# European Vacation....



## devo (10/7/07)

Me and the missus may possibly(hoping) to be heading over to Europe for about 4 weeks and will most likely be visiting the UK, Germany, France and the Czech republic. 

To help save me some of the leg work I was hoping some of you here could suggest some breweries, pubs etc of quality beer interest that I should be making a "B" line to!?!


cheers
devo


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## warrenlw63 (10/7/07)

First stop Devious one (lucky so and so) <_< 

Czech Republic means Staropramen brewery tour in Prague. :beerbang: 

Germany speaks for itself. If you're in Munich go to Augustiner and Schneider Brauhaus. Paris is just cool by itself. Best place I found to drink there was Hall's Beer Tavern in rue St. Denis. Oodles of beers from around the world and great food. :super: 

Can't fit an envious near-neighbour in your case can ya? :lol: 

Warren -


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## gundaroo (10/7/07)

if you are heading to Nottingham,UK, check out the "ye olde trip to jerusalem". its a pub which dates back to 1189ad,built under the castle into a series of caves.well worth a look and a pint!,
hope your trip comes off,
gundaroo :beer:


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## bconnery (10/7/07)

The UK will depend very largely on where you are going within it. 

Good idea to visit the Camra site or try and beg, borrow or steal a reasonably up to date copy of the Camra Good Beer Guide. 

Otherwise, post some more detail on where you are thinking about and I can raid my copy for some details...

The beer in France is better around the areas that border belgium but anywhere you can probably get some decent brews. http://www.frenchbeer.info/ should give you some starting points...

Jenlain are good.


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## troywhite (10/7/07)

> Replying to European Vacation....



boy I loved that movie


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## Malnourished (10/7/07)

troywhite said:


> boy I loved that movie


_Holiday woo aaaahh aaaahhhh....._

As for actual holiday advice, throw out the Lonely Planets and get copies of CAMRA's Good Beer Guides to the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic to decide where to go. Too easy.

For web-based info on continental Europe, this site is a great start.


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## Steve (10/7/07)

devo....send Ross a PM or wait for him to reply....he's off to the UK in August and im sure he has a list as long as your arm of beer houses to visit.
Cheers
Steve


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## bconnery (10/7/07)

Malnourished said:


> As for actual holiday advice, throw out the Lonely Planets and get copies of CAMRA's Good Beer Guides to the UK, .... to decide where to go. Too easy.



That's exactly what we did on our last trip. It would go like this:

Visit wife's relative. Use book to find local pubs to visit. Drive to next relative using book to determine stop off point. ( I drove in the morning a lot  ). 

Repeat above procedure.


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## devo (10/7/07)

cheers everyone, this is helping big time.


...but keep em coming


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## gundaroo (10/7/07)

http://www.triptojerusalem.com/ 
more info here
just one of many great pubs


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## therook (10/7/07)

devo said:


> cheers everyone, this is helping big time.
> ...but keep em coming



Devo,

Leave the key to your garage. Warren and i'll make sure no one pinches your kegs  

rook


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## devo (10/7/07)

therook said:


> Devo,
> 
> Leave the key to your garage. Warren and i'll make sure no one pinches your kegs
> 
> rook




yeah sure, not a problem :unsure:


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## devo (10/7/07)

gundaroo said:


> http://www.triptojerusalem.com/
> more info here
> just one of many great pubs




cheers for that...BTW luv the avatar.


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## bugwan (10/7/07)

Devo, great work on organising the trip! You have some daunting planning ahead - so many options...

If you get a chance to get to Plzn in Czech Republic, the Pilsner Urquell brewery tour is well worth it. You start at "Beer World" and end up in the miles of cellars underneath the brewery sipping fresh pilsner from wooden casks. I ended up staying a bit longer with the guy pouring the beer (luckily his only English was "more?").

These photos were taken on that wonderful day...
The brewery buildings;




That famous gate (featured on the Pilsner Urquell label);



And the result of too many samples;



I can also recommend a wander along Oranienburger Strasse (love saying that) in Berlin. Plenty of bullet-hole ridden walls and a grungy, eclectic mix of synagogues and bars. We bar crawled along there for my 25th birthday and one bar looks like a metal workshop, complete with fire-breathing dragon over the bar. Seriously!

