MONTSERRAT’s black Madonna, also known as La Moreneta, was founL4 SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019 LATIMES.COM/TRAVEL
BARCELONA, Spain — I wish I
could say I had not brought my
family to Girona, Spain, for a
“Game of Thrones” tour.
On a summer Sunday morning,
before morning Mass is over and
many of the shops open, the an-
cient Spanish city is filled with a si-
lence broken only by birdsong and
the sound of bells.
The Onyar river, which sepa-
rates the Old Town from the new,
runs so clear you can count the fins
on the fish as they swim. (At night,
the fish jump, competing with
swooping bats for the river’s insect
life.)
The western bank is edged with
houses, red and russet, yellow and
gold. Beyond lies the Old Town,
with its plazas and arches, towers
and churches, cobblestone streets,
shadowy stairways and wild green
gardens trying to prove real every
romantic vision you ever had about
historic Spain or Europe for that
matter.
Some of that history is less than
romantic, but it’s all here. Parts of
the Roman wall that remain from
the first century. The medieval wall
that was built on top of it and on
which you can circle much of the
Old Town. The 11th century
cathedral, which has the widest
Gothic nave in the world. The near-
pristine 12th century Jewish quar-
ter, from which a thriving commu-
nity was driven in 1492. The Arab
baths, a symbol of the town’s early
Muslim inhabitants. The marks
left on buildings by cannons from
Napoleon’s army. The bridge built
by Gustave Eiffel in 1876.
I wish I could say that all or any
of this had drawn us to Girona but,
Dear Reader, we came for “Game of
Thrones,” which had its finale in
May.
If the tour had not been so darn
good, I might feel ashamed. But it
was, so I don’t.
We were in Barcelona for two
weeks to see our son Danny, who
was doing a summer semester/in-
ternship here. We fell in love with
the city, for itself and as the ideal
hub for day trips by train, car or
professional tour.They’re all ‘Game’
For our first weekend, I chose
Girona over neighboring Figueres,
with its Salvador Dalí museum, be-
cause it is where many scenes in “
GOT’s” Season 6 were filmed. Westayed overnight at the Hotel
Peninsular, which was steps from
the Onyar and has a terrific break-
fast buffet.
Thanks to our guide, Carolina
Oya of Girona Experience (girona
experience.com), we learned much
about this historic jewel at the con-
fluence of four rivers. We also saw,
with our eyes and the aid of an
iPad, where Jaime Lannister rode
up the steps of the Sept; where
Arya fought the Waif and fell into
the computer-generated water;
and where Sam and Gilly stood be-
fore entering the library of the Cita-
del.
And we got the dish on what it
was like for residents of a small
Spanish town to become part of a
worldwide television phenome-
non. Amazing, said Oya, a Girona
native. Old Town was shut down
for weeks, and many citizens of
Girona became extras. The result-
ing tourist boom made up for busi-
ness lost during the shoot. Oya was
able to quit her “boring” govern-
ment job and become a tour guide
just this year.
Which doesn’t mean Girona has
gone full-throttle Westeros. There
are a few “Winter Is Coming” T-
shirts in the shops, but Girona still
celebrates its own numerous at-
tractions, which include a strange
legend involving flies, a statue that
one must touch to ensure a return,
the town’s medieval walls with
their glorious views and, perhaps
most important, El Call, or the
Jewish Quarter.
Like many European cities,
Girona is dominated by cathedrals
and churches, but during the Mid-
dle Ages, its Jewish community
was the second largest in Catalonia
(after Barcelona).
Our tour took us through El
Call, where beautiful homes were
built around courtyards that usu-
ally contained a well. With their
own water supply, families could
close themselves off from any
threat.
Ironically, anti-Semitism is the
reason El Call is so well preserved.
When the last Jewish families were
expelled from Girona in 1492, they
blocked off the streets in the hopeGIRONA’Scathedral looms over colorful houses lining the Onyar in the evening. The town in northeastern Spain provided many of the locations for “Game of Thrones,” as wel
Go for ‘Thrones’ but sta
It was the desire to see ‘Game of Thrones’ locations that brought them to northe
Sources: Nextzen, OpenStreetMap
Los Angeles TimesMediterranean
SeaBay of BiscayBalearic SeaSPAINSPAIN25 MILES200 MILESMadridBarcelonaGironaFigueresTossa
de MarCadaquésMonistrol de
MontserratANDORRA FRANCEFRANCEPORT.ALGERIABy Mary McNamaraTHE GOLD HAND of Jaime
Lannister becomes a popsicle.Mary McNamaraLos Angeles Times