Some of my friend in Plzen
K Restaurant
Early 20th Century Bar Instruction
Back above the undergroundVisit the Pilsner Urquell...
Visit the Pilsner Urquell Brewery and certainly sample their magnificent world class and original pilsner beer. Though only a day-trip, it had been a fun one. After managing to make it to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in ample time for the brewery tour and even being able to stop in its pub for a beer prior. We wandered around the surprisingly picturesque town of Plzen, stopping for a great lunch with more of the local beer, and doing some touristy things. Eventually, we gave in to the fact that a pilgrimage to Plzen is really about one thing, drinking the local world classic beer. And that we did, but all good things have to come to an end so we wandered back to the train station to catch one back to Prague, where we were staying. Hanna wanted more beer so I grabbed a couple while she secured some munchies for the two-hour ride. There was just one problem. She wanted to sit in a smoking car and I had had enough cigarette-infused air for one day and flatly refused. She relented in a huff but once in the car, asked rather casually if I minded if she smoked in our car, which was plainly marked as non-smoking. I said, “of course not,” and thought very little of it, but this led to a huge argument about how the US is persecuting smokers and it would never be this way in Europe. My point was simple. It was a non-smoking car and it wasn’t fair to smoke in it even if we had it to ourselves. She stormed off to have a cigarette in the adjoining car and I went through the full gamut of feelings, ranging from rage, anger, boredom, loneliness, and just plan sadness. I lay down with my head facing away from the car and pretended to sleep, waiting for her to come back, and imagining a huge apology. It seemed like hours and envisioned her having a grand time, as I lie there bored. Finally she returned and I “woke up” from my mock sleep to find her standing there, motionless and silent. I stood up and we looked into each other’s eyes, knowing how foolish we had been. Without any words other than, “I’m sorry,” we were soon embracing, glad to be reunited. She wanted some gum and turned to get it from the small side pocket of her daypack. As she reached up, her lower back was bared and I put my hands gently around her waist. She turned her head and looked into my eyes as the passing lights from the tracks shown through the window, flickering furiously on the ceiling of our compartment.
