A Day Trip to Plzen

On Saturday a group of us from the program decided to go to Plzen for the day to, you know, drink beer. It seems like the only thing to do here. But when you’re faced with the statistics, Czechs drink more beer than the United States. Like, a lot more. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the journey but this week I’ve realized I feel the most “homesick” when my mind is idle. I’m a creature of habit and I’d much rather sit on the couch and read or watch Netflix than going out every day to do things, but sitting around feels different here. I’m not in my normal habitat so lounging just doesn’t bring the same comfort as it did back home. I hope that sometime soon once I move into my own apartment I’ll feel better about that, but for the time being, forcing myself out of my comfort zone seemed like the best way to keep myself busy.

Our trip started with getting out of town. We took a tram to the main train station closest to us, called Praha hlavní nádraží. From there it was kind of a disaster trying to figure out where our train was leaving from and when. For most of us this was our first experience riding trains in the country and we didn’t really know what we were doing. I was kind of along for the ride and hoping someone else would take it upon themselves to lead us in the right direction. By the time we got up to the correct platform we rushed on to find seats. I decided to sit in the very back to avoid awkwardly sitting by a random person but a Czech girl in front of me told me that I had chosen a seat where the disabled people normally seat. Whoops! I silently hoped no one disabled would get on so there wouldn’t be an awkward exchange. The hour and a half train ride turned into almost three due to electricity issues on the line, so by the time we got off we were all pretty antsy to get the adventure started.

Before we started our day we all agreed we were pretty hungry. We decided to get some legit Czech cuisine- McDonald’s of course! I was still terrified to order food in front of anyone but thankfully this store had the touch screen ordering. It’s funny how McDonald’s is a national company, but in the Czech Republic not only can you get fries, you can order fried cheese bites in the shape of a star! I decided to play it safe with a wrap and fries. Since being here I’ve had way less caffeine than I’m used to so I also got a Diet Coke, but it doesn’t taste the same here. I’m going to have to get used to the change in taste. After our lunch we followed signs to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery where we were signed up for an English speaking tour. Thankfully I had purchased our tickets the night before because our tour group was completely full.

Our tour guide was named Patricia and she had the most interesting accent. She was Czech but had learned English from someone in the UK so when she spoke English it was a mixture of a strange accent and her over enunciating every word, almost to the point that even though she was speaking English, I had to focus really hard to understand what she was saying. The tour consisted of leading us through every process of how the Pilsner beer is made. We started by watching how all the bottles are acquired and filled. The filling line can fill as many as 60,000 bottles per hour. Yes, that’s 1,000 bottles of beer a minute! Watching the bottles move through the belts and clink together was mesmerizing. It was also interesting because most of us assumed there would be a bunch of workers in the factory but nowadays machines do most of the work! In that part of the tour I only saw two people working, who were in charge of removing bottles that might be broken or not filled correctly.

We then moved to seeing how they actually make the beer. Pilsner Urquell prides themselves in only using a few ingredients for their beer- soft Pilsen water, Saaz hops, barley from Moravia and yeast. We were able to taste the hops and barley that they use. Let me tell you, I am not a fan of the smell of hops or yeast. The taste of the beer can be attributed to the extremely soft water that comes from wells deep below the ground, and the hoppy taste, despite it being a pale beer. We walked through rooms full of copper metal tanks that are no longer in use but was once where all of the beer ran through. Again, with technology being what it is today, their process is much more streamlined and the use for some of the older materials is no longer necessary.

The last part of the tour included our entire group getting to go down to the cellars and seeing where all of their barrels are stored. It was a chilly fifty degrees once inside, and everything around us was damp. Our tour guide showed us open barrels with beer sitting in it, and we got to walk through a row of barrels where an older gentleman was waiting for us with glasses. He tapped open a barrel and began pouring beer straight from it! Our tour ended with us enjoying a glass of unpasteurized Pilsner down in the cellars surrounded by gigantic barrels. It was quite the experience. The beer definitely tasted a little different since it was unpasteurized and I wasn’t too fond of the extra hops taste, but it was still delicious.

After the tour we decided to walk to the town’s main square where we found an amazing Cathedral built in the 1500s. The architecture was beautifully Gothic, and we even saw people at the very top of the tower. We learned you can climb almost three hundred steps up to the top to get an amazing view. Let me tell you, three hundred steep steps is a lot to climb in a short period. I was huffing and puffing by the end! When we got to the top the tower had a wire fence around the perimeter and there was only about a foot or two of room around all four sides. Only one person could walk by at a time. We stayed up there for quite some time just soaking in the beautiful views. One thing I love about Prague is all of the old architecture, especially the almost copper rooftops. The weather was nice and windy and I felt like I could’ve stayed up there all day because it was so peaceful.

Once we got back down to the bottom we decided to look up a restaurant suggested to us by our guide- Beer Factory. We walked inside and got a table large enough for the group of us. The dinner experience was a little awkward, at least in my eyes. I could tell our server did not feel comfortable with his knowledge of English so he seemed reluctant to come to our table as often as a normal server would. We all ordered a couple of beers and shared a huge meat and cheese plate appetizer. I’ve noticed that Czech people place their whole order at once, whereas most Americans are used to ordering drinks and appetizers before ordering their entrees. I think this confused our server because he took forever to come back and take our dinner orders. Nonetheless, it was nice to sit and enjoy each other's’ company sitting down for a good while. I shared a plate of steak, peppers and rice with another member of our group since neither of us were hungry for a full meal after the appetizers.

The rest of our evening was spent walking around the town in the wonderful weather just exploring. We didn’t really know what else to do and we had to kill some time before walking back to the station to catch our train home. I absolutely love how there are so many parks around the country and it seems like evenings are spent outside enjoying the weather by walking. We looked at artwork and statues around town and got to see a lovely sunset before walking back to ride home. Overall, it was a long, tiring day but it was fun to get to explore a new part of the country. I’m hoping that as I become more comfortable with living here that I can venture out to the lesser populated towns to learn more about the country!