Filed under Prague, Czech Republic · Print This Post
Czech Republic is landlocked right at the heart of continental Europe. It is surrounded by Austria, Germany and Poland, which is why the traditional food consists of a lot of meat and sauces. The most common meat is vepřové, or pork, and it is always served with knedlíky, or what they call dumplings, to soak up the gravy. All dishes almost always come with zelí or sauerkraut.
Meats are often roasted or baked. We were lucky enough to enjoy a plate of rožněné selátko, or grilled piglet. Thankfully, it came with a serving of vegetable salad. When we were hungry–which was more often than you can ever imagine–we ordered the combo plate of pork, špekové or duck, and sausages.
For a more homey meal, meat is stewed for hours to make goulash. We tasted a delicious one in thick sauce that used dark ale.
Game is usually served on special occasions. We had rabbit in sauce flavored with thyme and ostrich meat served with pasta. The rabbit was nice, but the ostrich just tasted like tough beef.
We even had baby octopus carpaccio served with arugula greens and drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice. We rarely had dessert but we spoiled ourselves with strudels and other pastries for breakfast or as snacks during the day.
Now all that food needs to go down, and if the Czechs are known for anything, it’s the way they appreciate their pivo, their beer. Pilsner, the most famous Czech beer, originated in Bohemia, a region in central Europe which occupies the western and middle thirds of Czech Republic. Pilsner was first brewed in a town called Plzeň and the same brewery that developed it still makes Plzňské or what we know as Pilsner Urquell.
Another famous Czech beer is České Budějovice or Budweiser Budvar. Budvar and Anheuser-Busch are still engaged in numerous trademark lawsuits around the world.
Each pub is supplied by only one brewery, or pivovar, but different types are usually available. No Czech beer lover ever drinks it canned as it is usually made for export. (Something I learned in Ireland and their Guinness.) Together with Plzňské from Plzeň comes Gambrinus.
Prague has its own, Staropramen, and there is also Krušovice Light from Královský.
All of the above are light and golden in color; foamy and refreshing at the end. I liked them fine, but my favorites were the dark lagers, Velkopopovický Kozel and U Fleků’s own tmavé brew.
If you can’t make up your mind, there is a combination of light and dark called Rezane, also from Velkopopovický. If you want the more familiar, of course there’s always the Belgian Stella.
When you enter a pub, you’re given a small piece of paper so that the waiter can tally your order. It’s a given that you’re going to drink beer, no matter what time it is. Beer will just keep coming to your table until you say something to your server otherwise.
We drank nine different kinds of beers each in three days! Not to mention the multiple quantities we drank of each kind. Just thinking of that feat deserves another beer!
Related post/s:
Prague photos on Flickr
Day 3: Astronomical Clock, Havel Market, Jewish Quarter, Charles Bridge
Day 2: Prague Castle, Lvi Dvur, Petrin Hill, Wenceslas Square
Day 1: Three Kinds of Beer, First Few Hours in Prague
Filed under Prague, Czech Republic · Print This Post
The sun was out our last day in Prague. We took the tram to Old Town and walked a bit to get to the square. The tourists were already gathered in front of the astronomical clock, so we joined them and sat at one of the outdoor chairs of U Orloje for morning coffee. We just missed the 11:00 strike so we decided to walk around the neighborhood and catch the clock “show” later. We found Odkolek Bakery on Rytirska street where we bought a couple of turnover pastries to eat. The Havel market was already set up. We walked around and checked out the souvenirs and fresh produce for sale. I bought the mandatory magnet for Anna and the Pilsner Urquell bottle opener for myself.
We hurried back to the square just in time for the clock to strike the hour. The skeleton to the right tipped the hourglass and pulled a rope. The windows above the clock then opened and the twelve apostles did their procession thing. The other figures, Greed, Vanity and a Turk, all moved after the cock crowed.
The astronomical clock imitates the orbit of the sun and the moon about the Earth as well as show the visible parts of the sky in the summer and winter months. All that information and we still had to look at the more normal-looking clock at the top of the tower to tell time! We were glad to have seen it. We felt like it was one of those things that made a Prague visit complete.
We deserved a beer after standing under the sun to watch the clock. Cameron wanted to go to U Dvou Koĉek, which means Two Cats, to eat in honor of the two cats she left at home. We ate brewery cheese with paprika, black pepper sausage, ghoulash with bacon dumplings and a roasted pig’s neck. Henners and Sam would have been proud. We washed all the food down with Pilsner Urquell.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Jewish Quarter. The neighborhood went through an Art Nouveau revival and the buildings all looked new and beautiful. We walked by several synagogues before we paid to enter the Old Jewish Cemetery. Because it was the only area permitted to Jews back in the day, people had to be buried on top of each other, up to twelve layers deep. There are apparently twelve thousand gravestones crammed in there but over one hundred thousand are actually buried! It was definitely more crowded than a New York City subway.
Back in Old Town, it was Cameron time. We bought tickets to see Mozart’s Don Giovanni performed by marionettes. I wouldn’t have thought about watching a bunch of wooden toys move while singing arias, but the marionette shows have a long tradition throughout Czech Republic. I’ll have nightmares about moving toys now, but it was fun to watch and I would so recommend it if you’re visiting.
Before the sun set, we walked around Old Town Square some more to buy stuff to bring back to the States. We found La Vinotheque where we bought several bottles of Czech reds. We stopped by the Franz Kafka bookstore to add to my Catcher in the Rye translations collection.
When we finally made it to Charles Bridge, the sky was beautifully painted with orange and purple and the Vltava River was calm. We couldn’t help but take photos even though it was the most clichéd setting ever.
Of course, that deserved a beer. We tried the Budvar at a pub off the Little Quarter, the real Budweiser before Anheuser-Busch stole the name. (The two companies have been duking it out in court for hundreds of years.) For our last dinner in Prague, we splurged at U Tří Pštrosů, or At The Three Ostriches, where we shared the game consommé, the foie gras, the coquille and the veal terrine with the ostrich steaks.
Our last couple of hours in Prague were spent inhaling everything. We had to be at the airport at 5:30am the next day to catch our flight to Heathrow before heading back to New York City. We took in all the lights, the bricks, the buildings and the streets and said Děkuji, Praha!
Related post/s:
Prague photos on Flickr
Day 2: Prague Castle, Lvi Dvur, Petrin Hill, Wenceslas Square
Day 1: Three Kinds of Beer, First Few Hours in Prague
