I am happy to add this wonderful account from some friends who were leading a tour group through the “beer country” of Germany and Prague in the Czech Republic. Consider Penny a guest columnist!
Penny and John and the tour they were leading arrived in Prague on a Thursday morning...
No room at the inn until 2pm. The weather was, and continues to be, beautiful--temps in the 70s. We stumbled around, sleepless in Prague, and had lunch and some beer. We ended up at a cafe on Old Town Square with ringside seats for the famed astrological clock show, but were so sleepy we didn't even know what was going on until it was all over. Now that I've seen it, it's kind of much ado about nothing. The whole thing lasts 40 seconds and consists of a parade of the twelve apostles (carved in wood) past two little windows. The amazing thing is the clock face--keeps time and keeps track of the astrological signs and the phase of the moon through each sign. I would like to see the whole work from behind the clock face. It was built in the 1400s by a clock maker or a jeweler. Pretty amazing!
Friday morning, John and I walked across the Charles Bridge and up the LONG hill to the Prague Castle and around the grounds of the Vitus Cathedral and castle. Then we walked up the hill some more and had lunch at the Strahov Monastery and, of course, beer--brewed at the Klasterni Pivovar Strahov, which is the brewery at the monastery. Those wacky monks!
If you're interested in beer, read on. Otherwise, skip to the next paragraph. There were three beers--all definitely worth the climb! The dark beer was very nice, much lighter than most American dark beers--not thick or heavy, but full of a roasted coffee flavor. The amber was light in color and full of body, with a crisp nose--as are most Czech beers--and some picked-up hops, more so than Pilsner Urquell. The weizen was a traditional Czech weizen--an abundance of cloves, as opposed to a banana-y taste, like traditional Bavarian weizen. The food was also good--plenty of non-pork options.
We walked through Petrin Park and took the funicular down the hill. We should have taken the funicular UP and and walked down!
Friday night we met our group and went on a walking tour of Prague, then to U Flecku ("At Mr. Fleck's place") for a brewery tour and dinner. The brewery has been in operation since the 1400s. During the communist era, the government took over the brewery, but considered it important enough that the brewery was kept in good operating condition--even had steel for their brewing tanks! There are people in our group from Oregon, South Carolina, Arizona, Ohio (Wooster), North Dakota, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Missouri. On the way home, we stopped at U Medvidku ("at the bear") and had some Budvar (the original Budweiser), reputed to have the best Budvar in the city.
Today the group is on a tour to Herod Brewery, in Breznice, about an hour outside of Prague. The brewery is run by Americans, but the brewer is Czech, so it's ok.
If you are thinking about traveling to Europe, but concerned about crime or the expense, Prague is truly someplace to consider. It is beautiful and has lots of beer and is REALLY old and has lots of beer and pretty safe and, oh yeah, it has lots of beer. A pint of Pilsner Urquell or Budvar or Staro Promen or Stella Artois costs the equivalent of $1.50. The people here are very friendly and you can get by without knowing how to speak Czech. In addition to all the international visitors, there are some soccer teams here for a tournament this weekend. They have been taking over an Irish bar, the St. George, and singing drinking songs, in a single, loud chorus.
