Shared Illusions

When in Czechia do as the Czechians do – drink beer. České Budejovice is a 47 minute regional train ride from Česky Krumlov, both of which are in southern Bohemia. It’s the home of Budweiser Budvar beer, most famous and best, according to many, of the Czech beers. You may have heard of the legal wrangle between them and Anheuser Busch Budweiser.

We went to take the brewery tour and found so much more! Yes, the tour was interesting and we got a glass (plastic cup) of fresh beer (really fresh!) at the end. We walked through the bottling, labeling, capping, etc facility, but it wasn’t running – big disappointment. More interesting was the Czech-Irish accent of our guide. And this good sport in the tasting room.

As for the “so much more” we found an old square and ornate architecture, another bell tower to climb, and a city that maybe, just maybe, may be the European home base for a period of time we’ve been bandying about for a while now. It’s certainly affordable; not too big; on main train lines and bus routes; has a really fine feel about it. Of course, Ed reminds me that this is the third or fourth time I’ve said that about a city. But this time I mean it.

In our short time there, about 8 hours, we also found two city parks, one of which has a trail along the river. Interestingly, few retail shops were open on a Saturday. Plenty of cafés. On the brew tour we heard of a good Czech restaurant to try, from a local, Masné Kramé. It was crowded, with lots of reserved tables, (discovered this by sitting at one) but by rearranging a few tables and chairs, they found us a place. We both ordered from the specials of the day menu: venison meet balls on a skewer with mushrooms and a rich sauce for me and fried boar with almonds in a plum sauce for Ed. He made the better choice, though both were delicious. For dessert – walnut palačinky (crêpes, but they call ’em pancakes) filled with plum sauce and pistachio ice cream on the side. A little pear eau de vie to complete the meal and off we trundled for a night walk around Budejovice.