Before becoming a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the Hapsburgs, this part of the world was Bohemia. First off, how on earth could I have a masters degree, but not know anything about the Hapsburgs? They controlled huge portions of Europe for a long time. Second, how did I not know that the Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody is about a former Kingdom in the Czech Republic? Fast forward to post WWII and together with present day Slovakia, the Czech Republic was a communist country under Soviet "influence" called Czechoslovakia until 1993. Prague is arguably the most beautiful city I’ve seen. It was mostly spared during WWII, so everywhere you look are beautiful Hapsburg era classical styled buildings. What struck me the most was that are are so many of these beautiful buildings which were were everywhere, not just in the touristic areas (people in Europe use the word “touristic”, when I would typically say “touristy”). In addition to the neo-classical style, there are gothic, baroque, romanesque, renaissance, and even cubist architectural styled buildings.
Just a typical block in Prague.
Beer
The Czech Republic loves its beer. It has by far the highest per capita beer consumption in the world with 149 liters per person per year (according to Wikipedia from the year 2012). Austria and Germany are in second and third place with 108 and 106 liters per person per year respectively. Beer has a long history in this area. Pilsner beer was invented in the town of Pilsen where Pilsner Urquell is made. Budweiser's Budvar is produced in the city of Budweis, and should not to be confused with the Anheuser-Busch product which tried to copy it. In the U.S., you can find the original Budweiser Budvar marketed under the name Czechvar. In Prague, there are pubs on every corner, and a half liter (about 17 ounces or a little more than a pint) costs less than $1.50.
Food
The food is great. It reminds me of the nearby German region, Bavaria. There is a lot of sausage, and smoked or roast pork served with sauerkraut. Dumplings are also very popular. However, the term “dumpling” can refer to at least 4 very different things. In Budapest, the first dumplings I had were very small, pasta-like nuggets, and what you would call spaetzle in Germany. Also in Budapest, we had dumplings which were basically a bread roll with a sweet crunchy top, covered with a sweet vanilla sauce served as a desert. Here in Prague, a dumpling is like a dense, moist bread, served in slices. There are also potato dumplings which are even more dense. None of them have much flavor, but are a great way to sop up the sauce or gravy on your plate. Just like the beer, the food is cheap. A typical dinner for the 2 of us was about $22. After all this beer and rich food, my stomach is looking forward to some rice and fish in southeast Asia.
Missing Home
One of the things we miss about home is the variety of cuisine we have access to. In the small towns in Tuscany, we certainly didn’t have that. Budapest and Prague are pretty international and have some great food from around the world. I had delicious Pho in Budapest, and in Prague we had great Indian and decent Mexican food.
Another thing we miss is the NFL season and the Patriots. I purchased the NFL Game Pass package so that I can watch all the Pats games online. It works great and I have been able to watch all the games. Living in NYC, we didn’t get many of the Pats games at home, so we often went to our neighborhood sports bar to watch it. It was always a fun time being around other transplanted sports fans rooting for your hometown team. We also, of course, enjoyed the nachos and beer. Luckily, the Pat’s schedule matched up with ours for week 7 against the Jets. When Mo met us in Italy, she brought us Patriots shirts so we could represent. In Prague, we found an Irish Pub with the NFL package called the Dubliner and also found about 10 other Patriots fans there to watch the game with!
Cheering on the Pats in Prague
PS - Baths in Budapest
I forgot to write about the baths in my Budapest post! According to budapest.com, "Budapest holds the title "City of Spas" since the year 1934, as it has more thermal and medicinal water springs than any other capital city in the world. There are 118 springs in Budapest, providing over 70 million liters of thermal water a day." Lynn, Rob, and I went to one to see what all the fuss was about. First of all, I must mention, that this is co-ed, and bathing suites are mandatory (including tops for women). After putting on our trunks, we headed to the main outdoor pool. To get a sense of the size, there were a couple hundred people in it, but it didn't feel crowded. The water was warm (not hot), slightly cloudy, and had a very slight chlorine and minerally smell to it. It was about 4 feet deep everywhere and people were just hanging out in the water. There were a few lounge chairs and benches surrounding the pool, but the air was too chilly to spend much time out of the water. There were people of all ages and body types just relaxing. After a half hour or so, we ventured inside where we found many more, much smaller pools and saunas and steam rooms. There were pools with different temperatures and mineral content. We went into most, if not all of the 15 different pools. Our favorite thing to do was go in the hot pool (104 degrees F / 40 degrees C), then to plunge into the cold pool (68 degrees F / 20 C). The only part more fun was a giant whirlpool that you can ride in an oval. I am not sure of its purpose, probably to occupy children, but you can't help but laugh and smile as you get whipped around. I am not sure the baths cured me of anything, but it was a nice way to spend an afternoon.
- Jake