It's Always Beer-Thirty...

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

September 4, 2007
N48°48.763
E014°18.920

The sun was shining when we headed out of our hostel this morning. We took the opportunity to enjoy the sunshine; however, we still had to bundle up in our jeans, long-sleeved shirts, fleece jackets, and for Marc, his wool hat to cover his newly bald head. The sun provided a chance for Marc to get some better photos of the castle in town and some much needed sun for his white dome.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Czech Republic, both in Cesky Krumlov and Prague, and are a little melancholy about leaving so soon. We’ll miss the magnificent architecture, excellent food and cheap, tasty, beer, but plenty of sites still lie ahead for us in Europe and we need to keep movin’.

Speaking of food, we loved the local cuisine in the Czech Republic because it’s something we can’t get at home. Well, we can, but it isn’t as good as the food here. In other countries, excluding the beef in Argentina, we found we can usually get better food in San Francisco than in the originating country (there were exceptions, of course). This includes spicy, authentic Thai food from Little Thai, piping hot Pho from My Canh and excellent Indian food at Shalimar or Naan N Curry. (The food at Abbas and Zainab’s house was pretty darn good though!)

Typical Czech food consists of a serving of pork or beef, sauerkraut, bread dumplings, all covered with a tasty gravy. Other dishes include goulash, sausage, chicken and mushrooms, duck, garlic soup, potato pancakes, red cabbage, and other meat and potato combinations. Regardless of what you order, it should be washed down by one of the local beers—light or dark. The idea is the food compliments the beer and provides a “base”, allowing you to drink even more beer. The Czechs drink far and away more beer per capita than any other country in the world! Yes, even more than the Irish and more than the Germans.

Pivovarsky Dum, a microbrewery in Prague, not only serves up the standard light and dark beer, but they also pour a tasting menu that consists of wheat, cherry, coffee, banana and vanilla. Yes, all beer. The beer is served in either a .3 liter or .5 liter portions, but most locals, who sometimes have a beer with breakfast, go for the .5 liter. If you want a puny .3L beer you must tell the bartender or you will automatically get a .5L pour. We normally wait until beer-thirty, and of course always get the .5L. For $1, why not?

The food and beer compliment each other very well, especially when the temperature is dipping into the 40s (F) at night. Both do an excellent job warming us up inside and out before strolling through the chilly streets. We figure we’ll find similar food and beer in the neighboring countries, including Austria (#5 in beer consumption per capita) where we’re headed tomorrow.

Overall, our time in the Czech Republic has been very enjoyable, and a highlight of our trip. We hope to visit the beautiful country again sometime in the future.