Villa Meteor Marianske Lazne

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 ...

... put before him...


The tour starts with the production line - the cleaning of recycled glasses, the airation & subsequent dispensing of beer into glasses and laser scanning of the bottles for imperfections, this was pretty much how it worked for the cans aswell (minus the recycling step).

If I could bore you with all the ...

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.

... hot tubs I've been in, and there were two taps, one with a lovely froth pouring out of it. The warm beer was heavenly to slide into, and it got even better when the woman attendant handed us two cold beers to go with our soak. After twenty minutes of beer bath therapy, we were draped in sheets, taken to a quiet, dimly lit room and wrapped up in blankets like a couple of burritos. There we were given two more beers and instructed to relax. Who were we to argue with the ...

... com/hotel-u-kocku We highly recommend using Athos Travel, per Rick Steves. The staff was quick to respond to our request and found us a lovely place to stay. Athos Travel: info@a-prague.com We'll venture off tonight hoping to find empty streets for good photo opportunities. Hope all is well with everyone! We enjoy reading your comments along the way. Today's walk: 1.92 miles Total for the journey (47.75 miles, 9 days) Love, Ryan and Laurie

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.

... This time I was much more coherent. I went inside St. Vitus Cathedral, I walked around the courtyard. I took the stairs to the square instead of the path. I found the castle's museum. I went in and saw small scale models of what the castle looked like going back like a thousand years. The castle isn't that old, but there has always been stuff on that hill. That is where Prague was founded, originally, it was a fortress. Other than the models, there was (drum roll please ...

... if not everthing worked out quite as I may have hoped. Szymon and Simon especially, it just won't be the same without you guys around. I couldn't have asked for better flatmates, and I hope Prague treats you both well for as long as you remain (even if that is only for the next month!). And I'll miss the beer. That quality and that price, I don't think I'll ever get over it. So, goodbye to Prague. I may return one day, but it won't be for a good long while.

... blend here that Marty especially likes. We read somewhere that the Czechs eat more mushrooms than anyone else in the world. We believe that. The greengrocers have several different kinds. Recently a very strange, shelf mushroom appeared. We tried it. It was good but very strong. They have a wonderful drink here called Bekerovka. It is an herbal, bitter, liquor that can be used as an aperitif or after dinner drink. FM doesn't like it but MS does. We get about five English ...

... Lea, Minnesota. He and his family have been here for thirteen years. Along with the church here he has a church and school in Pilzen, about 60K away. His father is a second generation Czech. The parents were here visiting and we got to meet them. The church has an 11:00 service in English and we have been attending. Last week there were about 30 people in church. Life here is very different for us. Since we don't have a vehicle, we have to rely on our feet and public ...