Hotel Roudna Plzen

... and sauerkraut. Didn't really care for the dumplings and sauerkraut but the goulash soup was great.<br><br> Then on to the brewery. Pilsner Urquell has been purchased by a conglomerate, the South African Brewers or SAB but Pilsner Urquell has also become their flagship as it is such a good beer. It was our misfortune to be there on a day when they were cleaning the lines in the bottling and ...

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...<br> <br><br>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.<br>

... we camped at this weird, seemingly abandoned hotel. After we ride miles out of our way to get there this lady tells me in broken few words and mostly hand gestures that we can't stay there it's only for people of an association. I'm not sure if it was my puppy dog eyes or my deadly looks but in the end she let us camp out back. It was kinda weird because we were the only ones there.

... 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.

... in circles I noticed a tall steeple rising above the skyline of Plzen, and it struck me that the tallest building in Plzen is the St. Bartholomew's Cathedral located merely one block from Solni Pension. It was like my guiding light and led us through the city into our pension. By this time I was drenched in sweat and demanded a beer immediately. We trudged around town until stumbling upon Dominika where we knocked back a few $1.50 ...

... tour ended taking a trip into the old cellar where beer used to be brewed. The cellar had paths totaling over 9 km! Unfortunately, most of the space is unused and empty now, but there are about 50 barrels of beer that brewed for 2 very important reasons: 1. To check that the modernly brewed beer was still comparable to old style quality. 2. To please tourists. At the end of the tour we had a beer tasting ...

... two tubs, a board on two sawhorses, a scale, and two butchers. People buy the fish and take it home live for the kids to play with until Christmas Eve, or the butcher kills the fish, guts it, and puts everything in a plastic bag. The head and entrails are used for traditional soup. The meat is usually fried and served with cold potato salad. Not everyone practices the custom, but it appears that a majority of people do. The differences in daily life continue to amaze us ...

... is from the weekly Prague Post and the Manchester Guardian. It's fun hearing the trams passing by. Thievery is common. When we met with the rental agent today, we told her about Ms's wallet. She said that these people are good. She just lost her cell phone out of her purse. 25 October-Saturday Another cold day. After breakfast at home we played tourist. We walked along the Vltava (Moldau). It was a nice walk. Cold and off and on clouds. We decided it was time to buy hats. Went ...

... would understand the necessity for such a pilgrimmage, this plonk has alot going for it, nah.....nobody would buy into that, would they now? So with the euphoria involved with the kick-off to a rugby league grand final (go the eels), the clock struck half past twelve, the beer devotee's jostled for position, as the 60 minute tour of Mecca was about to begin. Czech, English, Americans, Aussies alike, the devotee's of the amber fluid were whisked ...