Saturday, August 30, 2014

Retro Saturday: Final Fantasy 5 Four Job Fiesta Highlights

The Fiesta officially comes to an end this weekend, but our FF5 fun doesn't have to stop. I'm several runs behind on the highlights, as I have been on a pace of more than one runthrough per week. This will let me cover the last few Fiesta runs over the next few Retro Saturdays while I start working on a new retro game project.

Let's pick up the action in Run 8, a Team 750 run involving only magic-users. Less streaming and video has been happening recently, so let's take a look at my screenshot Twitter updates from Run 8!






As per usual, find my video game action on the following networks:

Friday, August 29, 2014

Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk

After taking a solo trip down to Bray, I couldn't wait to bring Sara down for a walk on the well-known Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk. I even abstained from exploring the Bray Head trail because I knew Sara would want to climb it with me. On a sunny Saturday, we took the train down to Bray to stretch our legs and smell the sea air...

Bray Head from Sea Level Bray, Ireland
Bray Head from Sea Level

Bray Head is a massive stony outcropping just south of Bray Village. The nicely-kept Strand Road and seaside walk took us all the way from the train station to the trailhead.

Steep steps went up from sea level before the trail became a stony and tree-rooty path.

Bray Head Steps Bray, Ireland
Bray Head Steps

Along the trail are little step-outs for views and photos. Google+ Photos made this nice little panoramic view with a few of our shots from about halfway up Bray Head.

Bray and the Dublin Mountains from Bray Head, Ireland
Bray and the Dublin Mountains











When we got high enough, we could see Dublin Bay and the twin smokestacks of the old power station in Dublin Port. In the far-far distance, we could just make out the Mountains of Morne in County Down, Northern Ireland. I don't know why, but I still nerd out whenever I can look across an international border. If we were climbing those mountains, we'd have the Queen on our money and the speed limit signs would be in miles per hour.

Dublin from 10 Miles Away in Bray, Co. Wicklow
Dublin from 10 Miles Away

At the top of Bray Head, a concrete cross can be seen as a little stick from ground level. At the top it's... a concrete cross. On Good Friday, people climb the Head reading the Stations of the Cross before finishing here at the top with a little service.

Cross on Bray Head Bray, Ireland
Cross on Bray Head

From the top, we got a great view of Bray, Dublin, and the surrounding Dublin and Wicklow Mountains.

Bray Town from the top of Bray Head, Ireland
Bray Town

We climbed back down to sea level to start the next phase of our big hike that day, the 7 km (4 1/3 mile) walk along the cliffs from Bray town to neighboring Greystones. This walk stays much closer to sea level, and there is very little climbing involved. This is an easier day walk for a lot of people, and the trail was busy with tourists and locals enjoying the nice weekend weather.

A few of the walkers had large bowls of foraged wild blackberries, which are in peak season right now. I helped myself to some of the straggling berries that the less adventurous (or shorter) berry foragers missed.

Cory Reaching for Blackberries Bray, Ireland
Cory Reaching for Blackberries

For most of the walk, the trail is on a steep cliff face looking down at the crashing waves and the historic rail line running along these sheer cliffs. Today, the DART commuter train uses these tracks, giving visitors a great view from the comfort of their own seats.

Cliffs of Bray to Greystones
Cliffs of Bray to Greystones

Obligatory Cory-Looking-at-the-Water Shot Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk
Obligatory Cory-Looking-at-the-Water Shot

As the trail nears its southern end, the cliffs flatten out to open farmland. The last mile or so is a gradual decline through the wheatfields and sheep pastures into the small harbor town of Greystones.

Last Leg of the Trail from Bray to Greystones Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Last Leg of the Trail

At the end, we had a well-deserved snack and drink in small-but-cute Greystones. The DART train terminates at the Greystones station, so hikers don't have to turn around and walk the cliffs again. We caught the train to avoid the extra walking and to catch the view of the sea and the cliffs from the famous Bray rail line that we had seen from the trail.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

New eBook Chapter- West Dublin

I've been busy working on more book material. In addition to the guided step-by-step walking tours, I am writing text-only chapters covering the larger areas of the city that aren't as guided-walk-friendly. This isn't to say that there won't be more and more guided walks as the book grows, but I'd like to cover the tourist basics before I put too much work into labor-intensive guided walks of every neighborhood in the city!

