Czech Republic 2003 -2004

Czech Republic


Pivo enjoyed:

Policske Otakar Svetly Lezak 11
Bohemian Pilnser
Brewed By:
Pivovar Policka
572 14 Polička, Pivovarská 151
Česká republika
IČ: 60112344 DIČ: CZ60112344

Velkopopovický Kozel Pale
4% ABV
Brewed By:
Radka Kubátová
Plzeňský Prazdroj, a. s.
Pivovar Velké Popovice
Ringhofferova 1
251 69 Velké Popovice

Budweiser Budvar
Premium Lager
BUDĚJOVICKÝ BUDVAR, N. P.
KAROLINY SVĚTLÉ 4
370 21 ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE









Pilsner Urquell
Czech Pilsner





Travel notes:

December 20: Arrive in Vienna, Austria. Drive through a few Austrian villages into the Czech Republic, then onto Klentnice, the town of the Michnas, Joseph, Ellen, Lukas and Christina. Our first party tonight in Mikulov with some locals, we have already started sampling the local wines. This area is the Napa Valley of the Czech Republic, everybody makes, grows or has something to do with wines. Vineyards and cellars are everywhere.

Dec 21: Visited Lednice, very cold around 30 degrees and the sun sets about 4pm, this took a few days to adjust.

Dec 22: Travel day to Frydek Mistek, borrowing the family Skoda we set out, via many wrong turn, traffic circles and just about every other driving situation to make a 4 hour trip a six hour trip. Along the way we stopped in Novy Hrozenkov, this is the mountain village my family originated from in the 1500's. My father and I took a picture with the classic "brothers meet in" pose at the village sign.

Dec 23: Frydek Mistik, walked all over the town. Had a surprise meal at the Zamacek Pod Hramen in the great room. Our host treated us to a wonderful dinner as a parting gift before we set off for our return drive to Kletnice.


Dec 24: After celebrating Christmas, that evening Chantal, and I joined Lukas and Marie for a trip to a local pub in Mikulov. We discovered a beer called Velvet. This turned out to be one of our favorite beers, I managed to borrow a glass from the pub to bring back to the states. The beers were very cheap about .25-.45 cents per 0.3L!

Dec 25: We went to visit a few local wine cellars in Budovice. A wine cellar in this area is about as common as a garage is in the US, almost everybody had one, filled with barrels and bottles of wine. The first cellar we went to was Joseph's "working" cellar to taste a few of his wines. Shortly after we arrived one of the other local wine makers stopped in to shared some wine samples and then invited us to his cellar. This had a snowball effect and we managed to stop in at four different cellars, along the way our group grew larger and we lost track of the wine sampling.

December 26: Joseph was kind enough to contact all of the wine makers and get the names and vintage of the wines we sampled. 48 different wines from whites to reds, vintage 2000 - 2003, a very intoxicating evening. We visited two more cellars today in Kletnice but I refrained from sampling. There is a very interesting custom to stick a coin in the natural mold growing on the walls of cellars, the custom is if you leave coin, you will return to visit again. I stuck coins in every cellar we visited, right next to some that seemed to be a part of the wall itself.

We ate dinner at a restaurant near the border, the owner invited us to see her private cellar. This was nothing like the cellars we had been visiting, this was a beautiful, high end cellar, with large collections of bottles. Another interesting thin about this cellar was the owners collection of bricks that she had incorporated into the entire cellar. Antique bricks, bricks from Nazi Germany, just about every kind you could imagine. No wine was produced in this cellar as it was more of a show room/tasting room than cellar. The tasting room consisted of a large room with a great table with seating for 16, along with various side rooms with bottle displays, lights and table settings. Not to mention a fireplace and cooking stove with a very organic copper hood vent. Lots of custom details could be seen throughout the cellar.

Dec 27 - 28: Prague, stayed at the Hotel Pramen, felt like an old communist building. We traveled via subway to various parts of the capital. Old Square, Charles Bridge, Tyn Church. Dinner was in a small Italian restaurant. I stopped in a McDonalds for a cheeseburger to see if they tasted the same, they did.

Dec 29 - 30: Shopping for handmade crystal and garnet jewelry in Mikulov, Breclav and Lednice. We met back in Mikulov for dinner at the Hotel Zamacek. A full cooked goose, purple sauerkraut and knedlicky.

Dec 31: New Years Party with the younger generation at the Hotel Zamacek, A large room had been reserved for us to celebrate. It took us a little but to get over the language barrier but alcohol quickly became the vehicle for easier communication. The girls introduced us to a Czech drink called Becherovka, a potent drink that tastes like Jager mixed with vodka and ginger ale, pretty stout drink. I introduced them to the game quarters, then a version of speed quarters or chandeliers. At midnight we gathered outside in the snow cheering and watching the fireworks from Mikulov. Instead of driving home we stayed at a room in the hotel.

Jan 1