Drinking Pilsen in Plzen
January 6, 2008
Plzen Square at night.
Task nr1: Find a place to sleep. I didnt book in advance so i folowed the tips from Lonely planet to walk into the city and talk to some student agency. They could (at least according to Lonely planet) find me a nice hostel room for 150-250kc.. They , as well as the other hostels in Plzen where closed at winter so I had to settle for the Ubytovna TJ Lokomotiva. A Sports hostel around 1.3km outside of town. And walking around 5kms with a heavy backpack looking for a hostel isnt what i wants for a vacation, but the Hostel was clean and had spacious rooms so i couldnt really complain.
The "Great Synagogue" in Plzen
Task nr2: Find the Pilsner Urquell Brewery.. I walked totally in the wrong direction and finally found a girl that spoke English. She showed me the way and asked why I was in Plzen. I said "To meet beautiful girls like you and to drink some world famous beer" and smiled. I finally found it and went on the tour which where really good. See the review further down the page.
Went back to the hostel to sleep a couple of hours and before i knew it the time where 23:15! Took a shower and went into town and started the pub crawl.. The first pub was a downer , the 2.nd one was a downer as they where almost closing, on the third one i hit jackpot! It was a nightclub recommended by people at the first bar. Many girls , nice interior and friendly people. I sat down with some people and tried to have a conversation untill the asked me why I sat with them , according to them there where many single girls here that night.
Some Architecture in Plzen
Jackpot again. I bought two beers and smashed them down into the table where two locals where sitting.. To make a long story short , they called me an alcoholic at least 10times and offered me beers. At 7AM they started shotting absinthe , something i turned down and they meant i was a sissy. The reasons was that i had to check out of the hostel in two hours.. I got their Email adresses and headed home
I stopped at a 24hour Herna on the way home, only to sit there for 5mins before i gave my beer away since things started to spin.
Well , it was a good day out.
The next day I did the brewery museum and went around taking pictures.. The brewery Museum was good , but it would have been great if I wasnt hungover
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Plzen Square at night.
The "Great Synagogue" in Plzen
Some Architecture in Plzen
The River Radbuza which flows th…
The St. Bartholomew Cathedral dominates old town Plzen and is in the middle of Old Town Square. Its built in Gothic style and the construction started in 1292 and took several hundred years to complete
The Spire of the Bartholmew Cathedral is actually the third tallest building in The Czech republic with its 102.26meters.
In fact St. Bartholomew is taller than the St. Vitus Cathedral and Prague. The rest of the Cathedral is not so spectacular, but if you are into Gothic Churches you would truly enjoy this Cathedral.
You can climb the Church tower to get a great View over Plzen. The picture is taken in the lookout place at the spire.
The Spire of the Bartholmew Cathedral is actually the third tallest building in The Czech republic with its 102.26meters.
In fact St. Bartholomew is taller than the St. Vitus Cathedral and Prague. The rest of the Cathedral is not so spectacular, but if you are into Gothic Churches you would truly enjoy this Cathedral.
You can climb the Church tower to get a great View over Plzen. The picture is taken in the lookout place at the spire.
While you are in Plzen you really should Visit the Pilsner Urquell Brewery to sample one of the best beers in the world. There are two or three tours in English every day(mine Started 14:15) so you might want to check out when the tours start to time your visit.
During the tour of the Brewery you are first being shown a 10minute video about the history of the history of the Pilsner Urquell Brewery and its way to international glory before youre being guided to the bottling area where your learn about how the beer is made and the different ingredients used. Beware that this place reeks of beer and a girl said that she started to feel ill after a couple of minutes(sissy!). The guide will then take you to the new production hall , following to the old production hall where you can look inside some of the old boilers (in lack of a better word).
The tour is gets really interesting when its continues down to to old cellars where there are many old barrels of beers and some history of making beers the old way are being taught. The tours ends with a small taste how the beer was made when the brewery was established in 1842. The old beer is superb and i would probably have paid top dollar to being able to buy it in bars or supermarkets. Its so incredible rich on flavour and its only available to Brewery Masters and guests that take the this tour.
The only negative thing is that the tour is really short (30mins if you discount the movie being shown at the beginning), but for beer-heads all around the world this is paradise.
To get here: Walk across the river and towards the Trainstation, but turn Onto the "U Prazdroje" when you stand at the Intersection. Or just walk down the Sirkovà from the Train Station. Tours are 120kc for Adults and 70kc for Students
During the tour of the Brewery you are first being shown a 10minute video about the history of the history of the Pilsner Urquell Brewery and its way to international glory before youre being guided to the bottling area where your learn about how the beer is made and the different ingredients used. Beware that this place reeks of beer and a girl said that she started to feel ill after a couple of minutes(sissy!). The guide will then take you to the new production hall , following to the old production hall where you can look inside some of the old boilers (in lack of a better word).
The tour is gets really interesting when its continues down to to old cellars where there are many old barrels of beers and some history of making beers the old way are being taught. The tours ends with a small taste how the beer was made when the brewery was established in 1842. The old beer is superb and i would probably have paid top dollar to being able to buy it in bars or supermarkets. Its so incredible rich on flavour and its only available to Brewery Masters and guests that take the this tour.
The only negative thing is that the tour is really short (30mins if you discount the movie being shown at the beginning), but for beer-heads all around the world this is paradise.
To get here: Walk across the river and towards the Trainstation, but turn Onto the "U Prazdroje" when you stand at the Intersection. Or just walk down the Sirkovà from the Train Station. Tours are 120kc for Adults and 70kc for Students
The Old Production Hall at Pilsn…
Old beer-barrels in the cellar a…
Many Beer Taps used for tasting …
The gate outside the Pilsner Urq…
Christian at Pilsner Urquell Bre…
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