Hotel CD Plzen

... part of the plant but one line was running so we saw the bottles scuttle past on their way to being filled.

We wound our way through the plant and saw a multimedia presentation on the brewing of Pilsner Urquell. They mash it or boil it three times which is unusual. They also hop it three times. Using Saaz hops from the region. A few years ago, there were several natural hops ...

I seemed to have developed a taste for beer on this trip (partly b/c it's too hot to drink wine!!) and no tour to Czech republic would be complete with a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery...


The town of Pilsner is fairly nondescript (ie/ it has no redeeming features, other than a summer installation of a pilsner beer garden and a bouncy ...

Today we went to the Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen. Pilsner, the type of beer, originated here, where Pilsner Urquell was brewed from local crops and local mineral water. The tour was awesome. We saw the traditional brew kettles and the modern ones, as well as a very modern new packaging plant. We also tasted some unpastuerized beer directly from fermenting barrels.

(76 miles) Slowing ourselves down has really helped us go longer while feeling like we are riding less. Today we entered the Czech Republic and found out that the roads are not as nice and little towns are run down. It's interesting the change. Everything is much cheaper here as well. We find ourselves dodging potholes more and eating out more. However so far I have taken less pictures ...

... nipped in the bud. Czech is a whole different ball game. Like cricket. It sorta resembles something familiar, but you soon realize everything is differnt. Differnt field, different rules, different variations on familiar things. Even the liquid refreshment is different ...rather than breaking the action for tea, they break for beer here. And sadly, I have NEVER figured out cricket. Perhaps the beer will do the trick and I will eventually remember how to say hello without my crib notes.

... my train. I was pretty mad, but then, by the luck of the Europeans, I remembered that we went into daylight savings time the night before and I was able to catch my train. When I got on my train I was just sitting there reading. Announcements in Czech kept buzzing in and out but a little more frequently than usual. Of course, I couldn't understand what was being said so I just kept on trucking along in my ...

... visited the vast 9km underground tunnels where the beers are fermented and even had a beer straight from the tap. Quite tasty. Another highlight was a bar called simply The Pub (Pilsner Urquell Bar). Each group sat at a table with its own beer tap. Every time you wanted a new beer, you could pour it yourself and everyone could see how you were progressing on a big screen at the front of the room.

... The theater is really something to see. It was renovated about ten years ago. As you would expect, it is all gilt, crystal, alabaster, and beautiful frescoes. We ended up in a box on the second balcony. This is the stuff that movies are made of. The box was mirrored, beautifully painted and enclosed except for the front. A door shut out the hallway behind. We sat in the second row on little chairs about the height of bar stools. This enabled us to see over the people who were ...

... We stopped in a Metro Station and bought 15 day transit passes for $10 each. We took the tram home and stopped at the butcher, greengrocer, and minimarket for dinner and Thursday's breakfast. We got shish kebobs from the butcher and potatoes and lettuce from the greengrocer. We also picked up fruit, cereal, and a few basics. We found a wonderful Moravian dry, red wine for $2.60 a ¾ litre bottle. Although we didn't feel like we had jet lag, we were in bed by 8:30 and slept. 23 ...

... from Czechia into Germany, we stopped at a roadside station to have first dinner, Scott's first asparagus of the season (tender white asparagus is a special event in late Spring throughout Europe), along with a breaded schnitzel, goulash, and a jelly doughnut (known as a Berliner). The second dinner was later, in Berlin, where Scott had his second asparagus of the season.