The český Pivní Festival (Czech Beer Fest) ran for a full 10 days before we showed up. Criminal, I know. But, after our whirlwind few weeks with Nana and Grampa, we finally had a moment to rest so we seized the sleep. And then we jumped back into the fray.
We all dressed for the occasion in our own way...
Before we could even get inside to take a single sip, the girls spotted a face painter. I guess we knew what our first stop would be.
And then the Mercedes Benz salesman stopped over. I figured we should listen to the shpeil since it was their free face painter, so I braced myself for the sales pitch. But none came. He just asked me if I wanted to get in the Rollover Simulator. The what?
Seems that the car they had up on display, the one with the equipment all around it, was set up to be able to roll 360 degrees. With you in it. Why not? It's the only way I would ever want to experience any car I am inside, upside down.
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| Seatbelt on and ready to go. |
It was fun - but does put a ton of pressure on your hips from the seatbelt when you are hanging from it. B wasn't so sure he really wanted to do it, but did anyway.
Now, it was time to find some food and some beer. We stocked our cards and got started.
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| Each beer was between 1 and 3 Tolars. With each Tolar running about $2.25, it was probably the most expensive beer I have ever purchased in the Czech Republic. Granted, that is still less than $3 for half a liter of beer, but that will usually cost about $1.50 in a restaurant. Spoiled, I know. |
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| We found a space to sit pretty easily. It was just after noon, and I think everyone was still sleeping off their beer drinking from the night before. We found a server, ordered some traditional Czech food, and beer, of course. |
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| Not what we ordered but someday I know B will - Pork Knuckle just doesn't seem like anything I would ever try. |
Every one fed and full, we were off to explore. There were three halls and an open garden in the middle of it all. In each hall, there was a chalkboard, and lines of taps. Each chalkboard listed the microbrew they had (about 75 different beers total). You just picked a number, they swiped your card and handed you a ticket. You turned your ticket in and were handed a beer. A 1/2 liter of beer! This was my only complaint about the festival. If the purpose is to taste a large sampling of beers that you would not normally be able to taste, shouldn't the sample be a bit less than 1/2 L (about 17 ounces). Two samples and I would be done for the day. And was. Especially since the first beer they brought us with lunch was a full Liter.
We were smart about it. B and I both tried different things, so in reality we got to taste 6 different beers. But with 70 more still to taste we would have had to come back every single day the festival ran (15 days total). I love beer but I am not sure I could have handled that.
All in all, it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
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| Na Zdravi |
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