My friends Bri and Mikey from America came to visit with the sole purpose of drinking beer. A lot of it. So that's just what we did!
In fact, they weren't here a whole five minutes before we were already down in downtown Auerbach having beers and lunch.
My town is super cute. Especially so with a delicious Kulmbacher. Brian took this picture, and it was so pretty with the reflection in the glass table.
I know a beer post isn't really about fall or an eyeful of ivy on a building, but since this is my last fall in Auerbach, I needed to document that this is still my favorite building with it's beautiful chameleon ivy. Since we walked down to the downtown area (and back) I was able to get some good pictures of it. I think this building might be in the top five things of what I will miss most about Auerbach.
We wanted so much beer that we wanted to be able to bathe in it. Thus, we made a trip to Pilsen to the Purkmistr beer spa. I think the guys were kind of hesitant to do this... because, nakedness. And you know how it is in Europe... nudity isn't something anyone really cares about. But this spa was really nice and very private. If you're uncomfortable with it, you can just close the doors between the tubs. We all just turned around while the other two got in! The best part is... you get a beer while you relax in the beer tub! And you have a little tap where you can just refill it whenever you'd like!
The only downside of this spa is that the beer tubs only lasted 25 minutes. I would have liked at least 45 minutes! Plus, our kegs were super foamy.
After your 25 minutes in the tub, you get to go to a warm room where they serve you beer. Is this heaven?
At this point... I'm like, there's no way I should be driving back to the hotel. So I ran into THIS hotel and asked if I could just keep my car here because I didn't want to drink and drive. They said it was fine! Since I had read that this restaurant is one of the top rated in Pilsen, we decided to stay and try a flight and have some lunch. That's seriously the biggest flight I've ever seen. It's like baby Maß sized beers!
Naturally, everyone had to take a pic with their flight of beers.
Mikey looks a little hesitant. Has he trained enough for this? Only time would tell.
After a couple of baby beers, Bri and I decided we wanted to take a selfie feeding beer to this wooden bear that was in the courtyard. Because... beer.
Mikey took this pic of us with this silly bear from across the courtyard!
Before the rain set in, but also before we got our late lunch, it was time to get serious about beer.
The rain indeed set in... so we moved underneath the overhang to protect our beers. I think Bri wasn't sure about this strawberry flavored beer. But it turned out to be pretty good!
Upon arrival at the Pilsner Urquell factory, Brian took this cool pic of their logo lit up from behind beer bottles. Kind of reminds me of an adult Lite Brite.
Ok, let's just admit Brian is a better photographer than me. Here we go!
Another great shot by Brian of the Pilsner Urquell factory that he took just after we started the tour.
The first stop is in the bottling factory where you get a Laverne and Shirley vibe as the bottles pass down the conveyor belts at break neck speed. You can see them washed, judged (pass or fail), bottled and stickered.
This is their serious, "We love beer" faces.
Only... I'm certain Bri and I don't know how to be serious about anything.
Also along the tour we get to ride the LARGEST (superlative, check!) elevator in all of the the Czech Republic! I'm sure the guys weren't as excited about this as I was.
I've had enough beer at this point to steal hops and barley from the Pilsner Urquell factory and put it in my pocket, only to declare 10,000 times over the weekend that, "Guys! I've got a beer in my pocket!"
One of my favorite rooms along the tour is the 400 degree (ok, I exaggerate) triple decoction room where they boil the mash. Pilsner Urquell is one of my favorite European beers because of this. This is actually a somewhat new room for the factory - the old room couldn't handle the amount of beer that they needed to produce for sale based on demand.
Everyone's favorite stop on the tour though is the super cool (literally) underground where the beer is barreled (or in this case... not really here... this is just for show.) But you get a delicious glass of the unfiltered goodness that is Pilsner Urquell.
Brian took this wicked cool pic of my beer on the wooden barrel table.
Me. Mikey. Massachusetts. Beer.
Of course, I'm not normal, so I told the guy who was pouring the beer out of the tap, "Ich liebe dich" and then he decided he loved me too, so I had to tell him that Brian was my husband so he didn't think I was gonna go love on him. I mean, he was like 65 years old, but still. Beer. As I turned around to point to "my husband" Brian with his newly poured glass of beer, I thought the lighting was really cool and needed to immediately snap this picture.
Many barrels, lots of beer, low lighting and shiny shadows.
Lastly, before we went back up out of the basement we hit up the former ice storage room. Ice was dumped through the hole in the "ceiling" (at ground level) and stored here. Those creature shadows on the wall there are Brian and Mikey!
To continue on with the "we suck at selfies" theme that Brian and Mikey had going on in Massachusetts, we took this. And unfortunately I'm too short for all the fun.
Upon leaving (oh man... maybe it was when we arrived?), Mikey took this pic of Bri and I. I never had a big brother, so Brian is as close as I will ever get!
We stumbled back through the city heading back to the hotel - and I was loving this pic at the lake in the area known as the Mlýnská Strouha. There are bodies in the river doing handstands!
