Authentic Prague Pub Experience

I know it is hard for some of you to believe, but part of our agenda in Prague was to soak up the pub culture. We consulted our guide books and came up with a couple of choices. The first place we went to was fairly subduded. They on have once choice of beer, Pilsner Urquell, a favorite of Curt's. There were all sorts of folks there, and a nice family sat next to us and were served what looked like a roasted pig head.

Our bravery increased after a couple of beers and we ventured to the second place on our list. It was famed that the Czech president took Bill Clinton here to show him local beer culture. In fact, we saw the photo on the wall. We tentatively entered and looked around for a place to sit. We had also read that it is common for others to join a table, so we asked three men if we could join them. They told us to ask the bartender, and round and round. They were giving us crap, but eventually welcomed us to the table. Here again, there is only one kind of beer, and they just keep coming. He put a slip of paper on our table and wrote down a mark for every beer they brought us. We notcied the tables around us had lots of marks. Mind you, the clientel was 90% male. Big guys. Curt looked slight in comparison. There was one table of older Czech women. They were not to be dismissed either. In fact, one of the women was trying to fistfight an older gentleman. Her friends held her back as she was trying to throw punches and screamed at the man. I would not have messed with her. Things were starting to get interesting...At the other end of the bar there was an accordian player and a group of people singing like a rugby team. The guys at our table got some food. They shared a large scoop of beef (hamburger) with a raw egg on top. Mind you it was all raw, like a meatloaf before the oven. They mixed in onion, mustard, etc, and put it on toast. I guess I won't be eating. A few more check marks into the evening, and the guys at our table started to try out their english and talk to us. They bought us a round. By the way, they had no less than 40 check marks for the 3 of them. We had a good time talking to our new Czech fishermen friends and stumbled home with a bucket of KFC.

Yesterday we made the pilgrimage to Plzen to tour the brewery and the brew museum. One more day in Prague, and we will be off to our final destination.

We've read of the cold and snow in Seattle. Good luck to you all.