I just published the chapter briefly covering a few highlights in West Dublin on the Free Dublin eBook page of the blog. This chapter is (for now) all text and formatted in a very basic PDF file. As I am ready to assemble the complete book, I will be changing some of the wording and formatting, but if the goal of this book is to get the information out to people, I have no problem publishing each chapter and guide separately before cobbling them together.

Feedback is always welcome from the Contact page of the blog. Thanks for the support and encouragement!

“West Dublin” by Cory Hanson
Version August 25, 2014
Licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Sharealike 4.0 International License.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

College Football Kickoff at Croke Park!

First and foremost... cue the music!


There, now that that's out of the way, we can talk business. The American college football season gets underway this week- and we're going to catch some live football action right here in Dublin.

The Croke Park Classic will officially start the college football season, with Penn State and Central Florida kicking off in the early afternoon in Dublin- that's early morning in the States. When we found out about this game before the 2013 football season, we bought tickets right away. We knew we'd be desperately missing football by the time our second Autumn away from Iowa rolled around.

Just our good fortune that we can catch live American football here in Dublin, and while we won't get to see our beloved Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State is a respectable alternative. Both Iowa and Penn State play in the same conference (Big Ten), so we can wear our Big Ten fan hats that day.

There are a number of ancillary American football events scheduled this weekend in Dublin, including pep rallies for each team, a high school football game on Friday night, and team-specific tailgate parties the morning of the game in Temple Bar.

The Croke Park Classic organizers have assembled this handy calendar of all the events leading up to the big game.

For the non-American college football fans out there, here's a short glossary:

Tailgate- A large gathering of fans several hours before the game, traditionally celebrated with barbecue cookouts, playing catch with the game-appropriate ball, and often dangerous amounts of alcohol. The word tailgate comes from the traditional practice of opening and sitting on the tailgate of a pickup truck.

Pep Rally- A very old tradition celebrated at many old-school colleges today. Pep rallies are usually sponsored by the university and fans are invited to attend a ceremony of music and rousing speeches made by coaches, players, and cheerleaders. Wealthy alumni are often present to make large donations to the sports program in question.

The game kicks off at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, that's 1:30 p.m. Ireland time. We'll be in the end zone with our Iowa Hawkeyes signs, so look for us on field goal and extra point attempts, and stay tuned for the recap post and photo gallery!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

St. Michan's Church and Crypt

After walking around Smithfield, I saw a little sign for "St. Michan's Church & Crypt." It was quite understated, but I was interested, especially because I was doing research for my Dublin travel book. I walked around to the front of this very old church, and saw the old cemetery right away.

St. Michan's Church Cemetery Dublin, Ireland
St. Michan's Church Cemetery

Gravestone and Steeple at St. Michan's Church Dublin, Ireland
Gravestone and Steeple

I took some outdoor pictures before I saw the tour group on the side of the church going into this... hole in the foundation. No photos are allowed in the crypts, so I respectfully declined to snap tasteless selfies of myself with real human remains.

Entrance to the Crypt at St. Michan's Church Dublin, Ireland
Entrance to the Crypt

This was the crypt tour, I was just in time. At St. Michan's, there are two crypts that are open for visitors. Both are (understandably) only accessible by guided tour. One crypt (entrance shown in the photo) still has (technically) active burial chambers. These chambers are reserved for the wealthy aristocratic families who gave generous donations to the church centuries ago. In return, they received rights of burial in the crypt- in perpetuity. 

Other chambers are no longer active, as the title-holding families have died out. Most of the chambers have intact or semi-intact coffins, but others are random piles of broken wood and dry bones.

In the other crypt...

Photo from St. Michan's Website



One of the burial chambers has four well-preserved centuries-old mummies. The remains are so well preserved the dry air, underground temperatures, and methane gas (!) from the ground create tough conditions for decomposers. The skin, clothing, hair, and nails are all more or less intact.

One of the mummies (the one in the rear of the photo) was buried with his (yes, his) legs crossed, leading to a misconception that he fought in the Crusades. As such, his hand is severely damaged as IT APPARENTLY WAS GOOD LUCK TO SHAKE HANDS WITH THE BODY OF A CRUSADER. So for decades after the discovery of this man, visitors were paying visits to his burial ground to shake his hand...

