Favourite 2013 travel photos. Prague, CZ. August 2013.
Sparta!
Author: Greg
Hockey, Prague style
On a spectacular late August afternoon, in one of the world’s truly beautiful cities, I found myself among 1,000 crazy hockey fans taking in a HC Sparta pre-season match against JYP Jyväskylä from Finland. Although I’ve given up as a diehard fan of NHL hockey (losing your team will do that to you), the enjoyment of the sport itself is deep in my Canadian DNA. An opportunity to see my first game on the larger ice surface in another hockey-mad country was just too good a chance to pass up.
What do diehard Czech hockey fans look like? Probably something like these good folk waiting to head into the arena:
Not only were there passionate HC Sparta fans, but a group of people traveled from Jyväskylä, Finland to watch their team, JYP play…. and they did that for a pre-season game. They even shelled out for a private box for the game. Looks like they had a good time:
Falling in love with the Charles Bridge
I have always felt an affection toward bridges. My guess is that it started when I was just old enough to walk and my Mom would take me to a bridge close to our house so I could watch cars pass on the highway below. It’s no wonder that one of my first stops in Prague (once I got over a wee bit of jet lag) was the Charles Bridge.
When I think of Prague, “romantic” is the first word that enters my head. Nowhere was this more tangible that along the length of one of the most famous bridges in the world. One look and it’s pretty easy to tell why:
A chilly, damp late August night only added to the mystique of this bridge to me. The views at anytime are stunning, but looking out toward Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral as the lights just start to come on is a special kind of magic:
My Port of Wines Festival picks
The annual Port of Wines grand tastings are quite the event. Getting to one of them is akin to Christmas for me with the chance to sample an unmentionable number of wines over a three hour period. There were some really strong wines at this year’s show that I thoroughly enjoyed. Among them: Lan Edicion Limitada (Spain, 2008, tempranillo, $55.29), Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (2009, $46.99), Two Hands Barney’s Block Shiraz (Austrailia, 2010, $89.79), Farnese Montepulciano D’Abruzzo (2008, Italy, $34.49).
With a focus on wines that we thought were particularly good value and worth a spot in the collection for home, here was what we picked up:
From left to right:
Mumm Napa Prestige Brut – This was the festival award winner for top sparkling wine. Made in the traditional method, it was fresh and creamy. I thought it was good value at $33.99 for a traditional method sparkling. It also brings back great memories of a visit to the winery in 2008.
Luna Argenta Prosecco – Didn’t actually taste this wine, but you got the bottle free if you bought at least one other bottle. Needless to say, my wife and I split up our purchase to get two off these. Who doesn’t love free prosecco?
Hahn Pinot Noir – A 2012 from the hills above Napa Valley, we both found this to be an outstanding value wine at $22.29. A bit fuller bodied than a traditional pinot, it too brings back memories for us. We visited this winery during our wine tour of Sonoma and Napa back in 2008. A bonus was speaking with a lovely lady pouring on Saturday who works at the winery.
Marin Old Vine Garnacha, 2012 – This was an almost accidental tasting that went very right. On a second visit to the table for Spain, I picked this for a sample blindly. Rich and full bodied, it is probably one of the best value for money wines ($16.29) I’ve tasted in recent years at the festival.
Chateau Senailhac Bordeaux Superieur, 2006 – This one was on everyone’s list as it was the top scoring French table wine and $21.99. It tastes like a bottle that could be priced around $35. It is a real shame this wine was an exclusive to the festival or I’d be backing up a truck at the nearest NSLC to buy a case or two.
Trinchero Napa Cellar Zinfandel – Perhaps not a true value buy, but I can’t resist a wonderful zinfandel. It was the award winner for the festival, was under $34, and is a truly great wine. A very light hint of oak really set off the bold fruit flavours and spice in this one.
St. Vitus Cathedral
Favourite 2013 travel photos. Prague, CZ. August 2013.
Pilgrimage to Plzen
You won’t see a description for a day trip to Plzen in your Frommers guide to the Czech Republic, and that’s a bloody shame. For the beer lover, I would argue it’s almost a necessary visit. This quaint city gave birth to beautiful thing in 1842: a beer that has stood the test of time – pilsner.
