Winter is coming: the eternal warning in Game of Thrones (GOT), and preferable to its other motto; The night is dark and full of terrors, which leaves something to be desired as a rallying cry. And now we are on our way to a campsite near Dubrovnik, aka, Kings Landing – the show’s major city and seat of power. To say I’m excited is something of an understatement. These are the very streets that Peter Dinklage has walked!
Who he? A very fine actor that I first came across in a charming little film calledThe Station Agent. As Tyrion Lannister, the somewhat unwilling and drunken voice of reason in a GOT world of war-ravaged madness, he absolutely slams it. If they kill him off in the next season, battlements might get hurled from, that’s all I’m saying.
On the way to the campsite we stop for coffee at what looks like a small hut in a lay-by. It turns out to be a wine bar, selling stuff from the vineyard that slopes down the mountain ahead of us. Tyrion would have been delighted.
The girl behind the counter is the founder’s granddaughter, and another couple are already sitting on a bench nearby with two stout glasses of red. They are appalled that I only want coffee and tell me off, albeit nicely. I find it interesting that a country with a zero tolerance policy towards drinking and driving should have a wine bar you can only reach by car.
At the campsite we get a phone call from one of our lovely new Angloville friends (see previous posts on my first Angloville experience or my second). Sarah hails from New Zealand and is spending a good six months travelling solo around various interesting parts of Europe. She will be in Dubrovnik the following day – do we want to meet up? Oh hell, yes. Sarah is great.
Despite the fact that as soon as I enter the stunningly beautiful Dubrovnik Old Town I have to keep scooping my jaw up off the floor, I spot her in the crowd and we have a lovely day together. My agenda of seeing as many of the filming locations as I can may not have been her cup of tea, but the place is so interesting that it doesn’t matter where we go.
So we climb the steps where Cersei began her ‘walk of shame’ and then all sorts of other recognisable bits…
…before freaking out this fella. Steve isn’t that scary: you know NOTHING, Jon Snow! (apologies to those who don’t get the references, but I just can’t stop myself).
While we are debating whether to get the funicular up the hill, a nice girl selling tours suggests an alternative. For the same money we can have a chap drive us out to see the big bridge, down to Europe’s shortest river (wait, what? That’s me sold), up the hill to see Dubrovnik at sunset, and back to where we parked our car, saving us a massive walk back out of town. Seems a very good deal, so we say yes.
Here’s the shortest river. You see that white gate thing over to the right of the picture? That’s where the river comes out of the mountain. And the weir in the foreground? That’s where it meets the sea – a distance between the two of 35 – 40 metres, depending on the tide. As rivers go, this one is a bit of a rank amateur.
Our tour guide, Chris, then drives us up the mountain and through a bombed-out village, named for the Bosnian girls of easy virtue who used to fetch up there when food was scarce. As we’re driving up a tree-lined road, he drops the bombshell: –
‘Do any of you watch Game of Thrones, because this is The King’s Road?’
‘Yes we do, and I am a bit of a pushover for Tyrion, it’s got to be said.’
‘Oh, I am his driver when they are filming.’
‘WHAT! You know him? Tell me everything!’ (And I shan’t disclose what he actually said, but apparently Peter is a very nice man, so there.)
With Chris 
and with Sarah
A few days later we meet Antonio, who takes us in his boat to the island of Lokrum. This is where they have an iron throne (just like the one in the show), which you can sit on and take endless selfies. Lokrum is also home to more rabbits and peacocks than I have ever seen in my life, wandering peacefully around the ruined monastery and looking rather picturesque.
When I lived in London, the pigeons foraged around the pavement cafes, and when we lived in Dorset it was seagulls you had to watch out for. Now, as we sit drinking over-priced coffee and eating more weird salad, the peacocks push past my legs and peck hopefully around my feet. The disgruntled waiter is sick of them, but I am enchanted. The rabbits are less friendly but more plentiful, because they’re, well…rabbits.
Then it’s time to do some sightseeing and find the throne. Although it’s less impressively displayed than I was expecting, it is free to see and to sit on, and you can take as much time as you like. Surprisingly comfy and not actually cold. Feel sort of born to it.
We’d been told the time of the last boat home and, to avoid the rush, we slip off to the jetty in plenty of time for one of the earlier ones. It doesn’t come. No sign of our boat, just others that won’t let us on because they’re going somewhere other than where we had embarked. Every half hour, Antonio? You’re having a laugh. The last boat arrives and it’s not ours. Thankfully, they let us on despite us having the wrong ticket and we get a nice look at Dubrovnik as we sail in.
A couple of days later we decide to ‘walk the wall’ that surrounds the Old Town, and there is bloody Antonio, taking our tickets as we go in. The wall takes a couple of hours to go all the way around and gives you a real appreciation of the city. One of the sad things to witness is the number of newly tiled roofs. During the Homeland Wars of the early 1990’s, Dubrovnik was targeted and nearly obliterated. Over 11,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed in the bombardment, gutted by fire, and subsequently looted. The stone walls mostly withstood the impact, but all the new roofs show the extent of the rebuilding that had to take place.
The wall does produce more GOT moments for us, however. We have a good view of the bay where Tyrion fights off Stannis’ attack by sea, and the tower that is used as The House of the Undying sits on a corner – this is the place with no visible door, that Daenerys walks around after her dragons have been kidnapped, and then disappears into. (It actually has the most massive door).
Walking the wall also gives us the chance to see the backs of people’s houses, which is where I discover more contestants in the sport of competitive laundry hanging. We’ve seen it before but they really nail it here. The rules are simple – all laundry must be hung in order of object, size and colour, and absolutely no mixed loads or pegging it up as it comes out of the basket. See what I mean?
Back in town, we also search out Little Finger’s brothel and the steps of the Palace in Qarth. Then, as we’re walking up a sidestreet, we see a shop with GOT merchandise and ANOTHER THRONE. So for those of you who don’t want to be caught off guard by Antonio and his flaky promises, you don’t actually have to go to Lokrum.
Just outside Dubrovnik is Trsteno Arboretum: a lovely little place where more filming of GOT takes place. It’s where all the outdoor scenes of Margaery and her gran (played by the elegantly acerbic Dame Diana Rigg) have tea in the garden and plot. Also used for Sansa flirting with Lorus, and Tyrion being withering to… everybody. Even Cersei wafts about there on occasion, so this is a ‘must do’ on my list.
It has wonderful views down to the sea, some trees that are over 150 years old and, surprisingly, a field where I can only suppose that a load of Martians stopped by, and left their brains all over the grass.
Seriously, what is this?
The next day we drive down to Montenegro to find out about Green Cards, which validate our motor insurance whilst passing through the country. Having heard about the average driving capabilities of people, there and in Albania, this seems beyond necessary. The man in the booth says not to bother, just get one when we get to Albania.
Of course, when we turn up at the checkpoint a few days later, they refuse to let us through because we haven’t got our green cards yet.
And I’m so glad we do get them, because the next few day’s driving is unlike anything I’ve experienced so far. But I’ll tell you all about that next time.
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