We just spent the past two days in a little town called Česky Krumlov. It's a very old Renaissance town that has basically managed to remain super-preserved for hundreds of years due to the fact that it has basically no strategic significance to anyone. There's a big castle which was interesting because rather than being built of stone, they built it of...plaster? and painted it to look like it was made of stone.
The town is cut through by the Vltava river, so the very center is kind of like a little island. It's very cute and cobblestone and there's lots of restaurants. It's a very touristy place but not in the bad McDonalds-and-Starbucks sense. In general it seemed a bit more expensive than Prague but I still got pork, fries, beer, and apple strudel today for $10, so maybe I'm wrong. We stayed in a pension that was also really nice.
So the town was very pretty but there was not actually a ton to do. We took a tour of the castle and the castle theater, which were cool. Other than that we tried to find the "Fairytale House", which was recommended by our program leaders, but we couldn't find it and in my opinion it doesn't exist. There's an art museum too, which I didn't go to. Mostly you just wander around.
The absolute best part of our two days (really one-and-a-half) was dinner Sunday night. We ate at a restaurant in this back room that was really cool and medieval, the walls were all stone and curving in and there were big wooden tables with benches. I may have pictures later. But the best part was the GYPSY BAND that CET hired to play for us. They were fuckin SWEET. We danced, a lot, which basically consists of clapping really fast and hopping around, or grabbing hands with someone else and hopping around. We also drank a lot of beer. Basically it was awesome.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007
jsem studentka! jsem američanka!
I really need to get a hang of the blog thing. I've been in Prague for 2 weeks and haven't written anything but I do want to, you know, talk about myself endlessly.
Today I will discuss pubs. Pubs are good. Find a cheap pub, and you can get .5 L of beer for around 20 koruny, which is $1. You can also get dinner for $5 - usually some kind of goulash and dumplings. Almost everything is supercheap here compared to U.S. standards. At one restaurant I had duck in a honey glaze with potato dumplings, a bottle of water, and this amazing dessert that was 3 big crumpets with blueberries and lots of whipped cream on top. I was sooo full by the end and it all cost $15 total...which actually felt really expensive considering the fact that you can eat even cheaper. We also go all the time just to get some beer. It's very chill and they never rush you and damn is it sweet to be overage in Europe. (Not that anyone ever cards you, anyway.)
So far my favorite beer here is Staropramen. Pilsner is probably the most popular one, but personally I don't think it's as good. There's also Gambrinus which is okay, and Budvar, aka Budweiser, who is the original Budweiser and a lot better than the American crap. And, of course, there is Becherovka. Becherovka is about the same proof as vodka, and it tastes like Christmas. There's no other way to describe it. A 200 ml bottle is about $15. Anyway, all I've taken shots of here is Becherovka, but that may have to change soon. That shit lingers in your mouth no matter what you drink after it, and you can't mix it with anything that I know of. Yeah, I'm a pansy.
It's really cool going into these places and having them actually be just like the ones I read about in Prague tourbooks. The first night I was here we went to a little dive-y place for dinner near our hostel, and just like the books said - the waitress automatically brought us beers, and automatically refilled them until we put our beer mats on top. (It was also true that when you try speaking Czech they become a LOT nicer.) Also like in the books - they keep your tab by making slash marks on a little piece of paper that you have to keep on your table. It's pretty bad if you lose it, but so far none of us have.
The weirdest pub experience I have had was just the other night. We were trying to find a cheap place to eat, and we walk by one and notice that there is a topless waitress inside. Not just shirtless; she had nothing on but a skirt. Of course all the guys were thrilled. But she was a tough broad, dude, I wouldn't mess with her. No explanation inside why she was half-naked, and there was another waitress fully-clothed, but nobody seemed particularly interested in the fact that she had no shirt on. (The place was not very good. I had a paličinka - crepe - with zmrzlina - ice cream - and the ice cream tasted all alcohol-y, which I don't like, and the powdered sugar made for a really icky texture.) We asked Brandon's Czech roommate, Marek, if it was normal for a waitress to be topless in Prague, and he assured us that it is not. I guess that's kind of comforting...
Today I will discuss pubs. Pubs are good. Find a cheap pub, and you can get .5 L of beer for around 20 koruny, which is $1. You can also get dinner for $5 - usually some kind of goulash and dumplings. Almost everything is supercheap here compared to U.S. standards. At one restaurant I had duck in a honey glaze with potato dumplings, a bottle of water, and this amazing dessert that was 3 big crumpets with blueberries and lots of whipped cream on top. I was sooo full by the end and it all cost $15 total...which actually felt really expensive considering the fact that you can eat even cheaper. We also go all the time just to get some beer. It's very chill and they never rush you and damn is it sweet to be overage in Europe. (Not that anyone ever cards you, anyway.)
So far my favorite beer here is Staropramen. Pilsner is probably the most popular one, but personally I don't think it's as good. There's also Gambrinus which is okay, and Budvar, aka Budweiser, who is the original Budweiser and a lot better than the American crap. And, of course, there is Becherovka. Becherovka is about the same proof as vodka, and it tastes like Christmas. There's no other way to describe it. A 200 ml bottle is about $15. Anyway, all I've taken shots of here is Becherovka, but that may have to change soon. That shit lingers in your mouth no matter what you drink after it, and you can't mix it with anything that I know of. Yeah, I'm a pansy.
It's really cool going into these places and having them actually be just like the ones I read about in Prague tourbooks. The first night I was here we went to a little dive-y place for dinner near our hostel, and just like the books said - the waitress automatically brought us beers, and automatically refilled them until we put our beer mats on top. (It was also true that when you try speaking Czech they become a LOT nicer.) Also like in the books - they keep your tab by making slash marks on a little piece of paper that you have to keep on your table. It's pretty bad if you lose it, but so far none of us have.
The weirdest pub experience I have had was just the other night. We were trying to find a cheap place to eat, and we walk by one and notice that there is a topless waitress inside. Not just shirtless; she had nothing on but a skirt. Of course all the guys were thrilled. But she was a tough broad, dude, I wouldn't mess with her. No explanation inside why she was half-naked, and there was another waitress fully-clothed, but nobody seemed particularly interested in the fact that she had no shirt on. (The place was not very good. I had a paličinka - crepe - with zmrzlina - ice cream - and the ice cream tasted all alcohol-y, which I don't like, and the powdered sugar made for a really icky texture.) We asked Brandon's Czech roommate, Marek, if it was normal for a waitress to be topless in Prague, and he assured us that it is not. I guess that's kind of comforting...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)