Recent carbon dating has revealed that this body is about 200 years too young to have fought in the Crusades, but a friendly tour guide let some brave members of our tour group- myself included- touch a finger to the leathery, well-worn skin of this guy's hand.

The crypt tour is technically not free, but a visit to the church cemetery and sanctuary is. Crypt tours are given during limited hours and never on Sundays, so check the schedule here if you are planning a visit. 

I'll leave you with something I found both funny and spooky at one of the non-public crypt doors.

Entrance Only- No Exit! St. Michan's Church Dublin, Ireland
Entrance Only- No Exit!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Morning in Brussels

After our big Continental trip to Germany and Prague, we spend more than a full month home in Dublin before we made it back across the North Sea- this time for another beer-themed trip.

Americans are all familiar, whether they know it or not, with the beer traditions of Bavaria and Central Europe. The popular American beers are all descendents of these styles, mostly because early immigrants from Germany and Bohemia set up the first big breweries in Middle America and made the Pilsner-style lagers of their homelands. That's why Americans don't drink English ales, Irish stouts, or the rich, spicy beers of Belgium...

Which was where we headed for our next beer-tour. We booked a quick weekend trip to Brussels and Bruges, arriving late on Friday night. We flew into the less-expensive Brussels airport, about an hour by bus outside of the city. When we finally pulled into the bus station, it was close to midnight in the seedy part of this rather seedy city.

After a quick walk through the dark streets past the passed-out junkies and open public urinals, we were safely in our hostel. The next morning, we set off.

Our hostel was a bit of a walk away from the touristy old town of Brussels in an ethnic neighborhood. On our way to the Grand Place, we stopped in a corner bakery for breakfast. We got a tasty pastry and coffee for only a few Euros. Right away we knew that prices here would be much lower than those in Dublin.

Tasty Pastries and Coffee Brussels, Belgium
Tasty Pastries and Coffee

After breakfast, we continued to Grand Place, the old central square of Brussels. Today, all the political and economic power is in the new European Union Headquarters on the outskirts of town, but this used to be where the action was. 


The highlight of this square is the Town Hall, now home to a quasi-helpful tourist info center.

Brussels Town Hall
Brussels Town Hall

Brussels Grand Place Buildings
Brussels Grand Place Buildings

Cory and Sara in Grand Place Brussels, Belgium
Cory and Sara in Grand Place

We pushed through the growing crowds to the (touristy but fun) shops in the streets around the square. We picked up some chocolates at a chocolate shop- complete with pictures and descriptions in different languages.

Prestige Chocolate Brussels Belgium
Prestige Chocolate

Soon-to-be-Packed Restaurant Row Brussels Belgium
Soon-to-be-Packed Restaurant Row

We continued through the old city and the crowds grew as morning approached lunchtime. Brussels has lots of little charms that don't translate well in photos; sometimes because they are not safe for work or for a family-friendly blog like this, but sometimes because they are too small or subtle.

One Brussels classic that we (and everyone else) had to see was the famous Manneken-Pis fountain. This little kid has become the logo of Brussels- and maybe Belgium. This fountain gives the tourists exactly what is advertised on the label, a little boy tapping a bottomless kidney into this fountain on the corner.

The statue itself is very small- smaller even than the toddler it is supposed to be. We had to fight through the crowds and zoom in with the camera to get a decent look at this little guy.

Manneken-Pis Fountain Brussels, Belgium
Manneken-Pis Fountain

He has become such a symbol of the city that foreign dignitaries traditionally bring costumes and outfits for the little guy when they come on state visits. A display near the fountain lists and describes the costumes of the week. It was a bit disappointing not to see the statue as it was carved 400 years ago, but if he is best known for his costumes, then so be it.

Nearby, we stopped at one of the many, many waffle stands in town for a super-space-age-out-of-this-world-moon waffle with sugar glaze, strawberries, cream, chocolate, and a little Manneken-Pis gummi candy on top. The little plastic fork was no match for this three-Euro beauty, but we managned... somehow.

