Monday, March 18th, 2024
While in Prague we stayed at the Hermitage Hotel. It was a former printing house that was originally built in 1907. They had pictures that hung around the lobby that were from the printing company. We’ve included a couple of the pictures. The pictures were very informative and reflected the early 1900s and how printing was processed!
We had about an hour on the bus and we passed the bust of Vitězslav Hálek (1835-1874) a Czech poet, writer, journalist, dramatist, and theater critic. It sat in front of the New Town Hall which was built in the 14th century and over the years had been updated.
We passed by the Jirásek Bridge that went over the Vitava river. This bridge was the sixth bridge to be built over the river. Construction began in 1929 and finished in 1933. It was named after a famous Czech writer Alois Jirásek.
Another interesting sight Dětský Ostrov (Children’s Island). It was also along the Vitava River and was dedicated to children after WWII. It offered sports facilities for everyone and had a children’s playground. You get to the island by crossing the arched bridge shown in the picture.
Our first stop today was the Rückl glass factory in the town of Nižbor. Nižbor was a town of 2200 residents and was located west of Prague. The town was located along the Berounka river.
The Rückl Crystal Glass factory began in 1846 and produced traditional hand-cut Czech crystal. The factory in Nizbor was built in 1903.
Our tour included an informative, step-by-step explanation of the glass process. In some of the areas we couldn’t take pictures because they were working on a special order for a customer.
From the Rückl Glass factory we could see the Nižbor Castle. The castle was originally from the 13th century. After 1600 it was rebuilt into a chateau and was currently used by the Celtic Information Center.
After the glass factory we left for Pilsner. The Pilsner Gate from 1892 was the entrance to the Pilsner brewery.
It was time for lunch and there was a restaurant on the brewery property. Our lunch was provided!
Our tour of the brewery was informative. Our guide gave us the history of Pilsner. As we walked around the facility and its various buildings he gave us the process and ingredients used in their beer.
The bottling facility bottled up to 120,000 bottles per hour!
At the end of the tour we tasted unfiltered Pilsner Urquell right from the lagering kegs in the lagering cellars!
Tonight we had our group farewell dinner because four of our travelers were heading home the next day and not doing the trip extension. We had a great meal and fun together before we said our goodbyes!
Tomorrow we leave Prague and head to Berlin. Prague was such a beautiful city that we would love to visit again and stay longer.