There's plenty of places along there to try some sour Berliner Weisse. Try it on its own, but the locals like it with red or green cordial.

As Warren said, Paris is good enough to just wander around. Don't buy any beers on Champs Elysses - kind of pricey! Here's a photo of the Paris Metro system, taken through the eyes of someone who's enjoyed too many Kroenenbourgs;




Good luck with the planning - looking forward to a quiet pint soon. Cheers.

edit: Here's some Berlin bullet holes to go on with. Seriously, this has to be my favourite European capital, so much history, so much going on....


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## reVoxAHB (10/7/07)

Devo, any reason you guys are skipping Belgium (aside from time-limitation)?

reVox


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## devo (11/7/07)

Well the missus has managed to get approval from work to take 4 weeks off so long as she can get her forward planner sorted, things are looking good, fingers crossed. We maybe heading over around Sept/Oct so hopefully we can get to Oktoberfest in Munich.

If all goes to plan and we spend at least a week in Germany I'm hoping to duck over to Belgium for a day or 2.


cheers everyone for all the tips and suggestions thus far.


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## beer slayer (11/7/07)

devo said:


> Well the missus has managed to get approval from work to take 4 weeks off so long as she can get her forward planner sorted, things are looking good, fingers crossed. We maybe heading over around Sept/Oct so hopefully we can get to Oktoberfest in Munich.
> 
> If all goes to plan and we spend at least a week in Germany I'm hoping to duck over to Belgium for a day or 2.
> cheers everyone for all the tips and suggestions thus far.



Devo

Might have to catch up at the Oktoberfest in Munich. I'm trying to plan a trip about the same time to Europe. There sure is a lot of planning involved for a trip like this. let me know how you go

:beer: 
BS


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## devo (11/7/07)

orsum, will do. 

I think the missus is getting concerned that this will end up becoming a beer expedition rather than a honeymoon/holiday but a man has his needs u know


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## chimera (11/7/07)

And it'd be a sad waste of 40+ hours flying not to pop across the channel to see Britain... they have some great beer too


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## griffo17 (18/7/07)

Devo,

All the best with the trip mate. Belgium (generally) is quite mundane, however there is a quaint little tourist town near the French border called Brugge with a working brewery called de halve maan (roughly translated to the half moon). 
The beer isn't overly exceptional, but it's a fun place to down a couple.

Most lager's brewed (the mass produeced ones anyway) in the UK are very ordinary! they make you crook in the guts till you get used to the preservatives they put in! (Serious). 

No need to say anymore about Czech. There is a nice little brewery in Cesky Krumlov too, although the place will packed if you are there at a peak time.

The Germans know how to brew. Even their mass produced mega swill is generally pretty good.
Paulaner, Hofbrau, Augustiner are all great.

At the Fest try and avoid the groups of drunk Aussie bogans! Although the groups of Italians were way more annoying! 
Mingle with the locals, eat pretzels and half chickens and drink plenty of steins, they cost about 7 euros but if you can drink 6-8 and still walk you're doing extremely well! Prozit I am Prozit...... 

Cheers & Beers

Griffo


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## petesbrew (18/7/07)

reVox said:


> Devo, any reason you guys are skipping Belgium (aside from time-limitation)?
> 
> reVox



Yeah, Brugge is bloody lovely, and its "on the way".


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## Flippo (31/7/07)

A bit of advice if I may, if you haven't got your accomodation sorted in Munich for Oktoberfest you better get onto it straight away. What you can get now, if any, would be starting to get pretty expensive.

Just a suggestion, if you can't find any reasonably priced accom in Munich. When I used to work as a tour guide round Europe one of our stays was at St Johann, Tirol in Austria. We stayed at a pub run by a top Aussie bloke and he does an Oktoberfest tour/shuttle type of thing during that time of year. It's a great way to get to Oktoberfest but stay in some pristine countryside in Austria and not pay ridiculous prices and get ripped off every second.

If your keen to have a look, this is the website http://www.bunnyspub.com/eventinfo.asp?ID=3

Hope this helps and I could almost guarantee that you would have an amazing time


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## Fents (31/7/07)

bugwan said:


> And the result of too many samples;
> View attachment 13648



Legendary! :beerbang:


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## devo (10/9/07)

Aye lads, just under 2 weeks till I head off but wondering if anyone could suggest some quality "Real Ale" pubs in the London area? :blink:


BTW thanks everyone for the info, much appreciated.