And then there was this.
We made our way back to our hotel to take a quick break before heading out to dinner. On the same block as our hotel was this. Because that's appropriate. Also, where's the comma?
We finally ventured into the main square in Pilsen, which was very close to our hotel and is one of my favorites in all of Europe. The architecture is so beautiful and everything is super quirky. After we looked around the square, we went to Comix Kitchen and Bar for some dinner. It was a series of bars and a restaurant just off the square.
The best part of this dinner wasn't these two beers. Instead, it was the fact that Mikey unknowingly ordered a Birell non alcoholic beer!
Bri and me and the kitchen where our awesome meal came from.
No one could believe that our total bill was 65 Euro. For three people. With multiple drinks. This meal easily could have been 65 Euro EACH in Boston.
But wait, we just want ONE MORE BEER. Good thing they sold them at the hotel check-in desk. And do I make this face in every photo?
We slept poorly because our hotel was on the same street as a SUPER LOUD tram car and Brian had to close the window when a drunk guy was yelling on the street in the middle of the night. But in the morning, we took a cab back down to the Purkmistr to retrieve my car which I was praying was still there - and it was! After the retrieval, we took a quick stroll around the main square in the daylight to get some better pictures.
Brian thinks these buildings are the bees knees. (Also... who ever says bees knees? This girl. That's who.)
If you only really knew how many of these pictures I took on a daily basis.
The architecture in Pilsen is really something I can't even describe. It's just so pretty.
Remember a couple of summers ago when we went to Pilsen and it was so hot when we were here at the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew? It was founded in 1295 and it has the tallest church tower in the Czech Republic (superlative, check!)
These buildings are just so incredible, from top to bottom.
This picture is kind of out of order because I just wanted a picture of the comfortable Hotel Continental, with it's easy listening early morning breakfast tunes (Franki Valli's song - You're just too good to be true... Can't take my eyes off of you... I love you baby! And if it's quite alright, I need you baby....) This song was literally in our heads all weekend - and even followed us to Oktoberfest!
But this is really the epitome of the weekend. Pilsen. Good friends. Good food. Good beer. This is one of those epic trips that goes down in history as one of the best ever!
Until next time, Pilsen! Next up... Oktoberfest!
In fact, they weren't here a whole five minutes before we were already down in downtown Auerbach having beers and lunch.
My town is super cute. Especially so with a delicious Kulmbacher. Brian took this picture, and it was so pretty with the reflection in the glass table.
I know a beer post isn't really about fall or an eyeful of ivy on a building, but since this is my last fall in Auerbach, I needed to document that this is still my favorite building with it's beautiful chameleon ivy. Since we walked down to the downtown area (and back) I was able to get some good pictures of it. I think this building might be in the top five things of what I will miss most about Auerbach.
We wanted so much beer that we wanted to be able to bathe in it. Thus, we made a trip to Pilsen to the Purkmistr beer spa. I think the guys were kind of hesitant to do this... because, nakedness. And you know how it is in Europe... nudity isn't something anyone really cares about. But this spa was really nice and very private. If you're uncomfortable with it, you can just close the doors between the tubs. We all just turned around while the other two got in! The best part is... you get a beer while you relax in the beer tub! And you have a little tap where you can just refill it whenever you'd like!
The only downside of this spa is that the beer tubs only lasted 25 minutes. I would have liked at least 45 minutes! Plus, our kegs were super foamy.
After your 25 minutes in the tub, you get to go to a warm room where they serve you beer. Is this heaven?
At this point... I'm like, there's no way I should be driving back to the hotel. So I ran into THIS hotel and asked if I could just keep my car here because I didn't want to drink and drive. They said it was fine! Since I had read that this restaurant is one of the top rated in Pilsen, we decided to stay and try a flight and have some lunch. That's seriously the biggest flight I've ever seen. It's like baby Maß sized beers!
Naturally, everyone had to take a pic with their flight of beers.
Mikey looks a little hesitant. Has he trained enough for this? Only time would tell.
After a couple of baby beers, Bri and I decided we wanted to take a selfie feeding beer to this wooden bear that was in the courtyard. Because... beer.
Mikey took this pic of us with this silly bear from across the courtyard!
Before the rain set in, but also before we got our late lunch, it was time to get serious about beer.
The rain indeed set in... so we moved underneath the overhang to protect our beers. I think Bri wasn't sure about this strawberry flavored beer. But it turned out to be pretty good!
After a delicious lunch, but before we left, I had to go to the bathroom... and this is how I was greeted in my stall. A creeper.
With the car situation settled, we had our super cool waiter call us a cab so we could get back to the hotel in time to walk to the Pilsner Urquell factory for our 4:30 pm tour.
Upon arrival at the Pilsner Urquell factory, Brian took this cool pic of their logo lit up from behind beer bottles. Kind of reminds me of an adult Lite Brite.
Ok, let's just admit Brian is a better photographer than me. Here we go!
