My most recent travels were through the lands of the Scots. By this I mean North Ireland and Scotland, but it could be said of both because the Scoti were actually a tribe from Northern Ireland that took what is now Scotland from the Picts. You can hear me talk about this part of my trip here.
One site of particular interest in Northern Ireland is the Giant's Causeway and it's peculiar hexagonal columns of rock. One of the few other places on Earth that has formations like this is a small island between Ireland and Scotland, which may have had an influence on the creation of the legend I described in the video. The first three of these photos show the Causeway, the next three pictures show places that have the distinction of being notable spots in both North Ireland and Westeros. First we have a most interesting space that was once Renly Baratheon's camp but now an auxiliary parking lot. Next is the Iron Islands harbor, and last is a set of caves where a most unusual birth took place.
The Dark Hedges. Truly a spectacular spot. Tragically one of the trees had died at some point, but I even found that stump oddly pretty. Trees so lovely they even make beautiful corpses. This place too was used in Game of Thrones. While most locations are found to fit the scenes they have in mind, here they actually created a scene just to use this location. It's the road Arya takes when leaving King's Landing. To shoot that 8 second scene they had to cover the road with dirt, take down all the fencing, and then put it all back the way it was.
After North Ireland I came to the city of Edinburgh. The first picture is of the Sir Walter Scott Memorial, the second of Edinburgh Castle, and the rest are simply the sort of views one gets walking around that remarkable, beautiful city.
