"Yes, Ragnar Lodbrok, I am afraid. But not for me. I am afraid for my boat..."

So with this being a horrible day(weatherwise), I spent some time working on a slightly off topic blog only to log on and realise my last blog saved as a draft instead of publishing. So here it is, a bit late but better than never ;)

A couple of weeks ago for my birthday, I convinced my motley crew of friends to take the day off and enjoy Ireland in a way most tourists never experience it...on a blissfully sunny day! Seriously, the 1st of October was a day nicer than any day during the summer this year. Being the birthday "shield maiden", I got to decide our activities for the day and despite a bit of initial hesitation the day didn't disappoint.
Road trips are the modern day equivalent of a Viking voyage. Think about it! You gather together your merry band of friends to go to pastures new(think Ragnar Season 1 talking the boys into heading Wesht) to see what can be seen, to hear what is to be heard and for whatever other mischief can be had along the way. Mind you, not so much about the pillaging these days though!
With all onboard, we headed for Blessington, Co. Wicklow. The drive alone with it's amazing views(or to quote one Mr. Clive Standen, "stunning vistas") was worth the trip. No wonder they chose Wicklow as their main location for shooting the series.
These road trips/expeditions also serve as a bit of a team building/trust exercise where one learns new things about their group of friends. For instance, when your friend(ahem, Peter) tells you he has a fear of open water, he means it in a general sense not just a swimming sense...So when you go ahead and book a boating excursion for the day and he willingly goes along with it, it serves as a measure of just how much your friends trust you despite their crippling fear. Poor Peter was so nervous he was literally clutching the sides of our vessel with a death grip until he got used to it. We also learned that while Darren is a good skipper(and a little too fond of being called Captain), when it comes to rowing, his dreams of Olympic Gold won't be realised as he'll never be making our National Team. And Tara's just a good sport in general as you'll see below. Also, she's quite the Kate Winslet impersonator as it turns out. There may have been a few Titanic moments that may also have included a rendition of My Heart Will Go On that the guys may never forgive us for...but that's a different blog altogether.

Before you go right ahead and view the vlog, here's a couple of things to note:
*Unfortunately due to some colourful language used by one of our crew(ahem, Tara and Darren), this video is unsuitable for viewers under 16.
*The challenges of taking on the role of director, producer, narrator, improvisational script writer, prop manager, location scout, talent manager, casting director, animal handler, stunt coordinator, director of photography, camera woman and co-star may have lead to a lack of visual finesse(aka a considerable amount of time with the camera pointed at a bridge that at no point throughout Season 1 to 3 features in Vikings in any way, shape or form, despite the amazing landscape around us that was far more picturesque).
*No dragons, sheep or fish were harmed during filming.
* I'd also like to take a moment to pay tribute to a vital member of our team that sadly didn't make it back to shore with us, Mappie. Last seen drifting downward to the bottom of Blessington Lake Siggy/Jessalyn Gilsig-stylee(ahem, Tara....this also may or may not have been the cause for the aforementioned My Heart Will Go On outburst), despite a heroic effort to save it that Darren reckons came close to me falling face first into the lake. Lies! I just do my own stunts. I had the situation well in hand.

  

This is the last picture of Mappie taken roughly an hour before it's watery demise. Happier times. R.I.P Mappie

* Lastly, I'd like to thank the good people of Blessington Boat Hire. They are great to deal with and very friendly. I highly recommend them to anyone who is looking for something a little bit different to do on a sunny day. It's a great way to see the area at your own leisure or if you like a spot of fishing. There's also loads of little sandy areas to pull in, hop out and have a little picnic.

  

#LikeAViking

Title Quote: Season 1 Episode 2 Wrath of the Northmen

Floki to Ragnar

"You're too late! You missed the boat..."

Speaking of boats, for my birthday we went for a little road trip to one of the locations where they shoot Vikings! It just so happened to be the nicest day of the year and perfect for a spot of long boating...kinda!
There's a full video to follow but I thought I'd tease it with a little blooper from our first take...it'll make sense of a lunge Tara does in the full video :)

Title Quote: Season 1 Episode 3 Dispossessed

Ragnar to Knut

"I accept my fate..."

Twas a fine, soft morning for a roadtrip to Wicklow. For today was the day that my fate would be decided as to whether I'm Viking Extra material or not. Despite the early start, my fellow roadtripees were in good spirits as we hit the road and banter was at an all time high after some much needed caffeine! Not very Viking, I know. But we couldn't get our hands on a supply of meade at that hour and, these days being in charge of a mode of transportation whilst partaking in the consumption of alcoholic beverages is somewhat frowned apon! Like most Viking journeys there were some casualties along the way. So I'd like to take a moment to honour those we lost in transit. Namely a pigeon that didn't quite get out of the way in time and made all occupants of the vehicle scream in a very unwarrior-like fashion. And proving that the 6am start was just a little too much for some of us, Tara's usual indepth knowledge of the wildlife of Ireland was subpar as she mistook a cat for a badger. I would like to take another moment to pay respects to the cat(that was not our doing before you think we went on some sort of Viking inspired killing spree bloodbath on the way to the open casting call!!!).

Inspite of our early rise, we found ourselves at the end of a queue that had started from the night before. As one of the lovely staff members of the Grand Hotel informed us that some of the attendees for today had begun queuing after their dinner the previous night. Lucky to be blessed with a sunny day with clear blue skies, our wait was short lived in the sunshine as things kicked off on time. Spirits were high amongst the gathered masses and banter was top notch. I can say this happily, as it was Tara's singing and not mine that got a bit of a slagging. All in good fun though. One dude even went that little bit further to provide entertainment for those enjoying the spectacular views of the Grand Hotel's carpark...Tara was particularly impressed by a well trimmed bush(careful now...actual shrubbery) on the periphery of the grounds. He brought along his wooden flute(mind out of the gutter peoples, I am talking about the actual musical instrument...tut tut). Maybe it was the time of the morning, maybe it was self consciousness after some of the comments passed after Tara's outburst of singing, but not a single person was moved enough to dance. But I'd still like to thank you for the music...whoever you are!

Our teamwork and coordination as extras was tested early on when the car park started to empty and the many different queues were scattered with the movement of exiting cars...when you've been queuing for a couple of hours, things get tetchy when opportunistic folks try to use the confusion to their advantage and try to merge into a queue that would cut a few hours off their wait. Being laidback and, pretty much just happy to be there, we let some of the other people deal with sorting out of the queues.

Once inside, it all went pretty quickly. It was so well organised that no time was being wasted from the second you got into the holding room. Filled out the form(cheeky plug for the blog included but forgot to mention my epic bitchy resting face) and got my mug shot taken(Props to the Extras Coordinator for the sarcastic praise for our queuing ability...he's already a legend in our opinion).

So for now it is a waiting game. Hopefully I have enough skills to impress the powers-that-be to be granted the opportunity to be a fuzzy, out of focus, blur in the background of a scene or two.

#LikeAViking

Title Qoute: Season 1 Episode 5 Raid

Ragnar to Earl Haraldson