This is my friend Nina, and her little sister. You may remember Nina from this post. You might also remember that she is from Slovenia. Well, we tried to arrange a time to meet up on our way through Slovenia, but it wasn’t looking good. Then, around 10pm, on the Slovenian and Croatian border, this girl came into our cabin on the train asking if I was Leah Wright. Turns out Nina’s little sister just happened to be on the same train as us and called Nina for a ride home. Nina told her to walk through the train and look for us, just in case it happened to be the same train, at the same time, at the same location. Well it was! I jumped out at the next stop and we gave eachother a huge hug. Both her and her sister were so sweet and we were both so flabbergasted that we managed to meet up! Not only was I very excited, but very sweaty as you can see from the sick picture, but it’s the only one I have.

I am still so shocked that it all worked out as it did and I finally got to meet Nina.

We were thrilled to finally make it to Split. We got their early in the morning and while booking a room in a house, met a couple from Sweden. We ended up spending the next 2.5 day with them, and you would have though we’d been friends for ages. We absolutely loved their company and hope we will remain friends with them for a very long time. Unfortunately, the only picture we got someone to take of all of us was blurry. Boo.

We were only there briefly, but did got to the market and to Diocletian’s Palace which truly blew my mind. I had no idea such a thing would be in Croatia!

“Diocletian’s Palace is a building in Split in Croatia that was built by the emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD. Diocletian built the massive palace for his retirement after abdicating on May 1, 305 AD. It lies in a bay on the south side of a short peninsula running out from the Dalmatian coast. This palace is today, with all the most important historical buildings, in the centre of the city of Split. Diocletian’s Palace far transcends local importance because of its degree of preservation. The Palace is one of the most famous and complete architectural and cultural features on the Croatian Adriatic coast, and holds an outstanding place in Mediterranean, European and world heritage.”

Yep, this is how they weigh produce at the markets. Wow.

Hvar was an hour ferry ride from Split. It was GORGEOUS! Probably my most favorite location we went to. We stayed on the lower level of a house with our Swedish friends and got eaten alive by mosquitoes at night since we had to leave the windows open because there was no air conditioning. We were just a short walk from the beach front and spent a lot of time swimming in the water, gawking at massive boats and their ritzy occupants, eating tons of ice cream, hiking, and soaking in that delicious Mediterranean sun.

The beautiful old square where everyone hangs out, and we made-out.

We rented a boat for all of $60 with our Swedish friends for the day and went around to these islands off the island of Hvar where we were staying. We found sandy beaches, ate a delicious picnic, and saw a lot of nudity.

Geoff manning the boat.

Don’t ask.

This place did not dissapoint (well, except for the fact that they wouldn’t let anyone climb and jump off the falls unless they were locals). The falls were breathtaking, and the water was incredibly refreshing.

“Krka National Park shows the Croatian karst at its best. Karst environments are formed by the dissolving action of carbon dioxide and water on carbonate rock, which in Krka’s case is limestone. Over thousands of years this process has resulted in the formation of a series of distinctive geomorphological features, with the Krka river fighting its way through a long gorge and plunging over rapids.”

We decided to save on a taxi and walk to the park from our bus stop. It was much longer that we anticipated and real, real hot. Here’s the cute Swedes.

Some unintentionally sultry pictures of Geoff. Avert your eyes if you can’t control yourself.

Can you get over their little girl’s outfit? Her mom planned it specifically around this turquoise building. We had to get quite creative to get this little girl to give us a smile, but boy was it worth it! And their baby boy was just so sweet. Thank you for coming to see me again Parker family!

The laundry won out as well as work and editing of photoshoots that I did before I left. So…Europe pictures will be coming, just not quite yet.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this little darling. She’s cruising all over the place now.

…a day later than planned. I still can’t really talk about the awfulness of our return home, so give me a day or two.

BUT, the rest of the trip was A-MAZING. Austria-breathtaking. Croatia-beyond words.

I have loads of pictures as you might imagine, and loads of laundry to do. We’ll see which wins out.

Can I tell you how much we are going to miss Megan when she moves to Texas? She’s awesome! Lucy did not want to sit still for very long for this trim, but she did stay put long enough to even the back and put in a couple layers.

I was so excited when the Halversons asked me if I’d take their pictures. Lisa and the rest of her down right hilarious family, are a long-time family friends whom I love to pieces. They adopted their adorable son at birth. You know how I feel about adoptions, so needless to say I was so happy to take their pictures for many reasons.

I also learned that I am apparently very allergic to this orchard. I broke out in a nasty rash from laying down on the weeds. Now if that isn’t devotion to getting a good shot, I don’t know what is.