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Published: October 3rd 2009
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The city
A view of the city from the castle. Is this the real life; Is this just fantasy
- Queen,
Bohemian Rhapsody Well, I took the opening lyrics completely out of context but doing so lends them nicely to my life over the past five months. Plus I really wanted to work in the song given my location. That was my weak attempt.
I woke up this morning and went for a very short run to loosen up my legs. It gave me a nice overview of the small town and where the major spots are in relation to one another.
After getting cleaned up and grabbing a small breakfast I headed for the tourist office to check on guided tours of the city. I ran into problems being a solo traveler as most required at least two people. But I was able to get into a guided tour of the Eggenberg Brewery.
The brewery was originally the Lord’s Brewery within the castle and was moved to its current location hundreds of years ago. It has remained a small brewery with minimal exports outside the city.
The touring didn’t reveal much new outside of the traditional brewing process other than a special beer brewed here called a yeast lager. It is unfiltered and
Yeast beer
It looks like beer. It smells like beer. It tastes like beer. It must be beer. unpasteurized since it is only sold locally. We were given a tasting of one of the brewery’s beers after the tour ended and of course I tried this beer. It tasted much like traditional lager but had a more powerful flavor.
After the brewery tour, the tour guide, who I expect freelances, offered us all a chance to take a guided tour of the town with him. I thought he did a good job on the brewery tour so I accepted. I was the only one.
We walked throughout the city for the next two hours. He filled me in on the political, cultural and architectural history as we navigated our way over the cobblestone paths and through narrow streets built hundreds of years ago. The highlights were certainly the views from the old Jesuit school (where a Czech wedding was taking place and we saw them break a plate at the bride’s feet and, together, the bride and groom cleaned it up (a Czech tradition)), the Cathedral and, of course, the castle with its views overlooking the city.
After my guided tour, I went on a tour of the castle. Again, I must have seen enough
The river
Homes and shops along the river. The hostel is located just behind the buildings on the right side of the picture. castles now that I’ve grown a discerning taste. It was nice and had many beautiful wood carvings. The real standout was the gold carriage that was built in the 1600s for the royal family.
After a late lunch of curry chicken pasta, I went back to the hostel for a bit. There I caught up with family over the phone and got set to grab dinner.
With everything so cheap, especially food, in the Czech Republic, I’ve had a tendency to order too much. Tonight was no different. The weather has turned pretty cold (or at least it feels that way) so I went with a hot garlic soup and an order of goulash (a local specialty). And of course a beer.
The soup came out with a large roll serving as the bowl. I had no idea what to do with it - use a spoon, pick it up, break it apart? So I ate it like normal and chipped away at the inside of the bread bowl with my spoon. I left the bulk of the bread bowl that I couldn’t scrape away. Mostly because I was already getting full.
Then came the goulash. It was beef with a brown gravy and five pieces of dense bread on the side. While tasty, I had trouble finishing it since I was so full. But memories of starving people in China resurfaced so I put that bad boy down. Now I’m regretting it.
I’m also going to put back on the few pounds I lost earlier this trip. That was the one nice thing about expensive areas - I ate less.
I’m going to retire to bed early tonight. It’s partially from a busy day and mostly from a food and beer coma. Tomorrow I head to Prague.
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