I've gotten (hm... what euphemism to use...) slightly distraught about the general ignorance when it comes to Czech republic, not to mention my hometown. Actually, I asked one of my colleagues what's the capital of CZ, and got answered - Sarajevo. I almost sent her flying. I mean, really.

So yes. This journal is written to promote at least a little bit my hometown Liberec, the former Manchaster of Bohemia (Bohemia = the biggest part of Czech republic), situated about 120km north of Prague, half an hour train-ride from both Poland and Germany.

The first intel on Liberec comes from the fourteenth century and up until the fall of commies it was one of the biggest producers of textiles and glassware (Up until fall, because communists nationalized the whole industry and that didn't survive the change of regime). It's ZOO was opened in 1919 and participates on a couple of breeding programs, having several endangered species. The Ještěd tower is a famous landmark, which won an international award for architecture, which was no mean feat, seeing that at that time everything around was red, red, red.

So much for the facts. Which you can read from the amazing Wiki as well.

Like any other post-industrialist city, there is much to see, especially for a derelict-building obsessed person such as me. But now, thanks to EU funds and all, everything is being rebuilt. And strangely enough, I think it has more greenery than all of the other industrialist cities in the world. It's surrounded with woods and there are many parks and patches of trees scattered all over. My most favourite place is the Masaryk Avenue, leading from the town centre to the Zoo. Aside from housing the North Bohemian Museum (1873), it's lined with beautiful villas from between the world wars as well as huge lime trees, the symbol trees of Czech republic. In autumn, all of them turn golden and there is nothing quite as pleasant as strolling through the heaps of fallen leaves with a childish glee, listening to them rustle while eating ice cream or drinking coffee.

To illustrate, some of the great photos of my hometown...

...oh, and to all my friends, I would be delighted to read of your hometown, so send me a comment or a note. Let's see that Czech republic is not just all about Prague, Britain all about London and USA all about NY.