Must stops in Budweis/Budejovice and Prague?

"Lew Bryson" wrote in news:vmlXd.1552$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com:

In Prague, U Fleku (11 Kremencova) is definitely worth going to. After that, try Dum (15 Lipova). For a bottle shop, Pivni Galerie is highly recommended (9 U Pruhonu).

Have fun, Ern

Got 'em, Ern, thanks.

A caveat on U Fleku: yes, the beer is good, yes, it's atmospheric, and if you want to avoid locals, it's a good a place as any. Even by Prague standards, the beer here is expensive. Just a note. There are places in town that are even more about fleecing the occasional unlucky idiot who wanders in, so this place is still worth a try. Oh, and your U Fleku tasty dark lager is served in Prussian pints.

"Dum" is "Pivovarsky Dum" - Brewery House. It's a brewpub. The beer range is unusually imaginative; there are house pale and dark lagers, as might be expected, but also some curiousities: coffee beer, banana beer, "champagne" beer, and more. Interesting place.

Another brewpub, Novome(stský pivovar, doesn't get the props, partly because it's a little hard to find, even though it's in a busy part of town. The place is labyrinthine, and the beers are open-fermented, or at least they were last time I looked. It's been a while.

dgs wrote in news:3trXd.49$ snipped-for-privacy@news.uswest.net:

Oh yeah, forgot about that one. It's at 20 Vodickova.

There's also Klasterni (restaurant/brewery) at 302 Strahovske, also worth a stop.

Cheers, Ernest

Beautiful. Thanks!

You know, I keep seeing that in travel advice. What the hell are they talking about, changing money with free market guys right on the street? How dumb would you have to be? Should I stay away from ATMs on the street as well?

Yes, that's the advice I've been given: use ATMs inside banks only. I don't know this from firsthand experience (in 2 weeks I'll be visiting Prague for the first time). But, there are reports of street front ATMs being equiped with card readers...

Bill

Bill Riel wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net:

Isn't that the way it should work? The market should bear/pay what the market should bear/pay?

To pass up a good deal? I dunno. Was your "free market" comment sarcastic?

That happens here (I assume you're talking about fraudulent pre-reader readers).

The reason not to trade money on the street is that it is illegal. The reason to trade money on the street is that you will get by far and away the best exchange rate.

Go ahead and save that 50 cents on a half-krug. But pass up those great exchange rates.

Er...

Sorry.

Again.

Scott Kaczorowski Seal Beach, CA

"Scott Kaczorowski" schreef in bericht news:Xns9614839EFAE9Besskayxb70com@64.0.17.11...

Boy, if you're so frustrated, try not to make it that obvious. Stay at home, and drink your Californian nectar.

Joris

It has been a *very* long time since it's been like this in Prague. Nobody bothers with trading money on the street anymore. The exchange rage is no longer some loopy randomness set by a Communist Party beauraucracy. It'll be a while before the CR converts to the euro, but now that they're EU, currency exchange is pretty straightforward.

But what do I know? Last time I was there, there were perfectly safe and usable ATMs in the subway stations. I got my cash. I didn't get home to find my account had been looted, or my identity stolen. Damn.

Dangnab Californicatin' troll. Go drink some MGD or sumpin'. Sheesh.

Yeah, that's what I was referring to, but the risk of that may be completely overblown for all I know. Some locals that my wife has been in contact with had advised that we stick with ATMs inside banks, for whatever that's worth.

Not only that, but you could get hit by a bus or a truck while you were counting it ... stay on the sidewalk (and even that is risky if one of those cold war era cars is going by...)

Steve Jackson ( snipped-for-privacy@cox.net.no.spam) wrote: : : I don't need to be blown away by the awesomeness of every beer I have. A : good beer is one I enjoy drinking. I enjoy drinking that one.

I f : : And, yeah, it's better nearer the source. Beer tends to be that way. Funny : how that works. :

For the styles that are best when very fresh, the nearer the source the fresher the beer. Ambiance may, or may not be a factor as well.

Apologies to the group (especially Joris, but not Steve). Just trying to get a rise, but couldn't really explain why I'd want to do that. Must be the drugs I'm taking for Tiny Brain Syndrome...

Oh god I do love that.

Oh S*IT that's right!

Mmm, Old Peculier on cask at the brewery...

No.

Some Dumbass

Which is a much better way of saying what I was trying to get at originally but didn't all that well. Yes, finding outstanding, unusual beer ain't terribly easy in Prague. But Prague has the benefit of the fact that you can step into pretty much any pub and be guaranteed a good half-liter. You sure as hell can't say the same in the UK or Germany. Unless Carling and Warsteiner suddenly count as "good."

And the occasional pub has some oddball things. Scott seems to have noted that I kept putting "dark" after the "Staropramen" bit when I mentioned pleasant surprises (it's not a terribly common beer, whereas the standard light is everywhere in that city). Samson was terra incognita to me, and again not anything approaching ubiquitous.

What it comes down to is this: Prague may not be a great beer town; it is a great drinking town. And its other charms are outstanding in their own right.

-Steve

"Steve Jackson" wrote in news:cN7Yd.2106$KK5.1166@fed1read03:

Ah HA!

Lemme help: "not noted."

I ignored that intentionally for my own purposes. So make fun of me in public.

Ooh!

Ow!

Stop! That hurts!

If that's the case, I submit Binghamton, NY as a great drinking town. The pizza place on Vestal Hwy. That little- on-the-outside-huge-on-the-inside corner bar near downtown (I have honestly never been treated so well in my life as a first-timer in a bar as whatever that place was called). Go there. Save thousands.

What are you, un-American? You'd suggest Prague over Binghamton? I'll bet you love terrorists and don't believe Social Security is broken.

Again: What the F*CK!? Beer was the topic, but beer doesn't seem to be a strong point.

There ya go. Don't go for the beer. Go for the other stuff. Couldn't possibly agree more.

Spot

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I'm taking notes. Thanks. I "got it."