For a small city called Donji Mihojac, it came as a big surprise this week after Croatia came home with Silver. Famous Croatian football player Domagoj Vida announces that he will be throwing a celebration in his hometown where he started playing Football in 1996. The perfect location for this event was Donji Mihojac castle. It circulated quickly on social media like wildfire as many fans came out on to take part in this celebration on July 17th. This was a true honor for the city of where things started and a chance to see a legend in the making. With over 10,000 people arriving to be part of World Cup History after Croatia took 2nd place. There is a saying “We might have won silver but for many Croatians, their hearts are filled with gold.” With a live band playing and the MC playing the crowd, it was a site to be seen. Every few minutes the Master of Ceremonies kept things alive getting the crowd to Chant “Vida, Vida “everyone thought any second he would be arriving. The weather held out with plenty of sunshine. It was great to see the Croatians singing the national songs and cheering the name Vida. With plenty of food and beverages, it was a true party. But never has there been such a large OX (Croatian “Vola”) being cooked over an open fire pit like this anyone can recall. The crowds were incredible.. It was best to arrive early to get a good spot to view the event as it unfolded in the perfect weather for this celebration. The feeling of being a spectator in such a large event is a once in a lifetime experience, it’s something for the history books. It is the chance to witness firsthand as you get to see more than what you could ever could imagine seeing on TV. The crowd was amazing to be part of as they sang from their hearts as the band played. Many fans we spoke to were overwhelmed waiting for this larger than life event. The crowd showed so much pride wearing their Croatian National team jerseys and shirts in hopes for a chance to get a legend to sign it. With a live band playing and the MC playing the crowd, it was a site to be seen. Every few minutes the Master of Ceremonies kept things alive getting the crowd to Chant “Vida, Vida “everyone thought any second he would be arriving. The weather held out with plenty of sunshine. It was great to see the Croatians singing the national songs and cheering the name Vida. With plenty of food and beverages, it was a true party. But never has there been such a large OX (Croatian “Vola”) being cooked over an open fire pit like this anyone can recall.
(One could feel a bit bad for those with young children, as parents were not quite ready for the flares or the pushing and shoving on the balcony and the front row barriers.) On the Eve before Sundays big game there was lots of exciting news in Osijek. The announcements were made of where fans could gather together to view the final match as Croatia goes against France. The Art installation had many stopping to take pictures. Plus the biggest city announcement that fans could get a round-trip train rider from Osijek to Zagreb to be at the famous central Zagreb Square (Zagrebačkom Trgu) which sold out as quickly as it was announced. Tomorrow the city of Osijek will be full of Red and white with plenty of cheering in the support Croatia’s National Team. The city of Osijek will be full of life as fans watch the intense game at the Ante Starčević Square. In addition to public viewing in Tvrđa in the city of Osijek. This will be the biggest game in Croatia’s History. It will be a moment that all generations come together and agree about one thing watching Croatia go against France for the World Cup Soccer finals in Russia. The city of Osijek has done some great things after the game with Fireworks and a live musical performance by the Lyra Band Osijek. The art installation had many people stopping to take picture on Saturday it’s not something you would expect to see. The little red car known as the “Red Fićo”(Crveni fićo) that stood up against the Tank, had a make-over. It was changed to represent the colours of the Croatian National Football Team jersey to symbolically display Croatian victory in the World Cup Football Finals. Through-out the city there were some other interesting things done, like the Croatian Tie around one the most famous statues. For many fans Osijek had gave an incredible announcement the City of Osijek arranged a train with 8 passenger cars to travel from Osijek to Zagreb. It was a fantastic idea within minutes of the announcement the tickets were sold out. This created a large crowd of fans to arrive at Osijek Railway Station (osječkom željezničkom kolodvoru) for this once in lifetime opportunity to witness History in the making. One can only imagine what the central Zagreb square (zagrebačkom trgu) will look like tomorrow. It does not end there the city administration made arrangements for Free parking on Monday. Electro module controllers will not be working, and the working hours of the cashier will be shortened from 7 to 13 hours. Monday is starting to look possibly like a National Holiday and with plenty of great news as Croatia makes Headlines internationally. This may just start to heat-up the tourism season even more as people will be learning about Croatia. Here below is a brief Gallery of just some of the stuff happening with Croatian Fans after the game On Saturday July 7th the Antique Market was full of people coming in to check it out. The weather held out for most of the day with a few possibilities of light rain showers. The amount of vendors and great things to see was huge this weekend. This could be said to be one of their best shows this year. One thing for sure you could see that many people are wearing the Croatian National Football teams colours this weekend from the shoes to the hat in support of todays big game.
