PRAGUE - CESKY KRUMLOV – CESKE BUDEJOVICE 8-28-2010

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Photos of Prague
The cathedral is called Saint Vitus Church



Folk dancing at dinner in Prague Stan Kropewnicki and John Gora enjoyed the broom dance which is a variation of musical chairs where the odd man out dances with a broom.


We left out lovely Hotel which was fully restored and loaded with amenities in the heart of Prague to ride on the bus for 3 or 4 hours on our way to Bud e Jo Vice. I type the word that way as our guide has taken on the task of pronouncing it in a very slow deliberate way by exaggerating every syllable to the point that we would giggle in the back of the bus like school children and mimic the name of the city at the same time she did. Three hours of listening to her chat away about little known nor interesting facts about the various sections of the cities in detail only a person looking for a parking place would care to hear.

I'm sure she knew a lot, but such didn't fit our needs for understanding and enjoying the ride to the next city. She showed a video about the region. Usually you view the videos before the trip and during. It had repetitive sing songy music that put the majority of the people on the bus straight to sleep.

One interesting thing that our guide told us was that her husband was having his 77th birthday and was invited to the President of the Czech Republic's home for breakfast as he was a famous jazz guitarist. This president (Claus) loves jazz and wanted to recognize this man's accomplishments. She mentioned that that previous president only liked rock and roll so he invited the Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi to entertain in the square.

We saw some interesting sites while visiting a charming small city of Krumlov with cobble stone village walkways. Walking up steep hillside pathways is sometimes a struggle for many of us on our trip, but the views from the top are worth plodding along. More steps than I counted down to the village. Quaint shops invited people to view the wares. Group trips are such that you are unable to stop as one could get lost in the crowds of tourists. These crowds are not like hurried manic workers pacing along, but lots of people filling the walkways would lead to losing your group pretty easily. By the time our group dispersed we were happy to just relax on a side street for a beer and coke.

My favorite delight was a bakery with an open window to buy an interesting piece of pastry called Tradlnik. It is a piece of sweet yeast dough rolled pretty thin and attached around a metal four inch cylinder. This roll is placed over an open oven to bake. Once finished the shop keeper takes the steel roller holding it vertical and slides the pastry off the cylinder then rolls it in sugar. For 40 Kronin ($2.50) you have a treat to eat as you stoll the walkways.

After a relaxing afternoon we bused it to Bud e Jo Vice to visit the Budweiser brewing facility where we had some beer and dinner of delicious breaded veal cutlets, potato salad Czech style and warm apple strudel. I'm not a fan of meat so potatoes and broccoli served in a hot skillet with a warm cheese sauce for me really hit the spot.

I learned that this Budweiser facility is not connected to the one in the USA. Same name same scriped logo Separate and different brewery. There is some type of name infringement going on. When both plants opened their door ages ago, who would now that a world wide presence would exist today. This Czech Budweiser plant does ship to America in cans under a different label. They would think of bottling their beer in cans here in Europe - glass quarts is the only way to go to maintain the taste so they say.



SAT , AUGUST 28 : PRAGUE - CESKY KRUMLOV – CESKE BUDEJOVICE
After breakfast departure from Prague to Cesky Krumlov, a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The town is picturesquely situated on the Vltava River . We will have a short sightseeing tour including the extensive Castle complex which is the second largest in the Czech Republic and then some free time for lunch , shopping or simply to relax at an outdoor café. Late afternoon a short drive to the town of Ceske Budejovice which was founded in 1265 and is most famous for the Budvar ( Budweiser ) Beer. We will have a chance to try the beer tonight at dinner. Overnight in Ceske Budejovice. ( B , D )