We came to the Czech Republic for two reasons- 1) Nick had studied abroad in Brno while he was in college and wanted to go back to this country that held so many wonderful memories for him and 2) He wanted to have some more of the goulash. And, if we are being honest, we went for the beer as well. The Czech Republic, specifically the city of Plzeň, is responsible for the creation of (one of my favorites) Pilsner beer. The original pilsner, Pilsner Urquell is still exclusively brewed in Plzeň. So, yah, the beer was definitely part of it.
First up, we headed to České Budějovice, home of the original Budweiser (Budweiser in the US is, at best, a poor imitation, in my opinion). Nick wasted no time and immediately found a place for us to try goulash. Czech goulash is a thick, almost stew like version of goulash. It is served with sliced onions (and occasionally a pepper) and the most delicious, fluffy, bread dumplings. It was absolutely delightful and we had it on several occasions.
We also tried the Indian food at a nearby Indian restaurant in České Budějovice on the recommendation of our pension. Despite our pleas to make the food spicy, it was very mild, but quite good.
After a few days in České Budějovice we left for Český Krumlov. The old city of Český Krumlov is a UNESCO World Heritage site and for good reason, it was absolutely incredible.
More incredibly, Český Krumlov was completely untouched during both World Wars so the original architecture dating from the 14th-17th century is still intact. We loved walking through the winding, hilly streets and the breathtaking views we often stumbled across. We enjoyed a traditional Czech dish, roast pork with those delicious bread dumplings and sauerkraut (it was actually somewhere between sauerkraut and cabbage).
And for a splurge we stopped at MLS Creperie and split a banana nutella crepe covered with almonds- yum!
While I have heard, on numerous occasions, that the Czech Republic is not the place to find healthy options or vegetarian options, we did manage to find a few. Many of the “vegetarian” options on menus were deep fried (fried mushrooms or fried cauliflower) and almost all of them had cheese, which was often fried. One of the more common vegetarian options was fried cheese with french fries. We did find one restaurant that had grilled vegetables, which were a welcome change. We split the grilled veggies and a roast pork dish.
Another lighter option I found was couscous with grilled vegetables and a slab of camembert cheese. Good, especially since the cheese was a large chunk and I could eat as much or as little as I wanted.
After Český Krumlov we headed to Plzeň to tour the Pilsner Urquell brewery. The brewery is absolutely state of the art and one of the more informative brewery tours I have ever been on, there were two different videos, a room for tasting the hops and barley they used, microscopes to examine the yeast and more. We also got to taste unpasteurized, unfiltered Pilsner Urquell and I have to say it was one of the best beers I have ever had a chance to try. It was a ton of fun and the beer was excellent!
After Plzeň we headed to Prague. Beautiful, wonderful Prague. Wow. Nick was so excited to get to Prague and I can see why. It was not only incredible beautiful but it had a great vibe as well. It was laid back and tons of fun. On the advice of Czech food blogger, Charlotte of czechinthekitchen (I will share an interview with her soon- I am so excited about it!) we tried an iced coffee at McDonald’s. Although I try to avoid McDonald’s (although I like their coffee on road trips…), I was intrigued. We didn’t see it on any of the menus but ordered it anyway- it turned out to be a cup of hot coffee topped off with vanilla soft serve. Whoa. It was pretty good but definitely a dessert!
We also enjoyed a variety of sausages at Lokal (a wonderful restaurant right across the street from our hotel)
as well as another dish of oven roasted pork with sauerkraut and dumplings (this time a mix of both potato dumplings and bread dumplings).
Although the food was a little heavier than I usually like, it was good, hearty, wintery food and I enjoyed it immensely! It was a delicious 10 days!