The Prague Blog

Another Eastern European capital...check! Prague was great. It is, of course, filled with beautiful gothic and baroque churches and fantastic museums. While those do not get old to visit in person, blogging about them can. Let's focus instead on hockey and beer!

A Jumbo Latte

Prague's Old Town Square

Street performers in the square

Czech Republic is famous for producing talented hockey players, about 50 now play in the NHL. Knowing this, I wasn't leaving Prague without seeing a hockey game. As luck would have it, we got to see two! The first game was at the home arena of HC (hockey club) Sparta. The arena was fine, nothing too impressive, with a capacity of about 9,000. It was awesome. The seats behind each net are reserved for the fan clubs. The fans were all decked out in their team jerseys and scarves, and they were well organized--chanting and singing throughout. We downed a few tasty $1.50 pints and thoroughly enjoyed the game, despite the home teaming losing 5-4.

At the game

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAL!!!!!!!

Tasty stadium treat

The second game was between the two Prague rivals, HC Sparta and HC Slavia. It was at Slavia's home rink--the brand new 14,000 seat O2 arena. This game was so much more fun. The stands were packed. The fans were cheering and chanting the entire game, just like European soccer. Sparta won 4-3, in overtime. The fans were still singing as we all jammed into the metro to head back into the city center. The atmosphere was absolutely electric.

Czech Republic is also famous for its beers. The first pilsner beer was brewed at Plzen in 1842. Every pilsner you have ever enjoyed is a copy of those made here. Kim and I toured the brewery, about a one hour train ride from Prague. We were able to see the modern packaging plant, capable of washing, filling, and packing 60,000 bottles per hour on each of its two production lines. To keep the tourists happy, they still produce some the old fashioned way, and we were able to taste the product as it once was, unfiltered and unpasteurized. MMMMM!

60,000 bottles per hour!

Enojoying a taste in the old cellar

Lunch!

Just to keep things balanced, we also attended two operas. I'm totally hooked on opera now. Those people are incredible. I'll never be able to watch American Idol again! Before you get too carried away though, you should know that one of the operas was performed by puppets! We saw Cosi fan Tutte live at the State Opera House, and we saw Don Giovanni at the Marionette Theatre. The puppets were a little disappointing, but what could we really expect? We're off to Hungary for a few days. I hear they also have excellent opera...stay tuned!

The marionette theatre

Prague Castle