An itinerary

Note that I didn't say The Itinerary. It's subject to change, or at least the first part is. I run alone from Split to Athens, and from there I'm with people. This is the rough, absolutely gotta be there at this point, time line: I hit Split on the morning of Aug 2. I have to catch a bus in Tirana in the evening of Aug 9. The 13th was the only day to catch the ferry from Aghios Konstantinos. I arrive in Volos mid-morning on the 19th, and by that night I will be on a train from Thessaloniki to Istanbul. I fly in the wee hours of the morning on the 23rd back to Bratislava.


View Larger Map

Plisner Urquel, aka Plzeňský prazdroj

J, I'm warning you right now that you're not allowed to salivate on your keyboard.


Note our two photos above. You see the one on the left, that's proper Pilsner, served in a proper glass. I haven't met a good P.U. down here in Brno, tho I truthfully haven't looked hard. However, when you go to a nice pub they bring you a tall glass of dark yellow beer with a light, creamy head on top, normally on the cold side of chilled. It tastes just a touch buttery, a little sweetly-sour, and a lot hoppy. It is, however, a very light beer, saved from being watery only by the high quality of its taste (when properly served). The picture in question was taken in Loket.

You see the one on right? It's a plastic cup. It was served too cold with too much head, and the room is probably about 4°C. It is, however, a much better beer. Why? you may ask. And I might tell you that this is the nefiltrovaný, unfiltered, freshly brewed in oak barrels especially for the tourists of the Plzeňský prazdroj brewery. It's thick on your tongue and is about the weight of a nice red beer, but the taste washes away much quicker than a red, and you're just left with a very nice taste of hops in your mouth. For the Czech Republic it's the closest I've come to beer-you-can-chew, but you still can't. It is gorgeous stuff, jam packed with flavor and texture. I'm told that Pilsner Urquel is brewed with something like triple the average amount of hops in it. We had a Gambrinus with dinner about an hour after the cup of nefiltrovaný. It tasted and felt almost like water in comparison. The only place to get this ambrosia outside the brewery is called Na Parkánu. Dig the *chink.* Note the color difference from this stuff to the regular Pilsner.


On a side note: while we were at Na Parkánu we ran into this stuff called Master. They served it in 13° & 18° form, which is something like 5.5% and 7% for the rest of us. It's great! Dark Czech beers are normally very sweet and pretty light, but this had a normal weight and a very carmelly feel on the tongue. It's got a heavy, tan head and smells strongly of fruit or flowers. Try some if you get the opportunity.

Kobližná Street

Daytime hustle and bustle.
Brno nightlife.

This is the street that I walk up and down between my school and nam. Svobody every day. Mapped

Anti human zone!!

This is one of my favorite pieces here in Brno. It's a piece of plywood glued to the wall. And it's outside one of the ubiquitous sex shops.

Sping Break: Plzeň

Plzeň is a depressing place. You step off the bus and are greeted by a classic communist-era wall of a building with a giant Skoda emblem perched on top. The air is gritty and most things are old and grungy. Parts of it are amazing and cool, but that is the general atmosphere for tourists.
This was one of the few cities in the Czech Republic to be liberated by the U.S. in WWII. (Brno and Prague were both taken by the Soviets.) And they have a monument that actually says, “Thank You, America.” I thought that was pretty cool.

Like any Eastern European town the differences between then and now can be quite glaring. This building shows three things: the town becoming the seat of the Holy Roman Empire (for a year), successfully withstanding a decade plus Swedish seige, and ?possibly? the 50 year anniversary of the city's brewery. It was probably built sometime around the turn of the last century, when the town was prosperous.


This is what sits below it today. “Thank You, America” indeed.



Dům Kultury translates to something like Cultural House or House of Culture. Yup, quite....cultural....

But, when you get to the old center of town, most of that is forgiven. I was totally blown away after seeing all the beautiful facades. Most of these were probably added or redone around or after 1900 when the town was booming with successful industry, mostly owned by Emil Skoda.


It's cool to see this building is still fulfilling its original purpose. [click for facade detail]


This is a justice building of some sort, maybe the local courthouse.



Plzeň is also home to the largest synagogue in the Czech Republic, which Rough Guide states is the 2nd largest in Europe, which means it could be 3rd largest in the world, as someone told me. Like many things on this trip, it was no-entry-until-summer-or-at-least-spring.

The town's alright. The people there seem a lot less homogeneous than here in Brno. More odd colors and stereotypical subculture styles. Kinda like the difference between say, Wallingford and Georgetown in Seattle.

The highlight for me was the brewery. Not only for the beer. I'm not such a fan of Pilsner in the wild, but the stuff from the brewer is wonderful. This place was chock full of history and it's presented very well, too. It gets it own post.

Mandragora

Křenová 10, Mapped
Tel.: 608 632 436
M-F 1pm -?Midnight?
Sa 4pm - ?Midnight?
www.putykamandragora.info

Beer: Svijany (ležák 11, speciální 13, tmavé speciální 13 [dark], and Kvasničák nefiltrované 13) @ 21-25 kc.

Feel: This place is on the border of what passes for a 'bad neighborhood' here. (Brown-skinned people be here!) The place is very low key, and somewhat plain, but there is leather furniture to chill in near the bar. The staff and clientèle are younger and/or grungier than most of Brno that I frequent (closer to Seattle average). Seems to be a music place, too. There's a raised section at the end of the hall and concert photos march around the room. A bit loud and a bit smoky on a normal Saturday.


Pros: Good selection of quality Svijany (mind the tall-glassed nefiltrované, it packs a punch). There's a small selection of cold bar snacks, including some blue-ish cheese and utopenec (sausage drowned in vinegar and raw onions). The staff is friendly, remarkably efficient (read: western-style service) and will quickly find someone to speak English with you. Foosball and micro-foos (see last picture). Decent website (no English, but clear layout).

Cons: A bit on the spartan side, dogs do run about, and headed towards a sketchy 'hood.



Overall: Good for just hanging out with nice beer and chill people. Great prices.

Directions: From hlavní nádraží - walk down and to the right, under the bridge, and straight across the street. Pub is 15 meters ahead on the right. By tram - take the 8, 10, 13 to Vlkhá and walk towards hlavní nádraží. Pub is about 15 meters ahead on the left.

Mini-foos!

Prague, a map

Here is a somewhat annotated map of the events in following posts. Probably best to zoom in a little bit.

View Larger Map