Finally...

Me above bottling area.
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To begin with, I want to thank all of you that write comments on my blogs.  They are so enjoyable to read and I am grateful you are all staying in touch.  I really appreciate it.

Well, this past weekend was great.  After many weekends in Prague, we decided to finally take a day trip.  With so many great options in the Czech, we had a difficult time choosing.  But we came to a final decision to head to Plzen.  This was an hour by bus.  We (Natalie and I) went with three other girls.  Traci (the one I met through facebook), Elizabeth (taking TEFL course at the school we work at), and then her roommate, Kari.

All of us girls
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Upon arriving in Plzen, we walked toward their town center.  Again another square, near a church and some statues.  One the way we stopped for some good, ol' czech cuisine.  Four of us got the famous beef goulash... yum!  After filling ourselves, we ventured toward the Pilsner Urquell Brewery.  This place is huge!  We sign up for a tour then take a seat outside and enjoy a delicious beer.  This was one of my first dark beer experiences here, and it went down surprisingly smooth.

Me by biggest keg.
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The tour started by taking us to the bottling facility.  Many bottles, cans, and card board boxes, ready to send that beer on its way.  Next we head to the filtrating area where the add hops and such.  Upon learning a bit of its history (it has been open since 1839!), we enter a cave like area.  Down below, we learn more about the beer making process, especially it's earlier times.  We move along to a beer tapping session, where we try some unfiltered beer.  It was good.  The tour ends by seeing one of their biggest kegs below.

Where we had our unfiltered beer.
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Following the tour, we go to their restaurant and have a drink and pretzel.  Soon it is time for the bus to take us back to Prague, so we head back towards the station, stopping for just one more tasty drink.  We make it back on the bus and are on our way.

It doesn't sound like much, but the tour was very fun.  It was interesting too, being in such an old brewery.

This weekend is holiday for the Czech.  Most people have Friday off to celebrate.  We might head to a wine tasting at a castle that one of my students told me about, but I am having dificulty finding the information.  Hope you all have another wonderful week.