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## reVoxAHB (10/9/07)

Hiya Devo,

I'll reaffirm what the others have said regarding Brugge, Belgium. Highly recommended. It's often referred to as the 'Venice of the North' as the town's streets are lined with canals. Brugge was not bombed in WW2, so is a very well preserved medieval city with world heritage status. 

Seems to be the perfect fit for you and the missus too, as it's small, quaint, romantic and steeped in great beer, food and local hospitality. Everything is within walking distance and you'll really enjoy every step- get lost, in fact.

You'll want to show her sites like this this and this.
While, you'll want to reference this  

't Brugs Beertje is not to be missed. Bummer yer gonna miss the Brugs Beer Festival by a hair. Take a look at some of the breweries (and beers) in attendance :blink: 

I lived in Brugge for over 5 years, in another lifetime  .

Have a great trip and all the best,
reVox


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## Belgrave Brewer (11/9/07)

reVox said:


> I lived in Brugge for over 5 years, in another lifetime  .



I learn something new about you every day reVox. :beer:


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## bconnery (11/9/07)

devo said:


> Aye lads, just under 2 weeks till I head off but wondering if anyone could suggest some quality "Real Ale" pubs in the London area? :blink:
> 
> 
> BTW thanks everyone for the info, much appreciated.



Anything with a Fullers or Youngs sign is good. A Whetherspoons chain can usually be relied on. 

When you say London do you have any idea where in London you will be staying? If you do I can look up the beer guide and PM you a few...


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## Boozy the clown (12/9/07)

Whats Belguim like in the winter??

I have ten weeks in thu UK over Christmas time, need to get away somewhere.

Friends have tole me all of Scandinavia sucks in the winter, peoplae go weird and hide indoors, Zwickel tell me Germany sucks too in the winter and the only place the sun shines is in the beir halls.


Maybe i'll head to Spain?


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## skippy (12/9/07)

Ibiza....warm mediteranean climate, wont mention the rest. San Miguel only, if you dont enjoy yourself I'll CASH refund your holiday.

Will not be liable for any damages to mind, person (including STDS), or property...or wallet, or any legal ramifications as a result of my above mentioned statement.


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## Zwickel (12/9/07)

Boozy the clown said:


> Maybe i'll head to Spain?


Hey Boozy, many, many of the old age pensioner from Germany, Belgium and England are staying over the wintertime in Spain and its Islands, so that means it gives you a feeling like being in a retirement home; nothing with beautiful nice looking young girls 

But a good idea in wintertime would be to go to Austria or Switzerland, even south Germany has many beautiful places in the Alps. What about skiing?
In wintertime people here take theire hollidays for skiing. At some places in the Alps its like carnival, crowded by young people. 
But.....hardly beer will be drunk, mostly Schnaps and hard stuff, just to warm you up  

So a winter holliday in the Alps is a very nice event, lots of fun.

Cheers mate :beer:


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## spog (13/9/07)

you lucky,lucky bastard,  
half your luck. oh and by the way if the missus gives you too much grief,leave her home.  
oh shit pleeeeease dont show her this post.
looking forward to your post,s when you come home...cheers...spog.


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## devo (22/9/07)

OK, bags almost packed and me and the missus fly out tonight. I'll hopefully be able to post some pic's of my drinking exploits once I figure out how to use the new/change features of this site recent upgrade! The image button doesn't seem to be doing much when I click on it!?!

I just kegged my IPA today and my Schwarz 2 weeks ago and have em on a low PSI setting in the keg fridge. Looking forward to hooking into when I get back.


anywayz, cheers fer now.


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## braufrau (22/9/07)

devo said:


> Me and the missus may possibly(hoping) to be heading over to Europe for about 4 weeks and will most likely be visiting the UK, Germany, France and the Czech republic.
> 
> To help save me some of the leg work I was hoping some of you here could suggest some breweries, pubs etc of quality beer interest that I should be making a "B" line to!?!
> cheers
> devo




ahhh. the beer and sausage tour of europe.

