Loket Castle crowns the highest part of a rock outcropping within a significant circular bend in the Ohře River. The wide and deep ravine strengthens the castle’s defensive position. Who would not have wanted to stick a fortress on that rock?

Just within the town limits, on the right, if walking south from the north-side bridge, lies St. Florian Brewery; may God bless him! Holy men crafting and blessing brew enhances drinking and generally makes the world a better place to live in. Here I enjoyed one of the most satisfying beer drinking engagements of my lifetime. Part of the experience was because of the close associates I drank and ate with. Part was the place, outside seating and rather spectacular geography. For the rest, the sanctified brew deserves credit. The standard light beer and food were very good. While taking it all in, literally and existentially, I noticed red beer in a mug or two. Now, quality red beer weakens my knees, so naturally, I asked for a sample. In the name of all things sacred, it rocked! Indeed, writing about it makes me thirsty!

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The diversity of architecture that adorns Prague, on both sides of the Vltava River, along with a stone bridge that spans it, make it unique among Europe’s capitals. On three documented occasions between the early 1400s and the early 1600s, some people in Prague threw some other people in Prague out of windows, acts known as defenestrations. Apart from being angry, might the chuckers have been tanked? Perhaps not though, given that hurling people from windows reflects distinguished inhumanity.

The most significant of the chuckings took place in 1618, at Prague Castle. The chuckers were protestant and the three chuckees were catholic, all of whom reputedly stuck the landing, on a poop heap, and survived. Anyway, this chucking resulted in the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, a significant defeat for the army that represented the chuckers’ interests. More broadly, White Mountain was an early battle of the Thirty Years’ War, a melee of mindless savagery, the impacts of which linger in European and global cultures and politics. To all this, I say, no more chucking, more drinking, less warfare. 

The Czechs are excellent brewers. They drink a lot of it, and it is the perfect cure for ridiculously delicious regional sausages. They also make intriguing wines. Whites and dessert wines on Grüner Veltliner and Pinot Gris, and reds on Blauer Portugieser, merit attention.