The event took place early on Friday at 1 pm on the ship called Bijela Ladja ship in the harbour of Zumska Lukafirst. Bijela Ladja ship in the harbour of Zumska Lukafirst. The Croatian National Tourist board put together the special promotional project "Visit Slavonia, Share Slavonia" With world-famous bloggers and influencers being able to experience it firsthand on a daily basis broadcasting and letting their followers learn about Osijek through them. One can only imagine the number of followers reach across the globe with likes and shares. It will be interesting to see how they photograph Osijek in the coming days. The tourist board this weekend invited guest bloggers, vloggers in witnessing Osijek's rich culture, and vibrant city. Here they will be experiencing the taste and flavours of Osijek-Baranja finest gastronomy and its well-known regional wines that bring people back year after year. For the next few days as the group is touring Osijek there follow will have an amazing time seeing some of the sights and sounds of Osijek-Baranja with tons of events planned for them to see in a short time. “Never a boring moment in Osijek” as the saying goes. Osijek-Baranja County Tourist board, Ivana Juric welcomed Osijek guest and everyone with a brief introduction to the city and region. She described the speciality platters on the table to those that have never savoured the tasty delicacies from Osijek-Baranja. After an incredible introduction the Bloggers and Vloggers where quick to note and snap the artistic arrangement of Kulen, Prosciutto and various deli meats to make anybody hungry just looking at it. The cheese arrangement of various types had people jumping to try with some locally made bread to go with it. The conversation was interesting to listen to as they were interested in discovering more about Osijek’s history of fine food. Bloggers and Vloggers arrived from many parts of the world as I had a chance to talk with some of them. The guest and I had a brief chance to talk about the lifestyle of Osijek as people as they will be visiting and writing about their blogs of discovery over the next few days. Everything that was new to them as you can see in the photos they wanted to capture its authenticity and post for their followers and viewers will see for the first time. It is very incredible to see how these guest share and influence so many in a positive way. The shift in Social media has played an active role in the way Osijek as more each year want to learn more about this region with its untapped rich history. It was a chance for guest to mingle with the saxophone playing to the slow jazz beats. With a little bit of mingling it was coo; to catch up with such a rare experience to talk with so many worlds re-known Blogger in one place. While talking to a blogger from Poland named Wojciech Tyluś in a brief conversation, he could not get over how amiable and friendly Osijek as a city is. Most of the bloggers enjoyed the view of the River Drava as they texted live to the social networks or cropped some photos. The TV news crews were interviewing Osijek guest as skies cleared on Bijela Ladja ship in the harbour of Zumska Lukafirst. It was the perfect chance to get a firsthand view of how they saw Osijek. Social media is creating waves of new interest in Osijek from its active sports to leisure with many taken in the tranquil serenity of Osijek's many parks and its famous Promenade along the river Drava. You will probably be seeing a lot of Yuya Matsuo on the Television for the next few days. Yuya Matsuo was great to talk with as I learned he has spent a great quality of time being at various places in Europe. He had many cool gadgets on hand with his camera today. Here is some of the Bloggers and vloggers you may have known already or hearing about for the first time. Each has a style of their own as they captivate many viewers each day.
