Irida Plzen

... of old time beer making equipment, and beer bottling equipment and capping. We also got a small coin which was used in payment in olden times. Workers with this coin were entitled to a beer. We turned in our coins to get a nice beer. As we were running behind, our guide asked if it was ok for us to eat here as well. We each got a nice bread bowl full of goulash soup and then a plate of bread ...

... I would - as they were pretty impressive, but then you all know how to use google!!<br> <br><br>We then had a tour of the fermentation tanks and details of the vital ingreadients (water, malt, special yeast and bacteria...). The tour concluded in obvious fashion - with a taster straight from the keg, poured by the most photographed man in Plzen!!<br>

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.

We finally made it to the Czech Republic after a delightful delay of German bike touring. We waited an extra day to cross the border so that we could early in the day....just in case anything went wonky....only to find the border crossing unmanned. No papers, no stamps, no inspections, no officials, no nada. Czech Rep. is a different world...sorta like going from the US into Mexico, and pretty much what you might expect from Eastern Europe. Pastoral landscapes, small villages, and old ...

... orgy." "The light is for the animals... without eyes....flies...BATMAN! No bat, bat." "You like beer here? We're only country where beer is cheaper than soda or water. If they raise prices we will REVOLT!" After spending several hours just sitting on a bench and laughing at every word to come out of Thomas's mouth, Johnny and I decided to head out to the Pilsner Urquell brewery for a tour. Now they did not have a beer fountain ...

... the fermentation process and is usually recycled for the next batch- was still present making the beer cloudy. Impressed with my knowledge of beer and.. beer accessories?? I think its more of my geekyness seeking through than anything else...) Onwards and upwards.. the brewery had a kinda neat life sized chess board with pieces of various Pilsner paraphernalia. Exciting Huh?

October 9, 2005 Lounin and Tetin Today we set off to gain some insight into the towns which the Kautsky family once inhabited. We were able to explore the towns a bit. I am definitely not cut out for detective work, so I did not gain a great deal of information. My point was just to see the area, we were successful in that. We started out with some information which was provided to me from my mom and the Kautsky family. We knew we were looking for two small towns, Lounin and ...

... They also have lots of food cooked over open fires and sell many kinds of hot drinks, including a wonderful hot wine. A couple of the stalls had blacksmiths working in front of them. It was fun to see them fan their fires and then beat out the iron pieces on their huge anvils. It reminded me of the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore. When the Klugs were here at Christmas, we went down to the square and it was snowing like mad. By the time we finished we were covered with snow. It ...

... FM wrote a long letter to the mailing list and it was lost. Tonite we plan to have dinner at the small, local café across the street. We took our dictionary to look at the menu. It looks pretty good. Impressions: We are more and more impressed with the city and its transit system. It was fun taking the Metro on our own for the first time. The city is surely a tourist magnet. I can't imagine a city tour being filled up on this date and in this kind of weather. Not impressed ...