Our next major stop was the town of Gospic, which is the main administrative centre of the province of Lika. We were there as a base from which to explore the nearby towns of Perusic and Konjsko Brdo (where my grandfather was born in 1903).

Gospic, on the surface, was a bustling, vibrant town. It was hard to escape the fact that it had, a little more than a decade ago, been on the front lines of the war, though: around every corner was a building missing a front, or without a roof. Visiting the town’s museum, which itself suffered war damage, the curator said that although the physical damage of the war is being quickly erased, the psychological damage will take generations.

We were pleasantly surprised to find the brand new Hotel Ana, 5 minutes from the downtown. It was a modern, clean, well-equipped hotel with a very pleasant staff.

Over the course of the 24 hours in the area, I took a lot of photos of the city and its buildings.