Hotel U Zvonu Plzen

Today was Beer Day. We signed up to go to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzen (pronounced Pilszen). It is about a one hour drive from Prague. There is also a museum there and some caves about ½ way there. The tour included stopping at the caves which we thought at first were associated with Pilsner Urquell but they are just nice caves.

We hit the museum first which had some really nice ...

... in it's main square.).

The brewery tour was 90 mins long and I'm sure the gentleman conducting the tour was the human muse for the creation of 'The Count' on sesame street, his hair didn't move, sadly there were no mirrors anywhere so I couldn't check for a reflection... He was a brilliant tour leader and was happy to answer any ...

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.

... 5L Pilsner Urquells. We got bored there and stumbled around until walking through an alley and finding Zach's Pub. Here the beer was all of 75 cents for a half liter of Gambrinus which is just as or more delicious than Pilsner Urquell; no need to say that I barely remember the walk back to the pension after experiencing Czech pub life to the fullest. We planned on staying in Plzen for two nights but when we woke up in the morning ...

... you know that I have been privileged enough to visit quite a few brewery tours (including whiskey.. etc etc..) and this one was just as unique as the others. They showed us their brewing process and took us on the tour of the cellar -- where the last remaining Cooper's are employed (only 10.._) and showed how they used to store and haul the liquid bread. Then came the climax ...

... another beautiful city spoiled by the construction for the summer crowds (hey wait I thought they were already here!). You can also find some fantastic traditional Bohemian chow without looking too far... myself and a couple girls at the hostel scored a restaurant at the foot of the funicular (it goes up to the Eiffel Tower thing), and had a great meal of meat-filled potatoe dumplings with Sauerkraut, goulash soup, fresh fresh rye bread and Pilsner. All to the tune of ...

Arrived in Karlstejn on the "City Elephant" train at 1.20pm and walked 2km to the Karlstejn Castle. Went on the 2.30pm English tour of the castle which took about an hour. No photography allowed inside the castle. Took in the views over the town before walking back to the train station and catching the train back to Prague.

... until the early 1900s. I didnt realise and Im sure a lot of people dont either that Prague looked pretty different just 100 years ago. In an attempt to 'modernise' and be like more Western cities massive areas of the city were simply demolished, in particular the Jewish area, to make way for things like a boulevard based on the Champs Elysee. Quite suprising really. Am off now to the Communism museum....

... down the street with two girls laughing and chasing after him. They try and drag him back down the street to where they were when they smash something all over the road. Of course that's a big deal when you are drunk and they all seem to stop like it's a big disaster and ponder the broken pieces on the road. Then they pick some up and decide to smash them into smaller bits. As you wish. Then there were the three red faced teens who came stumbling up to the ...

... store about 10 meters from our front door that sells wine in bulk. You bring in your plastic bottle and they fill it up at a cost of 45kc ($1.80) per liter. It is surprisingly good. Great for drinking and cooking. The beer, while it tastes heavier, generally has less alcohol than in the States. Virtually every store that sells food sells fresh bread and rolls. These are fantastic! They stores sell so much bread that they seem to bake it all day. It isn't unusual to buy it while ...