Summer vacation part 8, 3 days in Prague, Czech Republic

The final stop in my family's Summer trip was Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.  Prague holds a very special place in my heart since I spent 4 months living here right after graduating from college back in 1993.  For a young and impressionable traveler back then, Prague was just magical.  The iron curtain had recently fallen during the Velvet revolution of 1989 and the city was exciting and growing into the capitalistic ways of the West while retaining it's Bohemian charm.  It simply was the trendy "place to be" in Europe during that time period. I worked part-time as an English teacher while living here and I got to really know the city's soul beyond the touristic old town.  Tourism was already hitting Prague fairly hard even back in the early 90s, however little would I be prepared for the dramatic change that has taken place recently.  Turn the clock ahead to 2014 and the city now has been completely over run with tourists and fancy shops lining most streets near the old town.  Prague is known for it's beautiful architecture and the famous Gothic buildings are in their original state since the city was not bombed, and therefore spared damage after World War II. The center piece of Prague and main attraction is the Charles Bridge which is nearly 1,000 years old and is one of the most famous walking bridges in the world. As I strolled around the city, I was still in awe of it's charm and the architecture, though I became increasingly annoyed at the high end shopping and massive amounts of tourists marching like cattle through the cobblestone streets.

Since this was the very end of a long and busy vacation throughout eastern Europe, my family didn't have the energy for doing all that much. Most of our days were spent casually walking around the old town and seeing some of the nearby sites. We covered most of the famous old town and lesser town, and later my daughter and I hiked up the hill to the Prague castle. My daughter and I also explored a bit off the beaten path which included a 300 step walk to the top of the mighty St. Vitus cathedral. We also took in the gorgeous view from the mini Eiffel tower at Petrin hill. On our last full day in Prague, my daughter and I peddle boated around in the Charles river, taking in the views from the water. I had absolutely no regrets visiting Prague again 21 years later, though I was a bit saddened that my magical city had gone through such dramatic changes. I guess a romanticist/idealist always wants to dream about a city in a certain fashion, while a realist understands the changes and influences that occur when a city rapidly goes through a metamorphosis. The strong Western influence over Prague is not necessarily a bad thing for the locals as the city is thriving.  I still recommend a visit to Prague, however I do think an off season trip here is optimum. Also, do try to explore a bit outside of the city's touristic center so you can experience some little gems that lie outside the beaten path.  Prague is still fairly cheap by Western standards and there are budget accommodations/food to be had.  Last but not least, try to enjoy a few pints of Prague's famous beer which should only set you back about $1.25 per pint.  :)

Charles Bridge

View from Petrin Hill

Prague's Astronomical clock

Church of our lady Tyn

St. Vitus Cathedral

Dancing house

Magical Prague from high on Petrin hill

The Finnish wine and beer experience

Finland is definitely not your wine and beer mecca of the world, but times are changing.  My observation is that many people (not all) aren't exactly drinking in this country to savor a boutique micro-brew or Gran Cru Bordeaux, but they are looking to get loaded.  However, in all fairness I am noticing a better selection of beers at the grocery stores and different wines offered at restaurants and Finland's wine monopoly store, Alko.  In Finland you cannot buy alcohol over 5% strength in the local grocery stores (that includes beer, wine and hard liquor). So, that means that all liquor purchases (stronger beer, wine, scotch, etc.) must be purchased at the monopoly store.   That means that you can only buy your wine from one government chain.  It would be like saying in the United States, that all wine and hard liquor can only be purchased at the Beverages and More chain.  There is no concept of a wine shop in Finland and it is not even legal to have one.  The government completely controls all alcohol sales in Finland.

So you want to try Finnish beer?  I hope you enjoy gold colored lager style beers then.  75% of Finnish beer seems to have a very similar taste and look.  Karhu, Koff, Lapin Kulta,Olvi, and Karjala are all very popular ones.  They are all typically sold in 3-5 different alcohol percentage designations.

	percentage by volume	sold in restaurants	sold in stores	notes
I-beer	0.0% - 2.8%	yes	yes	doesn't require a license
II-beer	2.8% – 3.7%	yes	yes	not usually used in Finland, however, it is used in Sweden
III-beer	3.7% - 4.7%	yes	yes	known as "keskiolut", "kolmosolut" or "kolmonen", the most popular class of beer in Finland
IVA-beer	4.8% - 5.2%	yes	no	steep taxation before the 1995 reform, usually sold as Export-beers
IVB-beer	5.2% - 8.0%	yes	no	steep taxation before the 1995 reform, usually sold as Export-beers

If you want imported beers like Heineken, Miller or Corona you can get them, but be prepared to spend about $3 or more per can in the grocery store.  I was surprised to see Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (from my home state-California) in the Alko store, but they wanted like $4 per bottle for it!  I was also in this "American" restaurant called Chico's a few weeks back and they had a "Taste of California" feature on their menus and it included, not one, but 3 types of Sierra Nevada beers! They had the Torpedo IPA, Porter and Pale Ale.  Wow, It was a pleasant surprise that they carried it.  They even had a map in the restaurant highlighting the city of Chico, California.  Chico, Ca is a university town in Northern Cal that is famous for starting the Sierra Nevada Brewery among other things.  It is considered a micro-brewery and is now one of largest micro-breweries in USA.  So, spending $3 on a beer in a store might seem a bit steep, but if you want to go out for a beer to the center of Helsinki, be prepared to pay from $8-$10 per beer.

You want to try Finnish wine?  Ha - did you really think they grow grapes in Finland?  :)  Well,  I have heard of a few different Finnish fruit wines, but I haven't tried them yet.  In the meanwhile, you can get your wine from the monopoly Alko store.  The store prominently features wines from France, Italy, Spain and South America (Peru and Argentina).   You will not find that much California wine, at least not in most Alko shops.  Time to get used to that "un-oaked" Chardonnay or Chablis from France or a light earthy red instead of the California fruit bomb you are used to.  Actually, the selection at Alko is not all that bad, and many decent wines can be purchased for about $10-$20.

Wine in restaurants is a whole different "ball game" in Finland as compared to the United States.  First of all, you are quite limited when ordering by the glass versus buying a bottle.  However, if you think you are going to save money by ordering a glass of wine, think twice.  Finnish bars and restaurants actually measure the pour of wine they give you and it comes in 2 or 3 different sizes.  You can have a "normal" glass of wine which is 12 deciliters or a larger 18-20 deciliter glass.  Prices for single glasses are for the small version and if you want a larger pour you will be charged twice the price.  Essentially that means for a good glass of wine it will be $10 or more for a small and $20 or more for a larger pour of wine.  In US the larger glass would be the "normal" glass and you would pay much less than $20.   I was kind of shocked to see the waiters measuring the wine, seems kind of silly, but that is how they do it in Finland. So, then why not just save by buying a bottle of wine you might ask?  In a decent restaurant in Finland wine is marked up like 3-4x the normal cost of a bottle, compared to about 2x in US (most cases).  So, it is hard to find a decent bottle under $60 US.  OK, the first two options don't save any money, then why not just bring a nice bottle of wine to the restaurant and pay a corkage fee like in the US.  Sorry, bringing a bottle of wine is not an accepted practice in Finland and not allowed at this time (as far as I know).  I guess just try to limit your wine consumption in Finland or stick to wine at home that was purchased from the Alko store.

So, drinking wine or beer in Finland is quite expensive compared to the United States and the inventory is quite different.  However, if you want to splurge you can get very good non US stuff from your local Alko store or favorite restaurant.  Just remember to save your cash for a special occasion.  :)