Out-of-this-World-Moon-Waffle Brussels, Belgium
Out-of-this-World-Moon-Waffle

After all that walking, we were ready to get down to the real business of the trip... Stay tuned!

The Real Reason
The Real Reason

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Retro Saturday: Final Fantasy 5 Four Job Fiesta Highlights

Well, the Fiesta officially comes to an end next weekend in real-time, but I'm still several runs behind. Over the next few Retro Saturdays, I'll be publishing the rest of my Fiesta highlights while I take a well-deserved break from producing new retro (ha!) video game content.

Run 7 picks up in World 2. Let's get to the highlights!


World 2 Crystal Guardians

First Bout with Exdeath in World 2

Sleep is VERY Effective against Wendigo

Necro Goes Down Smoothly

Standard Shinryu Setup

Mystic Knight takes out Almagest, the Rest is Academic


As per usual, find my video game action on the following networks:

Friday, August 22, 2014

Marlay Park

When Sara was still in New York, I was looking for a way to keep myself busy. I saw a public outdoor screening of Ghostbusters announced in the Dublin Event Guide in Marlay Park in South County Dublin. This park had been one of those big green splotches on the extended Dublin map that I had had vague plans to visit before, but now I had a reason and a schedule. Time to get on the bike.


The park itself is just north of the M50 southwest of City Centre. Sara and I had been walking as far as Rathfarnham, the township just north of the park, so I knew that cycling there would be no sweat. 

I saw on the map (embedded above) that the park has "woodland" areas, but I wasn't sure what that meant in an urban park. I made sure I had time to catch the movie and explore these "woodlands" for myself.

First up, the movie. I was wondering how they would display the movie outdoors during the day. A traditional projection on a white screen would be very difficult to see in the sunlight. To be seen, the movie would have to be displayed on some kind of huge backlit screen...

He Slimed Me
"He Slimed Me"

Through the rain, the picture was bright and clear. It looks like it must have been set up at no small expense, and it was well attended by the neighborhood families. Ghostbusters was the middle movie of an all-afternoon tripleheader. I wasn't interested in the first or last films, so I took to the trail after the credits rolled.

Marlay Park, it turns out, is the starting point of The Wicklow Way, the famous walking trail. I had heard of the trail before, but I must have forgotten that it officially started so close to where we are in Dublin. The starting point is announced with a stone gateway of sorts on the north side of Marlay Park.


Wicklow Way Starting Point Marlay Park, Dublin, Ireland
Wicklow Way Starting Point

The Wicklow Way winds through the park, but a number of other paved and unpaved trails crisscross the park as well. A little stream (maybe the River Slang?) runs through the park and over a number of small waterfalls.

Marlay Park Walking Trail Dublin, Ireland
Marlay Park Walking Trail

Stone Bridge Marlay Park Dublin, Ireland
Stone Bridge

Waterfall 1 Marlay Park Dublin, Ireland
Waterfall 1

I saw a badger burrow in the south end of the park. It was getting close to sunset, but I didn't want to hang around to catch the resident mustelid. The light made it difficult to get a good photo of the hole.


Badger Burrow Marlay Park Dublin, Ireland
Badger Burrow

Waterfall 2 Marlay Park Dublin, Ireland
Waterfall 2
                           
Waterfall 3 Marlay Park Dublin, Ireland
Waterfall 3

The Wicklow Way is marked every few hundred yards with recycled black plastic signposts. In the park, they are handy. In the deep woods, they are lifesavers.

Wicklow Way Signpost Marlay Park Dublin, Ireland
Wicklow Way Signpost

In the middle of the park, the little river is dammed up into a shallow lake. A deck with park benches got me out of the shade of the woods and into what little sun there was that day.

Deck and Park Bench on the Lake
Deck and Park Bench on the Lake

I had just enough time to canvas most of the trails in the park before I ran out of daylight. Thanks for hosting the free movies, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council! I hope to see you again soon.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

New eBook Guide: Grafton Street, Your Dublin Home Base

Staying on the southside for now, here is my guide to the Grafton Street area.

Many visitors use Grafton Street as their central southside Dublin landmark. It makes a nice point of reference because it is so easy to find and it connects St. Stephen's Green with College Green and Trinity College. This guide includes a shopping center, a statue of an Irish classic rock hero, Bram Stoker's church, an academic pub, and much more!

