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| Our next stop in Czech presented a problem: do we visit the original home of Pilsner beer or Budweiser? The answer: both. The Czech Republic distinguishes itself with beer. During the mid-1800's, the citizens of Plzen revolted for better beer, the only revolution to spawn a new beer. The local brewers, anxious to appease the public, invited a German named Groll to help them brew a new type of beer and pilsner came into the world. We toured the brewery where the first pilsner was made. We tasted beer made the old fashioned way - in a barrel - the brewer's motto, "some old ways can be contemporary." Not sure if any beer drinkers care about that motto, but the beer tastes great and is less filling. From Plzen we boarded a train and went to Ceske Budejovice, or Ceske Budvar, the original home of Budweiser beer. It's a modest town. You'd think the towns that invented Pilsner and Budweiser beer would be rich and famous, but Communism kept even beermakers poor. | |||
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| Mom and Dad farewell - they made it to the
airport by tram, metro, and bus on a single ticket that cost thirty cents (the
best thing about Prague is its public transport). | |||
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Of
course Prague's architecture isn't bad either. | |||
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The
Pilsner gate, the official emblem of all Pilsner beer (any 'official' Pilsner
beer must license this emblem from Pilsner Urquell). On the way we met Jessie
Flowers, an American willing to travel on long train rides for a chance at free
beer on a brewery tour. | |||
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A
pint of pilsner, a beer coincidentally invented in a town called Plzen - what
were the odds? | |||
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The
original home of Budweiser beer is Ceske Budejovice ("Give me a Bud"
sounds better than "Give me a Budejovice") | |||