HWMBO and I used to joke about doing the grand tour of brews and snags. I guess we're doing one leg at the moment. 

You need a book like one of Michael Jackson's and the AA guide to britain and europe and plot a route through breweries near museums and castles and other things of girly interest.


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## blackbock (22/9/07)

devo said:


> I just kegged my IPA today and my Schwarz 2 weeks ago and have em on a low PSI setting in the keg fridge. Looking forward to hooking into when I get back.
> anywayz, cheers fer now.



Devo, was that Schwarzbier made from the leftovers you listed in a previous AHB thread? What recipe did you settle for? Did you use crystal or not?


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## Simon W (22/9/07)

Have fun Devo!

*Boozy*
Both my trips to Europe have deliberately been in winter!
There are many advantages, its cheaper in almost every way(Food, Beer, Accom. etc) because it's not the tourist season.
Every hotel has rooms and will fight over you for your custom(well... not really, but almost).
And there's almost ZERO tourists. Big bonus there.

Been to Brugge in winter and it's a little quiet, but everything is business as usual.
Munich in winter rocks! Your walking around in snow and then you walk into a brewery, strip off a few layers and get warm and cozy with a cheap meal and cheap beer(price not quality!) surrounded by locals. Heaven.
Munich in winter also has the best festival, Karneval, which is better than oktoberfest in that 95% of the people are locals, not tourists and noisy idiot aussies/poms/yanks, there are lots of beer vans in the Marienplatz(drink in the street) and there's free beer the day after(seriously!).


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## Boozy the clown (24/9/07)

Simon W said:


> Have fun Devo!
> 
> *Boozy*
> Both my trips to Europe have deliberately been in winter!
> ...




Well the Karneval' sounds very inviting...

Is it a country wide thing or a Munich thing? I tried to do a quick search on the interweb and I got a few links to Cologne. 

Zwickle, you'd know??


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## devo (24/9/07)

Well we made it to London in one piece, safe n sound but the 22hr flight was a killer. It;s 5:20am at the moment and can't sleep. Hoping the body clock settles soon.

Tomorrow I will venture out for a few drinks, already found a pub around the corner from where I'm staying that has cask ale advertised. Will report back on my findings.

Weather is great here at the moment, 19 c and a little warmer than I expected.(apparently hasn't been the case for most of the summer as I'm told by the lass at the desk where I'm staying)


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## Zwickel (24/9/07)

Boozy the clown said:


> Well the Karneval' sounds very inviting...
> 
> Is it a country wide thing or a Munich thing? I tried to do a quick search on the interweb and I got a few links to Cologne.
> 
> Zwickle, you'd know??


Hello Boozy,

yeah carnival is country wide, held coming year from 31. of Jan. until 05. of Feb. , but Kln is stronghold. 

The core time starts at Thursday 31.01.2008 , called weiberfastnacht (womens carnival) or fat Thursday and the highlight is Mondays, called Rosenmontag.

Not my thing, people turn crazy, dont go to work, drink a lot and speak silly and stupid things 

Id prefer to be in Munich that time, there is also carnival, but not as batty as in Kln.

Cheers


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## devo (24/9/07)

blackbock said:


> Devo, was that Schwarzbier made from the leftovers you listed in a previous AHB thread? What recipe did you settle for? Did you use crystal or not?




Yes it was black bock. Can't recall my recipe cause I'm not able to access my home PC to check what I did end up doing. Fermenter samples have been tasting good and 6 weeks of cold lagering should hopefully produce the results I'm after.


I will hopefully get to try the real thing when I hit Germany in a couple of weeks and compare when I return home.


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## Lukes (24/9/07)

make sure you check out this ride the "Vomitorium" Ride At Munich's Oktoberfest. :lol: 
I like the comment about the water washing the vomit of your face......
mass spit....


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## braufrau (24/9/07)

devo said:


> I will hopefully get to try the real thing when I hit Germany in a couple of weeks and compare when I return home.




You're mising all the fun devo!

Everyone were kitted out in their traditional cozzies this weekend.






Big oompa band parade with brewery horses, taken from the back of HWMBO. 





HWMB having a "half" in a bier garten


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## Simon W (24/9/07)

I'm jealous!