Bloggers participate in the project:" Visit Slavonia,Share Slavonia " Ellie Dyduch Originally from Poland now based in London England. Her style of Photography is about the urban streets and cobblestone alleys. The way she catches the image in her photograph will be fitting to the old world charm of Osijek ( elliedyduch.com ) Instagram (@dy_ellie) Ida Josefin Eriksson from Sweden ( adarasblogazine.com ) Her style of online presence is a very clear straightforward website. https://www.facebook.com/adarasblogazine/ going to her page and seeing her photography work is a journey to unique places in the world Wojciech Tyluś from Poland ( crolove.pl ) The website is cool as you first opening it with tropical feel of Croatia's Adriatic coast. https://www.facebook.com/KochamChorwacje/ Ewa Chojnowska from Poland ( szpilkiwplecaku.pl ) Her site is incredible with past journeys to places most have never dreamed of visiting. https://www.facebook.com/szpilkiwplecaku/www.facebook.com/szpilkiwplecaku/ Jessica Henze from Germany (Instagram profile Mavieestbelle_jessi) Pim Nicolaas Cornelis Bouman from Belgium / Netherlands ( www.blvd.nl and www.misterdaily.nl ) Yuya Matsuo from Japan ( yuyamatsuo.com ) One word it has the WOW factor when you visit his page with amazing High-resolution photos that the world gets to see through social media. After the little get together it was time to put the thoughts together with so much info happening it would take more than just this short 1000 and a bit write up. Checking the internet it was cool to see how local newspapers did on their press release of this adventure that the National Tourist Board of Croatia has put together for the project called "Visit Slavonia, Share Slavonia." Most have taken to writing similar statements about the stats and the places the Bloggers and vloggers have come from for this visit. It will be more exciting to see how they will treasure and write about Osijek-Baranja experience with many blogs and snapshots of the landmarks of Osijek and its Gastronomy and wines and local craft beer. Their sites will influence on how the world will now see Osijek over the next few days, on various Social networks. The influences they will shape millions of people’s opinions in this digital age of swipe and click through smartphones. Here is some of today's Picture of hanging with some of the most recognizable faces in Social media. While on Board meet some of the people from In-Da-Sofa and got a great chance to find out some cool stuff happening for the next event. The event will be happening soon and hope to keep you posted. It was a very unique experience to catch up a new young team that is part of Discovery Slavonia (AIESEC). Their mission is much the same with helping and learning about communities. There are more cool factors as I listened to them but this will take another article to write about. And with any luck will meet up with them again. “Many thanks to the Osijek tourist board, The National Tourist Board and the many agencies that have made this a fantastic opportunity for making this a reality. “ " Visit Slavonia, Share Slavonia_ Worlds bloggers and Influencers in Osije-Baranja (Croatia)" Here is the place to be to enjoy the sights and sounds of Osijek well known Antique market with so many things to explore. There is wide variety of events that happen in Tvrđa, but those people that love to shop this is the place not to miss. It is here on the first Saturday of every month the treasures of the Antique Market reveals itself to explore and discover. From young to old the market brings people together as they browsing through the market and catching up with friends and family. To mention everything that goes on in Tvrđa would be quite the challenge there is so much that happens in just one day. The location of Holy Trinity Square in the center of Tvrđa is the perfect backdrop for the Antique market in ways. The unique irony share between the Antique market and Tvrđa is that this was the traditional place of Commerce and trading. There is that magical sense of wonder and curiosity that kicks in for many reasons. Walking through the cobblestone streets surrounded by old European Architecture dating back further than the Ottoman Empires invasion. But this weekend Fans will be taken part in the main square of Tvrđa This weekend will be full of Photographers in Tvrđa capturing the spirit of the Antique Market and life’s plus the many people who want to Visit Osijek and Cheer on Croatia team with the big events happening around the square. Photographers love the area as due to the plenty of action that starts to unfold with the vendors setting up and visitors start arriving.. Wandering through the maze of different vendor stalls there is much to see as no two both are the same. There is much to offer at the market from finding old treasured items and collectibles. There is an endless list of vendors from: Bakers, Charcuterie, cheese Artisans, Artist, Sommelier and Wineries, Trade smiths, Antique Dealers, and more.. The smell of great food is fresh in the air as the vendors bring some of their many delicacies of amazing food. Brought in locally form Osijek and the surrounding area of Slavonia and Baranja for this event. You might of missed a chance last time in finding that one item to make your collection complete. Here are just some of the finds at the Market.
The Antique market is always changing with something new to see. The Osijek Tourist Board pairs it with many other events so that there is always something exciting happening. It also has drawing the attention from many other countries that have returned each month as a destination point. Let’s also cheer for the big Soccer game happening on the Giant screen in Tvrđa. |
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