South Bohemia: Plzeň and Český Krumlov

This weekend we had the opportunity to travel as a group to the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic.  The countryside in this area is the most beautiful of any I had ever seen; unfortunately, we had all been out late the night before and left at 7:30am, so we were all asleep on the bus! On Friday we explored a bit of Plzeň. After a lunch of pizza and gelato (Italian food is much better than Czech food...we apparently can't get enough!) we went to Plzeň's General Patton museum. We were all confused as to why an American general had a museum in a small city in the Czech Republic, but at the museum we saw footage and learned a lot about his troops' liberalization of Plzeň at the end of World War II. American soldiers traveled around the Czechoslovakia, taking cities as they went, but received orders to stop 20km from Prague because the Soviet Union wanted to receive the glory of liberating the nation's capital. This probably contributed to the significant USSR control and presence of communism in Czechoslovakia over the next few decades. So, we did learn some interesting facts at the museum, but we all would've preferred to stay in Prague because we can learn more about General Patton, an American general, when we are actually in America, and there is SO much to do in Prague that we felt like we were missing out on!

After the museum tour, a group of us decided to visit the Pilsner Urquell brewery, where they make one of the most popular beers in the Czech Republic. We got to see the different steps in the beer production process, which was pretty neat because I had no idea how it was made. At one point, we tasted the raw materials in the beer (different grains, hops)...which were all so nasty! Our tour guide showed us the underground cellars of the factory where they used to brew the beer, which I thought was the coolest part because they really do have the barrels of beer that you see in the movies! Down in the cellars we tried unfermented, unpasteurized beer. Because I don't like beer in the first place (Mom: not that I've ever tried it because I'm not 21), I thought this stuff was really disgusting. However, it worked out because I had tons of friends there who were willing to finish mine. I'm so glad we went to the brewery-it was one of the coolest things we've seen so far!

The Pilsner Urquell Brewery

Waiting for the tour to start

That night was the Czech Republic's first game of the Euro Cup. They were playing Russia, so after a lot of searching, we found a pub close to our dorms where we got to watch the game with the Czechs! Unfortunately, they lost 1-4. 

The next day we got up early again, hopped on a bus, and traveled for 3 hours to the historic city of Český Krumlov (pronounced Chesky Kroomlov). The first thing we did when we got there was visit a graphite mine, which was pretty cool but really random because I don't think this country is famous for its graphite at all. We put on some super attractive mining gear and traveled into a mountain to explore the mines. 

On the tiny train down into the mine with Courtney, Satvika and Micah

Forrest and Nick

After that, we had some free time to walk around the city. Some friends and I went to an Indian restaurant for lunch (because I'm still avoiding Czech food), and then we walked around the castle of Český Krumlov before driving for 4 hours back to the city!

At the castle

Overall, I'm glad I've seen other parts of the Czech Republic now, but if I could do it again I probably would've stayed in Prague. There is just so much to do here! I'll fill in more about this week later-I'm in class right now and should probably pay attention to Chris' presentation-ha!