Pension K 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 ...

... 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.

... 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 ...

Before arriving in Plzen I had a certain image stuck in my brain of how the city would look like. I imagined a Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory type of city but with beer fountains instead of chocolate fountains and little munchkins frolicking in beer lakes. Obviously, I was quite disappointed when I got off the train and stepped out of the train station. I was instead met with a lovely sight of three drunk shirtless old men (it was ...

... unpasteruiyed beer=== so that was a treat.. and i guess theres onlz one other place zou can get that.. and its from a small beer hall here in the center of the citz.. which is affiliated firectlz with the brewerz.. so im definetlz going to take advantage of that. I§ve seen a large portion of the town alreadz.. and will trz to get pictures up asap.. on the weekend it was prettz ...

... These are situated near the town of Beroun, about 30 km southwest of Prague. We decided to make Beroun our base camp and have been staying here. It is not the most traveler appealing town, but it does have inexpensive, nice lodging. So that has worked out. We tried to map out where to find these towns on the internet before we left because we had trouble locating them on any of the maps we had. We knew the basic direction we were heading and wandered until we found them ...

... has a peak and each is decorated with FRESH greens, a lighted yellow star in the center, and white lights forming icicles around the top edges of the roof. It is really lovely. They also have a huge tree and an ice castle where they put on shows and have public skating. In one corner of the square was a life-size crèche with a petting zoo. In another corner there was a stage where different choral groups and individuals performed. The little stalls sell everything you can ...

... we would celebrate by eating lunch out. We found a little Chinese restaurant. Very good and reasonable food. We shared a spring roll, FM had Chicken chop suey, MS had Chicken fried rice, we both had a beer. Total was less than $7.00. On the way back to the #9 we stopped in the Sony store. Since MS hadn't given Fred a birthday gift, we decided to get him a radio/cd/tape player. Now he can listen to the BBC! When we got back we went to the internet café downstairs. Both used the ...