Perhaps those flights of beer and large mugs in the spa were a bit much for us at this point. I kid! Brian and Mikey were ready for the tour! I think these are their, "Leen, stop taking pictures of us" faces. Or perhaps I just caught them off guard.
Another great shot by Brian of the Pilsner Urquell factory that he took just after we started the tour.
The first stop is in the bottling factory where you get a Laverne and Shirley vibe as the bottles pass down the conveyor belts at break neck speed. You can see them washed, judged (pass or fail), bottled and stickered.
This is their serious, "We love beer" faces.
Only... I'm certain Bri and I don't know how to be serious about anything.
Also along the tour we get to ride the LARGEST (superlative, check!) elevator in all of the the Czech Republic! I'm sure the guys weren't as excited about this as I was.
I've had enough beer at this point to steal hops and barley from the Pilsner Urquell factory and put it in my pocket, only to declare 10,000 times over the weekend that, "Guys! I've got a beer in my pocket!"
One of my favorite rooms along the tour is the 400 degree (ok, I exaggerate) triple decoction room where they boil the mash. Pilsner Urquell is one of my favorite European beers because of this. This is actually a somewhat new room for the factory - the old room couldn't handle the amount of beer that they needed to produce for sale based on demand.
Everyone's favorite stop on the tour though is the super cool (literally) underground where the beer is barreled (or in this case... not really here... this is just for show.) But you get a delicious glass of the unfiltered goodness that is Pilsner Urquell.
Brian took this wicked cool pic of my beer on the wooden barrel table.
Me. Mikey. Massachusetts. Beer.
Not long after this pic of Mikey and Bri was taken while they were deep in conversation, our tour guide said, "Would anyone like another glass? He is offering to pour another glass!" Um. Yes. Because our beers are low.
Of course, I'm not normal, so I told the guy who was pouring the beer out of the tap, "Ich liebe dich" and then he decided he loved me too, so I had to tell him that Brian was my husband so he didn't think I was gonna go love on him. I mean, he was like 65 years old, but still. Beer. As I turned around to point to "my husband" Brian with his newly poured glass of beer, I thought the lighting was really cool and needed to immediately snap this picture.
Many barrels, lots of beer, low lighting and shiny shadows.
Lastly, before we went back up out of the basement we hit up the former ice storage room. Ice was dumped through the hole in the "ceiling" (at ground level) and stored here. Those creature shadows on the wall there are Brian and Mikey!
To continue on with the "we suck at selfies" theme that Brian and Mikey had going on in Massachusetts, we took this. And unfortunately I'm too short for all the fun.
Upon leaving (oh man... maybe it was when we arrived?), Mikey took this pic of Bri and I. I never had a big brother, so Brian is as close as I will ever get!
We stumbled back through the city heading back to the hotel - and I was loving this pic at the lake in the area known as the Mlýnská Strouha. There are bodies in the river doing handstands!
And then there was this.
We made our way back to our hotel to take a quick break before heading out to dinner. On the same block as our hotel was this. Because that's appropriate. Also, where's the comma?
We finally ventured into the main square in Pilsen, which was very close to our hotel and is one of my favorites in all of Europe. The architecture is so beautiful and everything is super quirky. After we looked around the square, we went to Comix Kitchen and Bar for some dinner. It was a series of bars and a restaurant just off the square.
The best part of this dinner wasn't these two beers. Instead, it was the fact that Mikey unknowingly ordered a Birell non alcoholic beer!
Bri and me and the kitchen where our awesome meal came from.
No one could believe that our total bill was 65 Euro. For three people. With multiple drinks. This meal easily could have been 65 Euro EACH in Boston.
But wait, we just want ONE MORE BEER. Good thing they sold them at the hotel check-in desk. And do I make this face in every photo?
We slept poorly because our hotel was on the same street as a SUPER LOUD tram car and Brian had to close the window when a drunk guy was yelling on the street in the middle of the night. But in the morning, we took a cab back down to the Purkmistr to retrieve my car which I was praying was still there - and it was! After the retrieval, we took a quick stroll around the main square in the daylight to get some better pictures.
Brian thinks these buildings are the bees knees. (Also... who ever says bees knees? This girl. That's who.)
If you only really knew how many of these pictures I took on a daily basis.
The architecture in Pilsen is really something I can't even describe. It's just so pretty.
Remember a couple of summers ago when we went to Pilsen and it was so hot when we were here at the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew? It was founded in 1295 and it has the tallest church tower in the Czech Republic (superlative, check!)
These buildings are just so incredible, from top to bottom.
This picture is kind of out of order because I just wanted a picture of the comfortable Hotel Continental, with it's easy listening early morning breakfast tunes (Franki Valli's song - You're just too good to be true... Can't take my eyes off of you... I love you baby! And if it's quite alright, I need you baby....) This song was literally in our heads all weekend - and even followed us to Oktoberfest!
But this is really the epitome of the weekend. Pilsen. Good friends. Good food. Good beer. This is one of those epic trips that goes down in history as one of the best ever!
Until next time, Pilsen! Next up... Oktoberfest!