Check out the latest edition of all eBook articles on the Dublin eBook tab on the blog.

As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated through the Contact page.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

Creative Commons License

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Another Homebrew Shipment!

After returning from New York, one of my first orders of business was to get an order in for more homebrew supplies. We had run out of my last coffee stout just before we headed west across the pond- so it was time to buy some ingredients and get the batch down.

Just as I did with my first order, I picked one kit with grains and hops and two canned kits. The shelf life of ground grains and leaf hops (even vacuum-sealed as they were) is much more limited than the canned kits.

Again as before, my first kit was Brupaks Irish Extra Stout. I really liked how it turned out last time, and stout kits have a bit more room for error because they have such a bold taste. The hard-to-describe beer-kit-with-English-ale-yeast taste seems to be masked by the malty and roasty taste of the dark grains.

The canned kits I selected were Cooper's IPA and a Cooper's Pilsener. It should be noted that the Pilsener lager isn't really a lager with lager yeast, but a light ale designed to have a clean, light, lager-ish taste. I've heard good things about the Cooper's Pilsener, but haven't yet tried it.

I also restocked on Champagne yeast for ciders and bought a hydrometer sample tube, which I promptly broke. Homebrew West also threw in two small tubs of cleanser/sanitizer, which seems to work well. Thanks!

Homebrew Shipment
Homebrew Shipment

The day the shipment arrived, I got to work on the stout kit. 

I steeped the roasted grains wrapped in muslin to extract the dark, chocolatey flavor.

Steeping Grains
Steeping Grains

After steeping, I took some of the steeping water and mixed in some of the provided liquid malt extract and brought it to a boil. Once boiling, I added most of the provided dry leaf hops.

Dried Leaf Hops
Dried Leaf Hops

Boiling Hops
Boiling Hops

After 50 minutes, I added more of the remaining hops for flavor, and after 5 more minutes, I added the rest of the hops for aroma. After an even hour, I was ready to strain out the hops and get this beer ready for fermentation.

I added the rest of the liquid malt extract to the fermenting bucket with the steeping water and the (strained) hops boiling water. I topped it off to 25L- just a bit more than called for in the recipe, but I like to stretch these kits a bit- and pitched the provided yeast.

Fermenting Stout
Fermenting Stout

After a week to ten days, it will be ready for bottling and I'll have fresh homemade beer in the house once again. Pipeline ciders and apple-cranberry mixes are great, but nothing really beats a nice homemade beer.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

A Walk in Smithfield




On the north side of the River Liffey, a few blocks west of O'Connell Street is the Smithfield Village. By all accounts, this little cluster used to be a rundown wasteland, but is now on the rise. It is home to a few Dublin notables, and I'm always looking for an excuse to explore new parts of the city, so off I went.

Near the Luas line, a temporary construction wall was plastered with the usual concert bills, junk food ads, and this little nugget.

Graffiti reading: Garth Crooks in Dublin
Garth Crooks

As harmful and nasty as graffiti can be, sometimes one has to admire the pure cheek of it. The stencil artist really put some love into this one. I don't really know how much Garth himself had to do with the Croke Park snafu, but I had to admire this job anyway.

Probably the most famous spot in Smithfield is the Old Jameson Distillery. Many visitors don't realize that Old here doesn't mean aged and ancient, it means former. The famous Jameson Whiskey is now made in a larger facility out of town. Today, this facility is set up as a museum and bar, much like the Guinness Storehouse farther west. 

We haven't done thd Jameson tour (the Bushmills tour is good enough for us), but we've heard good things about it from other Dublin visitors.

Jameson Distillery Tours Entrance

Just west of the Old Jameson plant is the wide open Smithfield Plaza or Smithfield Square. This brick expanse was a seventeenth-century marketplace turned urban farm until the late 1990s. It was cleaned up and restored in an effort to attract business and commerce to this neglected and mostly abandoned part of town. 

The old Jameson chimney and observation deck stands on the east side of the square, cafes, restaurants, and a cinema are open on the east side. At the north end of this deceptively large square, there is a little green space with log benches carved to resemble livestock. This presumably pays homage to the agricultural history of Smithfield.

