I’ll admit that before signing on as an extra for HBO’s Game of Thrones I had never actually seen the show despite it’s popularity. I heard rumors they would return to film the 4th season in Croatia only this time at the historic fortress nearby my house in Klis so it seemed silly not to answer the open casting call for extras. I figured it would be a fun and exciting experience and since the film set was minutes from my house I could walk to work for the first time in my life. At the time I had no idea that I would actually have to drive 20 minutes to a warehouse at the crack of dawn each morning in order to get into costume and my hair and make-up done. I would arrive 3 hours before being put back on a bus to make the drive up to Klis. After sometimes 10 hours on set, I took the bus back to the warehouse to return my costume and then drove myself home to Klis and straight to bed. So much for my short walk to work!  

After being chosen I actually refrained from watching the hit show as I figured it would make the process even more interesting if I knew nothing about the show and the characters. Of course I knew about Khaleesi and she was impossible to miss with her bright white wig, but I was pretty oblivious to the other actors I was working alongside.  After filming wrapped, winter was coming, which gave me plenty of time to catch up on the previous 3 seasons in order to be premiere ready in spring. While I recognized the scenes we filmed, they still flew by way too fast to find myself in the crowds and so much time had passed that it was impossible to remember where I might have been positioned. Fortunately, a friend of mine and big fan of the show managed to take a screenshot of a split second scene she was fairly certain she saw me in. We examined it together and although my arm was covering my face we were both 99.9% sure that that pointy elbow belonged to me. 

Not exactly the debut I imagined, but luckily my chance at 15 minutes of fame was not up as the series returned yet again to Croatia and Klis to film Season 5 and I was called back for my role as Khaleesi’s slave. Only this time I was prepared and made sure to strategically position myself so it’d be easier to spot myself amongst my fellow slaves. My preparation and positioning technique paid off when after episode 2 I received a message from a fellow slave saying that she thought she saw me, which was soon after confirmed by my brother and sister-in-law. They said they spotted me immediately and sent me the screenshots where indeed there I was begging and hissing away, but when I watched it later I barely recognized myself. If you blink you'll certainly still miss me and even with the still shot it's not blatantly obvious, but so far this is the best I can do for those asking me which episodes I’m in.

After my faint taste of fame and being recognized onscreen by family back home, I tuned into last nights 3rd episode hungry for more of me and also slightly worried I may be turning into a fame monster. Understandably I was not only disappointed, but terribly bored when the entire episode passed without any scenes of my beloved Khaleesi and my kingdom of Klis. However, any concerns of being a fame monster quickly faded away when I recognized another much more frightening certainty; I am now a Game of Thrones snob of the worst kind. If I’m not in the scenes, wasn’t there when they were filmed or didn’t see the actors that were in them they lack excitement and I lose interest in watching. Maybe this is what happens when you don’t get hooked on the show before getting hired on it and although I’m most likely ruined for the remainder of the season, I'm still starving to see what next week’s episode holds…Stay tuned!

While we’re still on the topic of Game of Thrones, here’s some good news for the fans that are now flocking to Croatia to walk in the footsteps of the show’s star characters. Not everyone can be a snobby slave extra, but now they can at least sit on the Iron Throne which will soon be displayed in the fictional King’s Landing and real town of Dubrovnik. Who knows, I may even get down off my highgarden horse and make the trip from my Mereen house in Klis to the capital for another brush with royalty. 

In addition to GoT tours and memorabilia offered throughout the city, it's been confirmed that the original Iron Throne used for filming scenes in King’s Landing was practically gifted to Dubrovnik as they purchased it for very little money.  Many fanatics are unpleasantly surprised to not see at least a replica somewhere in the city and now their prayers to the Lord of Light will be answered with the real thing at the start of June. The throne will be a permanent fixture on this real life fantasy set and a GoT musuem is also planned for Dubrovnik’s main pedestrian street, Stradun. 

There’s no better time than now to plan your trip to explore several of the Seven Kingdoms in Croatia and sit on the throne from which the most powerful rulers of Westeros once ruled the land. For those interested in GoT tours Vetus Itinera offers 1 or 5 day tours that follow the rocky path from King’s Landing in Dubrovnik to Mereen in Klis with the sight of a famous bathing scene, national parks, islands and historic cities in between! 

The 5 day tour also includes a stop at the Walls of Ston and gives you a chance to check off one of Conde Nast Traveler’s choices on their list of 50 Things to Do in Europe Before You Die. Eat oysters in the very same place the travel pros suggest you taste this delicacy. That sounds to me like the perfect opportunity to kill two ravens with one stone! 

For more information and to book a tour visit Vetus Itinera’s GoT website. 

Split portal did it again, where nobody can't sneak in, their photographers can. One of them, our friend Goran Les just published another great photo gallery from the set of Game of Thrones in Split. To be more precise, in Diocletian's Palace basement halls. This is probably the first time we can see something that looks like a raw setting of the scene we saw in this extremely popular show, the queen Daenerys' throne hall. Check out gallery here.

Stay tuned for more news about Game of Thrones in Split.

The strategy of drawing film crews to Dubrovnik may be working too well according to Bloomberg Business. And we say it's a case of "damned if we do and damned if we don't"

Another GOT team member visits the real Kings Landing

Cersei and the gang are back!