First Sinj Air Show took place at Sunday July 26, 2015 at the Sinj airport and according to the video below, it was a huge success as those 2.000 people enjoyed a 2,5 hour long program of skydivers, gliders and acrobatic maneuvers.

It must have been an amazing experience for kids, but I am sure even adults enjoyed being around all those planes, getting to sit inside, asking questions and watching them fly.

If you missed it, here is a video of the air show highlights. A great family day out for many.

(photos: Sinj Tourist Board)

I am sure, many dream about trying it out someday. Jumping out of a plane to experience a free fall before opening a parachute to securely land on earth again afterwards. Yes, skydiving is a dream of many.

For some it will remain just a dream and for others, an opportunity may come to really try it out. This is one of those. From today up to August 2, 2015 you can arrange a tandem skydive from 3000 m above the Sinj Airport costing 1.500 Kn per jump (video recording included).

For more information, contact Tandem Extreme or Cetina Adventure. Good luck and let us know how it was!!

(photos: Tandem Extreme)

It is called an Evening of Antiquity.

But don´t be fooled by the name, as it is a football game. Maybe not the one you are used to, but there will be a ball and several men chasing it. By definition, this is a football match and apparently it was a football match back in Roman times, when the Delmates taught the Romans to play football. More info about where football actually comes from here.

The Evening of Antiquity will take place tonight July 26, 2015 in Sinj at the Square of Dr. Franje Tuđmana starting at 21:00. More about what can you expect from the Sinj tourist board:

"The idea of a match review between the Delmates and the Romans is based on the historical facts related to the tombstone of Gaius Laberius.

In order to promote the theory about the origins of football in this area, the freelance artist Dean Poljak made a replica of the tombstone and created a game adapted to the time the original stele dates from.

The match is in fact a theatrical performance of comic character, played by the invented rules which are inspired by the spirit of ancient times. The leading roles belong to Emperor Diocletian and Empress Prisca with their advisers, surrounded by guards and soldiers and in this way separated from the field, where there are bandsmen, a referee and players, ten of them in both teams, that of the Delmates and of the Romans, all of them dressed in authentic costumes."

The final program for these very busy days in Sinj has been released and we thank the Sinj tourist board for the nice brochure. Find all events, activities and happenings for the unique time of Sinj Alka as it celebrates its 300th anniversary this year.

We bring you a short note from Kristina Križanec, the Deputy Mayor of Sinj from the brochure. Everything else you need to know, you can find inside the brochure.

Even after almost a year now, watching the seaplane land and take off is still not a boring activity for me and my 4 year old. There were so many days during this winter, when our afternoon walk included the visit of the Jelsa airport. Waiting for the plane, watching the sky, turning our heads in all possible directions, wondering where it will appear this time. And we stayed all the way to watch it take off, even in strong wind, not taking our eyes off until it disappeared around the corner. 

Of, course not everyone is so lucky to live in a town with a seaplane service, but not to worry, there might be even something better for you close by. Aeroklub Sinj (main picture if from their FB page)is organizing The Sinj Air Show 2015 to take place on July 26, 2015 (next Sunday) starting at 10:00.

Program as announced by the Sinj Tourist Board as follows:

- Parachute jumps

- Model program

- Formation flying

- Flight demonstration of a motor glider

- Flight demonstration of a recreational sports aircraft

- Flight demonstration of an old-timer

- Glider towing

- Glider pairs flights

- Glider acrobatic flights

- Acrobatic plane flights

- Military aviation demonstration with the akrogroup "Krila Oluje"

The whole program will start at 10:00 and is planned to end at 14:00 with an entertainment program and F&B offer available.

Take your kids, or somebody else's kids or just bring your inner child to watch the show in Sinj.

A large delegation from Zagreb visiting the almost finished Sinj Alka Museum today. Prime Minister Zoran Milanović walked through the museum to check the progress accompanied by Branko Grčić (Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds), Darko Lorencin (Minister of Tourism) and Ante Kotromanović (Defence Minister), Ivo Baldasar (Split Mayor) and several Croatian businessmen and generals (Ante Gotovina, Emil Tedeschi, Ante Todorić).

(photo: AB PHOTO)

They were welcomed by the president of the Alka Knights Society dr. Stipe Jukić, who confirmed the opening day of the museum to be on August 8, 2015 - on the day of the Čoja. Prime Minister will attend this year’s Alka and is actually planning to come to Sinj even sooner, probably for the museum opening.

More information at www.ferata.com.

An historic event tonight as the Alka Parade entered the Split waterfront to present their 300 years old tradition to both Split people and tourists. A great moment for many, touching hearts, bringing up feelings of joy and pride for those from Sinj to be a part of this amazing tradition.

But Alka is not just a local event. It is THE EVENT for the whole Croatia this year and now, during the last few weeks of Alka being 299 year old, there will be more and more attention, promotion and events around Alka for everyone to enjoy.

There were 120 Alka men and boys, members of the Alka Knights Society with 25 horses walking and riding through Split today. Sinj tourist board was on spot with more information on Alka and Sinj, encouraging tourist to take advantage of the new free Sinj town walking tour every Thursday at 18:00.

