Beer Country

Prague! You sneaky bastard.

We knew very little of Prague before going, besides the fact that the beer is cheap. Well, in reality, we had heard lots about this lovely city, but all we really heard was; the beer is cheap. Having already skipped over a few European cities, we assumed we wouldn’t make it to Prague. Again, the 90 day visa making us speed things up. Yet, curiosity and discount airlines combined make for a flexible and impromptu travel schedule. So here we are. In Prague, one of the most beautiful and unusual of cities.

First a thing about the buildings and architecture. Prague is built along the Vlata River, separated into different quarters, including the castle district and the Old and New towns. While roaming the different quarters you get a true sense of the city by this architecture.  Prague has a distinct personality, in a word quirky. The literally random smatterings of art nouveau (read: weird fun art) installments all over the city really add to its charm. It’s hard to describe, but this is one of the best preserved cities in Europe after the war, largely untouched. So many things to see, some of them obvious like the fairytale castle that overlooks the city on a hill. Many of them hidden and fun. For instance, as you are walking around you come across a 

random dude (it’s actually Sigmund Freud) hanging from a wire high above you.

Also you may stumble across a sculpture of two guys pissing on the Czech Republic. Or maybe you’ll see a John Lennon themed graffiti wall just to name a few things. It sounds strange, but somehow it all works together so well.

Maybe the reasons we liked Prague so much is that we didn’t have any expectations for it. Instead we just let it be it’s odd self, and we loved every bit of it.

If you’ve yet to try the AirBnB experiences in a city, get on it. For those who don’t know what they are, they are essentially an easy way to book an “experience” for the local area. Usually to help you do something unique or that is special the area you are exploring. Of the many we’ve booked, the one we did in Prague was one of the cooler experiences so far. We set up an experience to learn how to row (think competitive rowing, not row boat rowing) with a former world champion rower from Prague, Daniela. We learned the basics, and then began rowing down the Vlata River, observing the old city from the water. Daniela, a world class champion rower, was smaller than Michele and Trent is certain she could still kick his ass. We spent a few hours on the water, taking in the views of the city, the castle, the Charles Bridge. It was in every sense, an amazing experience.  Daniela was patient while we navigated the many bridges and SUPers. Our boats may or may not have collided a few times. We liked to think our boats were attracted to each other. Love on many levels!

The following days consisted of exploring the different quarters, eating charcoal ice cream and of course drinking beer. The charcoal infused ice cream was interesting and not for those on any sort of diet. The ice cream itself was great, but the cone had a local twist. I was essentially this sugary bread baked and twisted up into the shape of a cone, with chocolate in the bottom. Because, you know, chocolate. Trent wants to use these in research to better understand massive blood sugar spikes and crashes, anything for science. Now it should be noted, that while Prague has no shortage of beer, cheap beer, the selection isn’t exactly diverse. Lots of light pilsner style beers. Not Michele’s favorite. The bars usually only carry one brand of beer, advertised by a sign hanging outside of the bar. So you may choose your bar based on the beer you like, or just suck it up regardless because most of them aren’t really that different to be honest. Typically you can find a pils, a dark, and a mix of the two beers, and that’s it for the traditional style pubs. It’s a city for beers lovers and yet again, it’s really not. It’s more of place for people who like beer, who really like cheap beer (it was often much less than $1 for a half-liter of pilsner), and don’t want to have to make a decision.

A week in Prague and we probably could have stayed longer. Charming, cheap, and easy Prague has a lot to offer the weary traveler.  Alas still have miles to go before we sleep so we hopped on a 5 hour train and landed in Munich. Home of brewhouses, lederhosen, extremely obedient sidewalk crossers, and some damn sexy German people.

Munich was… well… it was nice. Munich was clean. The biergartens were definitely fun. But, we have to be honest here… We weren’t really

that blown away. Really at all. The city was lovely. It had one of the best parks we’ve been in thus far (the English Gardens). But we just didn’t find that much to do besides drink and go to museums (see previous posts for our rants and admissions about museums). That being said, we’d be remiss not to talk some about what we did enjoy there. For instance, beers as big as your head! The biergartens even when we were looking to “dry out” a little, was still a lot of fun. German bands, giant pretzels, picnic tables, it’s all like you’d picture it. Very fun!

  Munich would be an awesome place to come just to drink and have fun with a large group of friends. Another gem of Munich was the English Gardens. A massive park with emerald green water running through it and lush green stuff everywhere. It’s in the heart of the city but it’s big enough you can actually feel alone in it! Also, you’ll stumble across local surfers who have hacked the river running through the park in places where it churns.They basically line up one after the other and surf the waves for a few secs before floating back, climbing out, and doing it all over again. Kind of wild!

One of the oddly frustrating things about Munich was how beholden they are to the little green man, otherwise known as the “Walk” signal for crossing streets. Literally nobody crosses unless this little guy gives them permission. Nobody. And even worse, if you decide to buck the trend and cross because, well, there are no frickin cars in sight, you risk getting scolded in German by little old ladies who are apparently the keepers of this inefficient cultural oddity. Another thing we were disappointed in is that they don’t appreciate Das Sound Machine to the level we thought they would. Aca-scuse me??? (FYI: If you understand this last joke then we will immediately be best friends).

Our so-so visit to Munich hopefully doesn’t dissuade anyone from visiting Germany, we think we’re just at an exhaustion point of travel and going out and partying at the biergartens just isn’t in the cards right now. The countryside that we got see on our train ride in was breathtaking, and that by itself is enough to go back and explore some of the smaller towns outside of Munich and get better feel for what the people are about. Germany is huge. One day we’ll return to explore the rest. As far now, we are on to warmer pastures.

European fun facts:
Blue Moon is the one American beer served everywhere.
People smoke cigarettes like it’s the early 90s

Days until we are back in States for a visit: 20
# of days we can withstand before seeing Russell:  -105

Spain and Portugal are up next!