Christmas Markets Round 2 - Prague v the Rest of Czech

So it may seem unfair to pit the Czech capital against some of the nation's other smaller Markets (Plzeň, Česky Krumlově, České Budějovice and Brno) but this was a fight to the death.  Seeing as the food and drinks offered across all of the markets are generally the same but only slightly different, The Verdict mainly comes down to "the feel" of the various cities' markets.

The Food 

In Prague we went for some spit roasted ham which is carved and served the way that all ham should be - in big hearty chunks.  None of this wafer thin, shaved shit here.  We also had a decent serving of potatoes with speck, onions and paprika from a massive cast iron pan that were bloody great in the cold with a steaming cup of glühwein.

Over the week and a bit in the rest of Czech we had some freshly fried potato crisps covered in various salts and spices, some deep fried Karp, which contrary to the opinion of some wasn't muddy at all and was v enjoyable, more potatoes, this time with sauerkraut, onion and speck and the grilled Czech style sausage, klobasa, which Nix rates higher than any sausage she tried in Germany (Nix does know her sausages - HA).

And yes, that's a Karp eating a Karp.

Sweets weren't as prevalent across the Czech Christmas Markets however we stupidly waited until the final night to try trdelnik (which Nix refers to as tradelinks).  They're bits of memory foam like pastry that are wrapped around a cylinder and are then roasted over the flames.  They come out with their memory foam like texture intact but with a lovely crispy crust and are then dusted in a selection of stuffs.  We just went for the classic cinnamon and sugar and it was bloody delicious.  A sweet highlight of the trip so far.

The Drinks

I'll start with the bad.  Medovina (honey wine) we had in Prague that Nicola likened to hot pilsener.  Mmm.   And glühwein that had clearly been sat in the urn for the entire day and tasted like two week old red wine that had been left in the sun and was flavoured with a shot of vinegar and a splash of lemon juice.  We went to the rare step of suggesting to the stall owner that it wasn't right and after tasting it he just told us to add some sugar and subsequently closed his stall and buggered off.  First World problems hey.

The good was some Moravian punč with sultanas and liquor soaked strawberries added to it that Nix raved about, I gave medovina a second chance and it paid off and the final glühwein we had in Brno was spot on.

And the interesting?  Grog.  Rum with hot water, a slice of lemon and sugar to taste.  We get the appeal but it's not something we need to go back to.

The Other Stuff 

A bigger Christmas tree budget results in a bigger more spectacular tree so Prague was probably always going to take the points here.  And the setting of it's markets in the beautiful Old Town Square look amazing lit up at night.

However, the much more local and homely feel of the other markets we went to made them a lot more enjoyable to wander around with a cup of glühwein than the massive, sprawling, busy Prague markets.

The Verdict

It's the collective effort of the the non-Prague markets than wins it for mine.  Less homogeneity between stalls, the markets feel more real and Prague's felt a bit like the poor man's Brussels Christmas Markets to be honest.

Cz-Czech This Out

After four nights in Prague, we set off for a week around other parts of the Czech Republic.  We went Bohemian for a while.

Plzeň

When in Plzeň do as the Plzeňers (...?) do.  Straight to Na Parkánu for lunch and, well, you guessed it, some Pilsener.  Unfiltered Pilsener Urquell no less.  And a massive meat board too of course.  The Bohemian/Bavarian sort of hybrid influences were immediately evident on the menu here given that Plzeň is only 60 kilometres from the German border.

I began my love affair with garlic soup at Na Parkánu.

Our day in Plzeň was cut short because of the shitty colds that are travelling around with us.

České Krumlov 

The next day it was off to České Krumlov to which a single carriage train slowly snaked us the final 20 kilometres of the journey.

That night we headed to U Dwau Maryi for a 13th century inspired meal.  After garlic soup and cabbage soup Nix went for kuba, mounds of puffed barley with mushrooms and garlic, and me, the Old Bohemian rabbit feast that came with smoked meat, potato cakes, millet, dumplings and potato.  Both v good.

The next morning we headed off on a walk up to the castle (which is still protected by bears in its surrounding moat) and around the city's perimeter in actual sunshine.  Such a rare and unexpected treat in mid December.

To celebrate said sunshine and our 100th day on the road, we picked up some beers and lunch from a deli and headed to the park.  And I had some fun taking timed pictures, despite the strange looks from locals.  

The speck wrapped in a greasy potato pancake was, needless to say, speck-tacular!  Ho ho ho.

That night we treated ourselves to semi-romantic cocktails followed by a fairly average meal.  The castle at night looks particularly good, made up for the average meal and added to the romanticism.

Český Budějovice

Next stop was Český Budějovice for one main reason.

We went for a little warm up coffee and then some lunch at Masné Krámy that was average at best.  After that we made our way out to the Budweiser Budvar brewery for its daily tour.  That's the original Budweiser not the poor American rip-off that illegitimately goes by the same name.

Highlights of the tour were:
  - seeing the (not so large) brewing room where the entire world's supply of Budvar is produced.  This beer is not contract brewed anywhere else which is refreshing;
  - the astounding effectiveness and efficiency of the bottling and crating machine; and
  - drinking unfiltered Budvar straight from the vat.  Beer does not get much fresher than that!

The other highlight of Český Budějovice?  Getting all four of these pastries for 50 Kč.  That's just 2.5 Aussie doll hairs!

Brno

An afternoon is hardly enough time to form a definitive on a city however our initial impressions of Brno were that it doesn't have a great deal to offer that other places cannot.

In saying that, Brno has installed this little beauty.  No, that's not an attempt to better Rotterdam's giant black butt plug, apparently it's a clock.  The world's most difficult clock to read pretty much.  You'd be better off with a sundial in the shade.

We drifted through a couple of bars hoping to get our final fix of Czech garlic soup and beer snacks however all were inferior versions of what we'd had over the previous week and a bit.  That bummed us out a bit.

What also bummed us out was that fact that for the best part of three and a half months we've travelled through countries whose national beverage is beer, where a lot of the time beer was genuinely cheaper than water.  However we're now on a bus to Vienna and that's all over.  For years we dreamt about those few beer filled months and now they're history.

Onwards and upwards I suppose.  That's what you're supposed to say in this situation right?

The Beers 

Pilsener Urquell Nefiltrovaný
Eggenberg Tmavy Lezák 11°, Christmas
Budweiser Budvar Kroužkovaný Ležák, Budweiser Budvar Tmavý Ležák
Dalešice Dalšické
Ostravice Beskydysky Ležák Medový 12°
Minipivovar Pegas Tmavě