just about to take the ferry back when the wolves appeared and it was possible to go in and stroke them and have a picture taken. "Bend the knee" said the handler as I bent down to stroke one.
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Bend the Knee!
A lot of the locals were extras in the filming of the series here including the handler of the "Direwolves" and his father. They had lots of tales to tell about the actors and the filming but we didn't stay. I think that Northern Island is a "go to" destination for all Game of Thrones fans. There is a lot to see but it is also fascinating in it's own right. There is lots of history here and beautiful scenery. We have both become fans of Northern Island and it's friendly people. The landlady at the Fiddlers Green pub gave us a hug as we left.
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Day 20 - Since arriving in Belfast, our first stop in Northern Ireland, we have come to realise that Game of Thrones is a big thing over here. A lot of the filming was done on location all over Northern Ireland and in the Titanic Studios in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. It has made a huge contribution to the much needed tourist industry here. The tour guide on our hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus in Belfast was the first to mention this. She grew up in the Troubles and said how important it was now that tourists come to NI. She was quite emotional when she told us of friends at Uni who had been "lifted" and were never seen again and of the bomb scares and checks which were an everyday occurrence. To see tourists back in NI meant to her that the Troubles were now over. The GoT tourist industry has also helped enormously. We followed the "Glass of Thrones" trail in Belfast which has six stained glass windows each representing scenes from series eight.
The same sentiment was expressed by the lovely friendly bar maid at the Fiddler's Green pub here in Portaferry. She grew up in the Falls Road and remembers the Troubles and said that when she was a child it just seemed normal. She now realises how bad it was and she doesn't tell her children about it because it is history now as far as she is concerned. The pub also has a B&B attached and they have had GoT visitors from China, Brazil and Malaysia and, as she said, they would never have had tourists from so far afield before. She also said how important tourism is to the Peace and to the local economy. "Especially the Doors" she said, and I asked her to repeat what she had said because I didn't understand. "The Doors" she repeated as she handed us a passport. The ten Doors tell the story of season six. 
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