Smithfield Square Dublin, Ireland
Smithfield Square
Jameson Chimney Dublin, Ireland
Jameson Chimney

Green at the Top of Smithfield Square Dublin, Ireland
Green at the Top of the Square


This square was and is also the site of the famous (or infamous) Smithfield Horse Fair. Horse breeders and buyers used to gather here regularly to buy and sell horses in the open air... until it turned into the O.K. Corral in 2011. Someone tried to steal a horse, and shots were fired randomly at the fleeing would-be horse rustler. Now the fair is held only twice yearly and traders are required to have licenses to attend and trade at the fair. 

The Cobblestone Pub is at the top of the square. I wanted to check out this place after it had been so strongly recommended by Lord Stilton and many others. Sadly, I was here on a weekday afternoon, and the pub is only open at night. We'll have to come back some night for the Trad music sessions for which this place is so famous.

The Cobblestone Pub Dublin, Ireland
The Cobblestone Pub

I did visit one more unique place in Smithfield, but it deserves its own post...

????

Monday, August 18, 2014

Last Day in Prague

We only had the morning free on our last day in Prague. There wasn't time, energy, or money left for anything big, so we headed for a corner of Old Town Prague that we had yet to visit.

The Jewish Quarter as it's known today was Prague's Jewish Ghetto. As in many European cities, Jews in Prague were culturally and legally forced into segregated neighborhoods. The Jewish Quarter today is a highly-rated collection of synagogues, museums, and Jewish cultural centers covered by one ticket.

We didn't have enough time to justify buying the big museum ticket, but we did get a sneaky peek at the most famous of Jewish Quarter landmarks: The Old Jewish Cemetery.

Old Jewish Cemetery Prague, Czech Republic
Old Jewish Cemetery
      
Gravestones Old Jewish Cemetery Prague, Czech Republic
Gravestones   

This small cemetery was the only legal burial ground for Prague's Jews for more than 300 years. When they ran out of new plots, they had no choice but to begin layering new burials atop older ones. This small graveyard holds more than 12,000 burials, several layers deep and dating back to the 15th century.

It is not free to visit and most of the views of it are blocked off, but one should never underestimate what a tall, motivated tightwad traveler can do with a camera.

Across the river from the Jewish Quarter and up the steep hill is Prague's large metronome sculpture. We first saw this swinging piece at an oblique angle from Charles Bridge, but we had a much better look from the Jewish Quarter.

The metronome was built in 1991 to celebrate the proud musical tradition of Prague- and to replace a huge statue of Josef Stalin. Good call.

Prague's Metronome Sculpture
Prague's Metronome Sculpture

Obligatory Cory-Looking-at-the-Water Shot Prague, Czech Republic
Obligatory Cory-Looking-at-the-Water Shot

After the Jewish Quarter, we headed back to Old Town for one last look at some of our favorite Prague knockouts. The sun came out, but it was still winter coat weather. I couldn't resist one more sausage with sauerkraut. After all, who knows when I'll be back to sausage-loving Central Europe again?

One More Sausage in Prague, Czech Republic
One More Sausage

We made our way from Old Town back across the river to the train station to catch our ride to the airport. We walked along the river and took one last series of Castle Quarter and Charles Bridge shots. I also spotted a carp swimming lazily in the garbage and litter of the river. Aren't carp wonderful fish?

Prague Castle (top left) and Charles Bridge (right)
Prague Castle (top left) and Charles Bridge (right)

Prague Castle and Red Roofs Prague, Czech Republic
Prague Castle and Red Roofs

A Scarred Carp Enjoying the Finer Things Prague, Czech Republic
A Scarred Carp Enjoying the Finer Things

At the airport, I spent some of the last of our Czech money on a couple of Central European favorites, beer and gummi candy. Sadly, the beer was a bit disappointing out of a can and paired with Haribo candy, but the Krusovice brand was the last label on the Prague beer checklist, so it couldn't be helped.

Gummi Candy and Krusovice Beer
Gummi Candy and Krusovice Beer

We had a great time in Prague- and it wasn't just the beer and sausage. Prague is a beautiful old city, and I can't wait to go back to the Czech Republic. Next trip, we'll get out of Prague and visit the brewery in Pilsen and the Medieval red roofs of Cesky-Krumlov!