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Published: August 6th 2013
"Pilsner please", and that request of course usually means Pilsner Urquell or Gambrinus in the city that is home to the enormous and world famous brewery, Pilsner Urquell. The pride of the city of Plzen, this Brewery began its operation in 1842. Beer making, however, started here sometime in the 11th century by monks! They were great boozers, the monks. We picked up a lot of general beer brewing history in the Brewery Museum located in the old town and specifics about Pilsner brewing on our tour of the Pilsner Urquell Brewery.
Our hotel connects to the Brewery by an overpass which crosses a busy highway. The overpass virtually takes pedestrians right up to the historic double arched gates of the Brewery - very handy for guests. Our room is on the 5th floor and has a magnificent panorama view of the old town, the Brewery and beyond. It is a new hotel and is themed with photos of jazz legends and the rooms are air conditioned which is more unusual than usual in hotels here. The weather has been very hot so it was good to have it.
The beer is bloody good and very cheap - .5 litre for about equivalent
Pilsner Urquell Brewery
View from our hotel window$2.00 Australian. No chemicals so no hangover and you can even get it unpasteurized. If you are not interested in beer then you will miss out on too much here!
Passions here also reach fever pitch with regard to the local football (soccer) team - Viktoria. We witnessed these passions last Saturday night when we noticed huge numbers of Viktoria supporters donning their colourful scarves and streaming across our overpass to the nearby stadium. We were glued to our hotel window watching this spectacle when squads of riot police dressed in black appeared escorting hordes of opposition team supporters (Banik Ostrava) dressed in white t-shirts. We decided to head down to the stadium ourselves. The game was of course sold out but we enjoyed the chanting and hype from just standing outside the ground and peeking through the cracks in the fence. The outcome was 4-0 and the Banik supporters were escorted back to the train station by the black garbed and helmeted police - disgruntled, disappointed but not troublesome as far as we could make out. We found out from the hotel staff that the reason for this high level of police presence was because the Banik team supporters are
known for their displays of devotion - often clashing with supporters of other clubs. Banik is the oldest football club in the country dating back to 1922 and both Viktoria and Banik are in the premier league level of the Czech Republic - so serious competition! A "grudge match" we were told but not dangerous on this occasion!
Our last day in Plzen was spent wondering the streets of the old town, gazing at some impressive medieval buildings like the town hall that line the main square "Namesti Republiky" as well as the huge cathedral in the middle of the square.
The art of window dressing and display is not practised here to a great extent,instead it seems the more that is able to be displayed in a window, the better.
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