Budweiser Budvar prosim

Phrase of the week: Budweiser Budvar prosim = Czech Budweiser please. Although there is plenty of Budweiser in Prague, it is not the same Anheuser-Busch beer that it produced in the US. Apparently the founder of AB was from the region (Germany or Czechoslovakia) and wanted to make a beer that reminded him of home, used the name of a beer that was already in production, and the problems began. There are on-going legal battles around the world, but there is no clear winner thus far.

Observation of the week: As one of the largest drinkers of beer per capita in the world, Czechs believe that it cures all ailments, including colds, an upset stomach and insomnia.

This weekend, not only were we able to visit Prague, but Tim was able to meet other Emr’s and see where his great grandfather was raised in the small town of Zirovnice. When planning our trip, we received help from Vaclav Zeman, the boyfriend of Jarka Emr (a distant relative). They set up the visit to Zirovnice, met us at the airport, and would keep us on busy the entire time we were there if they had their way. Until Vaclav learned that we were in our 30’s (and not teenagers), he thought that we shouldn’t be left alone in a foreign city. Needless to say, we ended up going out every night after they thought that we were in bed at the hotel (they must think that we sleep 14 hours every night).

We flew into Prague Friday afternoon and Vaclav and Jarka took us to Hotel Union. The hotel was perfect for what we needed: clean, inexpensive, and close to the tram. They took us on a walking tour of the city and gave us some history of the country. After about 3 hours of walking around in 10 degree weather, Alicia caught a chill and almost had a heart attack on the sidewalk. Luckily, there was a café nearby and we were able to warm up. Vaclav had the “hot wine,” which is a local favorite for the area. For dinner our first night, we found a nice restaurant in old town and grabbed some pizza (it was excellent).

On Saturday morning (8:30 a.m. to be exact . . .), Jan Emr and his girlfriend Marcela picked us up to head to Zirovnice. The drive took about an hour and a half through the countryside. It is a beautiful country, and it would be great to visit again when it’s a little warmer. We were met by Jan’s parents (Cestmir and Helena), his grandmother (Cecilia), and brother (Cestmir). Cestmir and his wife, Hana, have three children: Cestmir, Lucie and Vojta. In order to keep the Emr family tradition alive, Alicia has already agreed to name a son Cestmir. Although you wouldn’t know it from looking at the outside of the house, they had a chicken coop, hares, and a small garden. Alicia enjoyed playing with dinner. Ariana warned us that we would be overfed and told that we were too thin. She was right. The Emr’s made us a great lunch and even sent us off with some Czech vodka and their version of moonshine. Here are some pictures of how my great grandfather's house looks today. On the way home, we stopped at another town, Telc, which looked like a Hollywood set. When we got back to Prague, Jarka and Vaclav had a big evening planned with traditional Czech music and dancing. Check out Alicia’s moves on the dance floor. Not to be outdone, see Tim here. Maybe the waltz isn’t our strongest dance.

On Sunday, we met up with Jarka and Vaclav at the National Theatre to watch the play, Cyrano de Bergerac. Although Sunday performances are typically in English, unfortunately, the performance was in Czech. It was still very entertaining, and the inside of the theatre was beautiful. After the play, we ate some Mediterraean food at a great little restaurant (who knew that we would have to come to Prague for some spicy food?)

On Monday, we saw the Prague Castle and ate some authentic Czech cuisine at a restaurant overlooking the river. That night, we went to a touristy restaurant in the old town, but it had great food, music, and even had a TV playing some local entertainment. Hah!

This weekend, Brian and Jennie Pastor were in town visiting from London, so we will have some pictures of them to put up soon.

P.S. Tim wrote this blog entry – notice all of the food references? I think we’re both over jamon y queso . . .