Peer Pressuring a Teenager to Drink
August 10-11, 2017
Fresh on the heels from our France adventure with Seester family, Cousin Amy decided to come and visit us in Berlin on her first trip to Europe. She had just turned 18 the week before, giving us a golden opportunity to ply her with delicious European beers she is legally prohibited from drinking in the United States but can enjoy with impunity while vacationing in less puritanical parts of the world.
Her stay with us was going to be brief, so we didn't have time to go on a proper vacation, but we wanted to show her more than just Berlin. Prague is only a 4-hour train ride, and offers a significantly different cultural experience. It is unique from many major European cities in that is was not heavily bombed during WWII, leaving the vast majority of its classic buildings intact. It also has amazing food and beer, so we booked an Airbnb and train tickets and made our way to the Czech Republic.
Kirb had already visited Prague once to see one of his favorite bands while Mazz was away on a work trip, so he had some idea of what to do in the city. The first stop was to get his favorite beer from his first visit: the dark, unfiltered Kozel tank beer at Lokal. Beer was still relatively new to Cousin Amy, so she sipped on a small one and a non-alcoholic blueberry soda while Kirb and Mazz each put away two pints. Lunch was a big slab of 6-week ripened cheese, deep-fried with a side of tartar sauce, sausage with mustard and horseradish, and cucumber salad in sweet and sour water.
Traditional Czech food is hearty, heavy stuff, and when you chase it with a bunch of dark beer you generally want to go take a nap as soon as you leave the restaurant. Fighting the itis, we climbed up a giant hill to check out Prague Castle. From the gardens surrounding the castle grounds you're given panoramic views of the entire city below. The imposing cathedral at the center of the grounds was well worth the trek that left us sweaty enough to overpay for some much-needed water from the gift shop.
We made our way down from the castle to the Charles Bridge, which is covered in 30 intricate baroque statues built between 1683 and 1714. Street vendors are set up all across it, selling art and jewelry. The bridge leads into the heart of Old Town Square, which is covered in classic museums and showcases the Prague Astronomical Clock, a 600-year old timepiece with an astronomical dial and Zodiacal ring built onto the side of the old town hall.
After a long day of sightseeing, we headed back to the Airbnb to relax with a beer and get off our feet. In looking for a dinner spot, we discovered a place right around the corner from where we were staying that sounded exactly like what we were looking for. Pivovarsky Club was packed with locals, and for good reason. We pulled up to the bar to find six different Czech beers on tap, ranging from hoppy IPAs to delicious fruit-infused lagers. We ordered beer cheese to start, and showed Cousin Amy how to dump some from your glass onto your plate of food and mash everything together. The menu was packed with incredible-sounding dishes, and Kirb went for the smoked duck in gravy with sauerkraut and bread dumplings, while Mazz opted for ostrich tartare, served with a basket of buttery, fried bread. Cousin Amy, who is a vegetarian, got some spinach crepes, which she was into, but we really wished she could/would have tried what we were eating. Traditional Czech fare is rich, heavy, and very tasty. We got so full we had to waddle back to our apartment and not move for the rest of the evening.
The best part about waking up the next morning was that we could go eat food again. The worst part was that it was dropping rain in sheets, and it wasn't supposed to let up all day. We made our way across town to Eska, a sleek and stylish restaurant and café. We like to ask whoever is serving us for their recommendation, and our waitress insisted that we order a dish called "Potatoes in Ash", something we weren't even considering, but we took her word for it. Made with smoked fish, dried egg yolk, kefir, and potatoes cooked straight in the fire, the dish was a completely new experience, all creamy and starchy and bursting with umami. Whenever we return to Prague, we're going to go back to Eska specifically to eat it again.
With the rain pouring, it seemed like a perfect day to spend indoors in a museum. We scoped out the available exhibits and decided on the Gallery of Art Prague, which was showcasing Salvador Dali and Alphonse Mucha. The extensive Dali exhibit had hundreds of original paintings, including all 101 of his watercolor illustrations of the Divine Comedy. Kirb has always loved the art nouveau style perfected by Mucha, and was thrilled to see huge canvases of his work up close and personal.
We soggily made our way to the train station and found that the weather was wreaking havoc on the schedules, with multiple trains running late and several not running at all. Though temporarily inconvenient, we figured it was good for young Cousin Amy to see what international rail travel looks like when things aren't running smoothly. Though she had no intention of keeping up with our Czech beer intake, and the finer points of Czech cuisine were lost on her as a vegetarian, we're glad we got to show her a little taste our life as travelers. Both of us wish we hadn't waited as long in our lives to start traveling as we do now, so we're glad she's getting an early start.