IMAGES: GETTY; ALAMY


Croatia


PLITVICE LAKES NATIONAL PARK Te appeal of Croatia’s heartlands is


not just about the coastline. Inland from Zadar, a 90-minute drive up the new highway towards capital city Zagreb, is the Plitvice Lakes National Park, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Te design of Plitvice’s main entrance still smacks of the Communist era, but once visitors have penetrated inside — mostly on wooden walkways — they'll begin to fall under the spell of the place. Te park is extensive and wild,


with bears and wolves roaming the surrounding hills, but for most visitors the focus is on Plitvice’s pools of karstic water. Here water and vegetation co- exist in strangely compelling hanging gardens. Waterfalls burst over hillsides in a tumbrel of eddies and cascades. And as for the pools below, they're gin-clear and filled with multicolored fish.


ZAGREB Back on the new highway a couple


of hours north of Plitvice, the Croatian capital Zagreb is regularly overlooked by holidaymakers in their rush for the sea. Yet this is a genteel place, dominated by cultural institutions, with more than hint of Vienna about it. Mostly built by the Habsburgs, it comes in two main parts: Gornji Grad, the old town home to the Croatian parliament, sits atop a hill and has a sleepy village vibe, except when motorcades of politicians sweep in. Donji Grad, the lower town, is the commercial center where the theaters and museums (including the Museum of Broken Relationships) are located. Te market is great for regional produce, and the restaurant-lined Tkalciceva Street is a top people-watching spot in the evenings. ▶


Plitvice Lakes National Park. Right: Exhibits at the Museum of Broken Relationships


ASTAnetwork | Summer 2017 | 101


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