Game of Thrones - Live in Concert

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Five on Friday for this post about the Game of Thrones concert that I went to on Tuesday night in DC! The tickets were my Christmas present last year, so I'd been patiently waiting for the concert to make it's way from the UK and arrive stateside - and the stop closest to me was DC, on September 25th!

I attended the concert last March as well and had such a wonderful time. I've mentioned before that I listen to a lot of instrumental music and the score for Game of Thrones is absolutely beautiful and provoking - I'm slightly inclined to think that Ramin Djawadi is something of a genius - he scores some of my favorite music to listen to (he not only scores Game of Thrones, but also does a fantastic job on the very different Westworld.)

The seats I was gifted (my Mom is the best at picking out seat y'all - the best) were on the second row and so close to the stage that when it snowed or leaves fell (we'll get to that), they floated right over my friend Jennie and I. The seats were - in short - spectacular and I could not wait for the concert to start! Game of Thrones is currently in between seasons and as they make the final season (tears) with 6 episodes that will likely each be the length of a short movie, the break between last season and this season has been LONG.

 

Now - if you've never watched Game of Thrones then this post may not be too fascinating for you - but if you are a Game of Thrones fan, well I tried to include as much as I could! I took so many videos and I don't want to overwhelm the post with videos, ha-ha!

One of the first pieces to be performed was Winterfell - the theme of House Stark. A violinist was suspended in the air as she played the piece, being drawn into place to represent a Weirwood Tree - a symbol that is central to the faith that the Starks adhere to in the North. The song is beautiful and of course, I took video! How could I not?

The show is incredibly large and the cast is...generous, to say the least. Two of the characters who have spent earlier parts of the show far apart are Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen - but in the seventh season their stories; which have often mirrored each other, finally merged. But before we could get to that - they showed the first love of Jon's life - Ygritte... A fun fact for you? Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie, who play the characters Jon Snow and Ygritte were married this past summer - so I think that makes their portion of the show a little more touching, no?

The percussionist played numerous instruments throughout the show. I loved watching him play the didgeridoo but I do think the giant horn - called the wildling horn - was my favorite. As promised, after Jon's story line...we got some of Daenerys' story line as well!

I couldn't not include this amazing video with Ramin just wailing on the guitar - this scene is one of my favorite scenes from Game of Thrones. If I'm being honest, all the scenes from Game of Thrones are my favorite scenes...ha-ha!

Following intermission, we picked back up with Jon Snow's story (he's become something of a central character) with the all important resurrection and the ensuing Battle of the Bastards - what may be the largest battle sequence ever filmed for television - as of right now. Apparently a battle in season eight will top that...

Another scene that was beyond memorable is also from season 6 - and the song that goes along with it; The Light of the Seven, is an almost ten minute marvel of music that builds and scales it's way to a thundering conclusion. The show then moved on to moments from season seven - including the reunion between the Stark siblings, which was one of the most touching moments for me to watch.

The show moved on to one of the big battles from season seven - I call it the Field of Fire but I don't think that's what it was called in this particular episode. It was yet another moment in the show when favorite characters...after seven seasons...begin to collide and you aren't really sure who you should cheer for! I was thrilled to get such a good shot of Drogon from the battle - this whole portion of the show, with the lights and music - just incredible!

The show was absolutely so amazing - I hope they do a third tour, because I'll be more than happy to get tickets again. The eighth season is not set to premiere until the middle of 2019 and there will be plenty more footage to score with excellent music.

Game of Thrones is so much more than a TV show and besides the incredible story that the show is telling, I know the music is one of my favorite things to come from the show. I am both looking forward to and dreading the final season - because all good things must end and that will be the end - but at least there will always be the gorgeous music to listen to!

Going Colonial

It has been quite the week y'all - it hasn't gone quite as smoothly as I'd hoped although I did get safely to and from DC for the absolutely amazing Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience (pictures and videos to come...probably next week...we shall see..) but Wednesday was nothing more than an almost 24 hour headache and here I am today trying to fight off an "after shock" headache - you've got to love those migraines, am I right?

Beyond all that - let me get back to the past weekend spent in Williamsburg and finally share my pictures from Colonial Williamsburg. We came back into the center of Williamsburg on Saturday evening and perused the shops at Merchant Square before we ventured into the Colonial portion and I wandered up to the Governor's Palace to snap a few dusk pictures...