If you missed today´s parade, here is a video from the Sinj tourist board Facebook page.

The 4th Cycling race "Up to the Source of Cetina River" took place on Sunday June 21, 2015 and 300 cyclist from the Cetina area, but also from Split, Šibenik, Solin, Omiš, Trogir, Dubrovnik, Livno and Mostar cycled the route from Sinj town all the way to the Source of Cetina River and back to Sinj. No competition, just getting together to cycle along the beautiful Peruča Lake and through lavender fields and magic roads of the Cetina river area.

This area (as many others in Inland Dalmatia) is just absolutely perfect for cycling and other outdoor activities and I am amazed by the amount of work and enthusiasm of the organisers (Cycling Club Vlaji-Sinj) and participants, who started this tradition four years ago and are passionate about cycling in Sinj region and beyond. They live what they love. You don´t get much better promotion of cycling in Inland Dalmatia than this. Sinj tourist board is aware of that and is supporting and promoting the race by any means they can. These stunning pictures were made by Ivan Alebić for all of us to enjoy.

This is how a normal road in Inland Dalmatia looks like - cyclist on one side, horse-back riders on the other..

And there is always time to make a picture at the Peruča Lake, or a selfie for that matter..

..and to have a friendly conversation while driving..

..and for some sightseeing.

Finally there - hope everyone got to be in the picture, the Cetina Source looks too little for this years participants. Looks like there was enough food for everybody, though.

Some evening fun with live music and band Stella waiting for those cyclist to get back.

The picture below was taken from the Dinarides Trails website - which offers a variety of cycling trails in Dalmatia for everyone to explore.

Great event, wish you many more to come!!

With football fever about to grip every part of the globe, it is worth pausing for a minute to remember where the world's greatest game began. And would you be surprised to hear that it was in inland Dalmatia?

This was one of the more unusual claims I heard on my first visits to this wonderful region. Of course it could not be true, I said to myself, this was just an attempt to get tourists into the region. But then I delved a little deeper, and so began a tale of discovery of the origins of The Beautiful Game. Accept the story or not, it is one more example of the rich heritage of this amazing region, and the claims were taken seriously enough by world football body FIFA, that they published the story on the front page of their newsletter back in 1969. See the article below. 

As one would expect, the ever-efficient Sinj Tourist Board has provided much more detail on the Dalmatia football connection:

"A tombstone of a seven-year-old Roman boy Gaius Laberius holding a ball with hexagons joined in the manner of a net-like ornament. The symbol of a real leather ball, it is considered firm evidence that football in Europe was first played in the Cetinska Krajina Region. It was found in the Tilurium site, in the locality of Gardun, and dates back to the 2nd century.

Today the tombstone is built into the front wall of the Perković family-owned stone building in Vrlička Ulica at number 10 in Sinj. Made of limestone, the monument is 113 centimetres high and 46 centimetres wide. At the bottom there is a two-part inscription, the first part of the inscription being in a well-defined frame and informing about Gaius Laberius, whereas the second part is an inscription by an unkonown author dedicated to the boy.

The central part is a round medallion framed with ornaments, bearing a portrait of the boy who holds the ball in his right hand. At the top of the monument there is a frieze showing a kantharos (a large two-handle vase), a dolphin and the head of Medusa (in ancient mythology, the personification of evil) and a triangular gable with acroteria (plastic ornaments of tops and corners) in the shape of lion’s paws. The head of Atis is sculptured in the triangular gable.

Even though football was played at Gardun among Roman soldiers and sons of the rich, originally the game was Illyrian and the Delmates had played it long before the Roman troops arrived. This is further proven by the fact that in no locality other than Gardun throughout the historical Roman Empire, a football-related pattern or image has been found.

In 1969, the international football association (FIFA) dedicated a cover of its official journal FIFA NEWS (issue 71), headlined Archaeology and football, to the archaeological discovery of the amateur archaeologist Josip Bepo Britvić. According to the FIFA, this discovery is a piece of information significant for both archaeology and football fans. (Delmates VS Romans match)." 

This of course brings additional spice to the opening match on June 12. Who will win the game - World Cup hosts and one of the favourites, Brazil, or Croatia, who seemingly invented The Beautiful Game?

Want to experience the Roman atmosphere of times gone by where football was played 2,000 years ago. The Roman remains at Gardun, just outside Trilj are in excellent condition. Learn more here. 

It was, by all accounts, a rather fun evening, as Expats in Split held their first gathering outside the walls of a pub in central Split last night, by taking advantage of the excellent free walking tour offered by the ever-efficient Sinj Tourist Board.

Tourist Board director Jelena Bilic was on hand to greet the sizable group of expats, who arrived by bus from Split, before accompanying them on the tour with various expert guides.

And now that we have managed to break the habit of meeting in the pub every time (something I rather like by the way), how about planning another trip to explore the wonders of the region - a tour to the top of Mount Biokovo perhaps?  

To learn more about the free Sinj walking tour each Thursday at 18:00, click here.