Great walks: Game of Thrones

No journey through the Seven Kingdoms should begin on an empty stomach. At Chinatown’s Dragon Land Bakery (125 Walker St between Baxter and Centre Sts, 212-219-2012), a uniformed server will fill your tray from the selection of baked goods. Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, may have eaten a raw stallion’s heart, but you can select more palatable options—such as egg-custard tarts, sesame balls and pork buns—for $1.10 each.

Targaryen or not, purchase your own dragon-themed chopsticks at Yunhong Chopsticks Shop (50 Mott St between Bayard and Pell Sts; 212-566-8828, happychopsticks.com). Chinese-zodiac gift sets start at an affordable $22, but if your pockets are as deep as a Lannister’s (the wealthiest of the Great Houses of Westeros), consider splurging on a gold-plated red mahogany pair ($42) or a solid silver duo engraved with a dragon and phoenix ($216).

Like the bastard Jon Snow, who joins the Night’s Watch, you are now bound for the Wall (Street, in this case). On the way, pause at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge (Centre St between Chambers and Spruce Sts) and be grateful you don’t have to ally yourself with Walder Frey, Lord of the Crossing, to traverse it. At your back is City Hall Park (Vesey St to Chambers St between Broadway and Park Row, nycgovparks.org). There are chessboard tables near the Warren Street entrance—BYO queens, kings, knights and castles to play your own game of thrones. Also check out the Public Art Fund’s “Common Ground,” an exhibition of outdoor sculpture and performance (publicartfund.org, through Nov 30).

A Lannister always pays his debts; if only everyone else did too. “Tracking the Credit Crisis” at the Museum of American Finance (48 Wall St at William St; 212-908-4110, moaf.org) sheds some light on how we got into our current economic predicament. But it’s not all doom and gloom: The institution also has a jewel-encrusted, 18-karat-gold Monopoly set that would impress even the merchants of Qarth.

Your travels end with a well-earned pint of ale ($6–$8) at the historic Porterhouse at Fraunces Tavern (58 Pearl St at Broad St; 212-968-1776, frauncestavern.com). Like the Crossroads Inn on the Kingsroad (where House Stark matriarch, Lady Catelyn, seizes the imp Tyrion Lannister), this storied establishment dates back hundreds of years. George Washington said goodbye to his Continental officers here in 1783, and the pub will be celebrating its 250th anniversary in September.

Housing the Met’s medieval art and architecture collections, the Cloisters (Fort Tryon Park, 99 Margaret Corbin Dr; 212-923-3700, metmuseum.org) are as close to Westeros as you’re likely to get in NYC. Peer at the famed Unicorn Tapestries, then amble through the enclosed gardens to enjoy the summer blooms while you still can. It’s a few months away but, as the Starks say, winter is coming.