I don't remember on our previous visit getting to wander down the palace green and snap pictures of the Governor's Palace but I made sure to do that this time. I was also pretty adamant about wanting to be in Colonial Williamsburg at dusk - there is just something slightly unearthly about seeing this little town come alive with lantern light...and knowing the colonial people used to roam these same streets by lantern light..and perhaps still do roam the streets once night has fallen? We didn't take a ghost tour this time but we have before and it's all delightfully eerie!

We made some purchases at the Peanut Shop and Wythe Candy and Gourmet, investigated all the amazing and unique cheese on sale at The Cheese Shop and my Dad and I discovered even more information about our Scottish ancestry at Scotland House, LTD. Apparently one of our descendants had a ballad written about him because he "slew a gigantic beast or worm"...in some writings it says he killed the last serpent in Scotland and that is why the coat of arms for our family has a dragon on it! How amazing is that? My ancestors were killers of giant snakes - I am all for that - I guess the dislike of snakes is also an inherited trait?

We had a late dinner at Sal's by Victor Italian Restaurant and this was authentic Italian food, not your Olive Garden fettuccine alfredo (which I am definitely not hating on, I love that stuff so much - I just also know it's not really authentic)... and the pizza that my Mom and I split was divine! I know I mentioned my dessert on the other post but it was easily one of the best things I've ever eaten and I want to see if I can find another when I'm in Italy!

We started the morning on Sunday with Duck Donuts - a donut shop that originates out of Duck, North Carolina and is essentially a made to order donut shop. Now we have Duck Donuts here in our area of Virginia but we've just never made our way to one and Sunday seemed as good a day as any to give them a try! We had some really delicious donuts: blueberry pancake, s'mores, french toast, apple pie, lemon blueberry and pumpkin pie with strudel - my mouth is watering just thinking about them! It certainly wasn't a healthy breakfast but it was tasty!

We popped into the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor's Center after we'd have breakfast and perused the shops for a bit - I also came to the realization that the actual layout of Colonial Williamsburg is much larger than I'd thought. I purchased a Christmas gift for a certain someone and then we sought out the tavern guests parking and entered the Colonial area that way. I wanted so badly to have lunch or dinner at King's Arms Tavern but we couldn't seem to make a reservation...but aftern inquiring about eating lunch there, we learned it was first come/first serve at 11:30...and since it was 11:20, we perused a shop or two and then made our way back to the Tavern!

Now you may be wondering why I wanted to eat at King's Arms Tavern so badly and I'll be glad to tell you - I wanted to try the Peanut Soup! The King's Arms Tavern is known for it's peanut soup and I love all things peanut, so I wanted nothing more than to try some of it...and King's Arms is the only tavern in Colonial Williamsburg that offer the lovely soup made of peanuts! I was just so pleased to have a seat and order some peanut soup - it really is the little things in life y'all!

I had the half sandwich and cup of peanut soup for my meal - and peanut soup tastes exactly the way I thought it would: like soupy, creamy and delicious peanut butter! I'm glad I opted to do a bowl because while it was delicious, it was also incredibly rich and I think an entire bowl would have been too much! When it came time for dessert, I also decided to branch out and I got Syllabub - the most historically accurate dessert on the menu; it's made from cream mixed with white wine and sweetened with lemon, topped with fresh berries. It was delicious and I'm wondering why Syllabub isn't really a thing anymore because it's so tasty and good!

After our delicious lunch, we walked down the main street (Duke of Gloucester) to the government houses and then peeked in a few shops on our way back down the street. One of the most interesting items that I found was a mourning ring (pictured above) - which was normally a ring made from the silver a person inherited from a relative; they wore the ring for a year following the loved one's death and then had the silver melted down as their inheritance. Isn't that the most interesting thing? The rings were decorated with skulls and cross bones, so they almost looked like a sort of pirate ring or something... amusing to say the least!

It was threatening to rain and so we made our way past a few houses and a pen of sheep before hopping into the car to make our way home. We stopped in at the Yankee Candle Shop on our way out of town and then when traffic backed up on I-94, we decided to trust Google Maps and headed home via the back roads - which took some time off our drive and we got to see the countryside. We arrived home around 5:30 with Panda Express for dinner and a very happy puppy waiting to greet us (a friend watched him over the weekend).

Such a great weekend - I always love poking around Colonial Williamsburg and seeing all the sights!

Watson Wednesday

Watson has never hesitated to do whatever it takes to get a bite of food - this picture popped up on my Time Hop and I couldn't resist sharing it! He's managed to balance himself with two back paws on the ottoman, one paw on my leg and the other floating in mid-air... but hey - he did get to lick the soup bowl!