For me, the day trip to Plzen this was a true pilgrimage. There was no way I was coming to the Czech Republic without visiting where my favourite style of beer was created. Only a short 90 minute train ride from Prague, the Pilsner Urquell brewery is located just outside of the city centre. When you arrive, you are greeted by the original gates of the brewery:
On our way into the brewery we got to see a morning delivery loading up. Each day, the brewery delivers beer to bars in the city by horse, keeping alive a long-standing tradition. I momentarily thought about taking the reins and making away with a few kegs of the good stuff:
Gluten free eating in Prague
Goulash. Dumplings. Beer (oh, the beer!). Rich sauces thickened with bread. I loved my first experiences with Czech cuisine. But it’s not the most approachable for visitors with a limited grasp of the Czech language who suffer from Celiac disease.
As I planned this trip with my wife who needs to eat a strict gluten free diet, we honed in on a couple of places to ensure she got a taste of authentic Czech food rather than spending two weeks watching me chow down in restaurants while she ate a salad. In the heart of Prague, we ate at two great places with dedicated gluten-free menus
Švejk Restaurant U Karla
Not to be confused with other Švejk restaurants around Prague, this one at Křemencova 7 has a separate gluten free menu. In fact, when you order from that menu, your food arrives at the table with little gluten free flags. This is a great place with a pub feel and we enjoyed the food the two times we visited.
One of the truly great dishes: beer cheese, wrapped in bacon served with a braided bun (similar to a pretzel). This was amazing gluten free pub food. I’ve sampled a lot of gluten free bread products and very, very few I’d order unless I needed to. This one was mind blowing! I would have had no idea it was gluten free:
My first European soccer (err, football) match
I can’t even begin to explain how excited I was to get to see my first European football match in Prague. Bad scheduling luck on past trips kept me from seeing PSG in Paris or Inter or AC Milan in Italy. I’ve also had a whole host of missed opportunities in Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands. This trip finally delivered. My first match was AC Sparta Praha playing FC Baník Ostrava.
Best. Cultural. Experience. Ever! Can you tell how excited I am from the picture below?
I’ve been to my share of sporting events and each and every one holds a special place in my heart. The only Nordiques game I got to with my Dad, my first Monday Night Football game, sitting in the upper deck for a San Francisco Giants game watching boats out in the bay, a Canada-USA world championship hockey game – all awesome! And all surpassed by this soccer game in Prague. Why?
Heavily armed riot police in the subway station and on the walk to the stadium? Oh yes! I didn’t get photos of it, but a supporters website sure did. And people think it’s rough going to a Philadelphia Eagles game…
Home is where my feet are
I’m first writing this from the evening train between Vienna and Prague (I think we’re getting close to Pardubice but don’t quote me on that). The swaying of the train, some good music in my ears, and the glow of small Czech towns passing by the window outside gets me to thinking pretty easily.
This trip has been a bit of a revelation for me. As I sit on the train, I feel like I’m returning to something in Prague. It’s quickly become home on this trip. Staying in an apartment has helped. Cooking a few meals has too. But it’s more than that. After visits to seventeen countries and with my passion to travel being fully explored as often as I can, I’ve grown in a way that feels suddenly tangible on this trip.
After a particularly nomadic few years, a singer/songwriter I listened to about ten years ago entitled her album “Home is where my feet are”. She explained that for her, happiness in her life came down to living to that mantra. Simple and profound, I adopted it as a personal challenge and a rallying cry to which to aspire in senses both literal and metaphorical.
I know I’ll remember this trip for a lot of the experiences and moments – my first European soccer match, a whirlwind thirty hour stopover in Vienna, tasting unfiltered and unpasteurized pilsner where it was first brewed, kissing my wife on the Charles Bridge, sampling all varieties of Czech food…. All of those memories and many, many more I’ll cherish forever. But what I’ll remember most from these two weeks is the sudden realization I had as I sat in a jet-lagged stupor in our Prague apartment on the first day of this trip. With every chance to feel foreign and out of place, I felt resolutely and entirely comfortable. For the eleven days so far, that feeling hasn’t wavered. Indeed, home is where my feet are. And from where I stand, I’m pretty proud of that.
More to come in the weeks ahead on what has been an outstanding trip.
Cathedral of San Juan Bautista
Favourite 2013 travel photos. Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. June 2013.
Bluenose Traveler 