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## geoffi (24/9/07)

If you're still in the neighbourhood on the second weekend in October, and you want to try a real local festival, I heartily recommend a trip to Hellring just south of Regensburg (about an hour north of Munich.) Four local families host the festivities (based on a religious pilgrimage), with wonderful home-cooked food (Schweinebraten, Knoedel, Weisswurst etc, etc -- diet, what diet?)

And, need I add, fantastic beer. Kelheim is just a few kms down the road, so the Schneider Weisse is 100% fresh, as well as beer from several other local breweries, all of it unbelievably great.

You will be unlikely to find obnoxious, drunken Aussies, Poms, Kiwis, Yanks, South Africans etc...only drunk and friendly locals.

www.hellring.de 

(Only in German.)

(Edited for date stuff-up...although you could still turn up any time in that neck of the woods and have a ball.)


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## braufrau (24/9/07)

Geoffi said:


> If you're still in the neighbourhood on the second weekend in October, and you want to try a real local festival, I heartily recommend a trip to Hellring



Thanks Geoffi,
that looks interesting. I'll discuss it with HWMBO. Unfortunately we only have 4 more weekends
left and so many sites to see!

-bf


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## danbeer (24/9/07)

You're making me sad with those pics...  

Have fond memories of afternoons at the Englisher (sp?) gartens...

..and drndals.... Damn!  




On the subject of festivals... anyone know of any in Bavaria in November? (or elsewhere - Plans are flexible)


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## Zwickel (24/9/07)

some impressions from oktoberfest in Mnchen:

down on the pics, just click on the button "weiter"

http://www.netzeitung.de/bilder/index.php?...in=nz&img=2

Cheers :beer:


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## Boozy the clown (24/9/07)

Its all so tempting. Shame they don't go of regularly tho Zwickle assures me even tho it mut be miserable weather outside the sun shines all year round in the beer halls.


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## devo (25/9/07)

Well after spending most of the day walking around doing the Terry the tourist thing (my feet are killing me) we finally got to find a local (the spread eagle) that had cask ale on the go. Actually quite a number of the pubs I've stumbled on boast serving cask ale.



I had a pint each of the Bombardier and the Fullers London Pride. The Bombardier was served at what I figured was around 12 c but the London was served noticeably cooler.


Bombardier


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## petesbrew (25/9/07)

Keep those pics coming Braufrau!

Brings back great memories


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## devo (5/10/07)

Hi everyone, I'm still alive and well and just arrived in Potsdam, Germany. With in the first few hours I had consumed a Deibels Alt as well as some other fine beers which my hosts kindly kept a steady flow coming.




Here is a pic of a common tap beer/ale (Grimbergen) that many bars in France served which I found quite pleasing.




I also found a really good specialty (not cheap) beer cafe in Paris that had quite an impressive and extensive range to choose from.




They had about 10 beers on tap(pression) one of which was a Kriek Be'casse that was interesting to say the least. Kinda like a cheery beer.

anyway must shoot off and explore some more...

cheers
devo


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## devo (6/10/07)

just went shopping at the local supermarket and was blown away by the choice and price. Just grabbed few of what I could carry.




Everything in 500 or 600ml bottles and nothing over 0.75 euros each which works out to something like $1.40 AUD!!


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## Tony M (6/10/07)

Picked up three bottles X 330ml Chimay for six euro in a supermarket in France the other day. Thats just under ten bucks for a litre of the best. I am now in Prague and am a little worried that half a litre of draught Pilsner Urquell is getting close to two bucks. Last year it was around a dollar fifty, but I guess its still a long way short of the eight dollars or so we pay for 400ml of beer back home in Perth.


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## jimmy01 (6/10/07)

Tony M said:


> Picked up three bottles X 330ml Chimay for six euro in a supermarket in France the other day. Thats just under ten bucks for a litre of the best. I am now in Prague and am a little worried that half a litre of draught Pilsner Urquell is getting close to two bucks. Last year it was around a dollar fifty, but I guess its still a long way short of the eight dollars or so we pay for 400ml of beer back home in Perth.




And it will be fresh too!!

Have one for me Tony - very envious.


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## Simon W (7/10/07)

Heh.
Blows you away when you see the prices over there hey?
I've bought _very few_ bottles here in Oz since returning home!


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