I took my sweet time sleeping off the evenings pilsen, but felt good and clear-headed when I awoke. It was a beautiful day, and already hot. After breakfast I loaded just one small pannier on the bike - I'd leave the rest of my stuff by the tent, one of the advantages of camping out the town being I was much less worried about anything being nicked - and packed sun-lotion and an extra layer for my day trip.
Waking by the lake in Ejpovice to an idyllic scene
The shower block was hidden in the woods away from the lake. Once I'd obtained the keys it was really quite private - I never saw another soul use them.
Pilsen has been a major industrial centre in Bohemia since the nineteenth century. It's fortune was built, quite literally, upon "beer and bombs": the Pilsner Urquell brewery and the Škoda armament works. Both are still very much still operating in the city, with the brewery in particular now being one of the biggest in Europe. My plans were pretty simple - I wanted to check out the brewery, and see some of the old town.
It was a simple ride into the city, following the EuroVelo 4 route - though it did involve quite a brisk 100m climb over the hills surrounding the city, before descending into the industrial grid that surrounds the old centre. During my descent I greeted a couple more fully-loaded touring cyclists, heading east towards Prague and suffering a bit with the climb and the heat.
Before I could get into town, I had to climb the really rather steep hills surrounding. Like most Czech cities, Plzen doesn't sprawal, but instead has compact high-rise neighbourhoods
Ceremonial gate near the Gambrinas brewery. The really famous one is the Pilsner Urquell gate (which features on the bottle) - but, because I'm an idiot, I failed to snap this.
Next, came the Pilsner Urquell brewery itself. It occupies a huge area east of the Úslava river, one of a confusing number of rivers running through Plzen. This photo was actually taken *under* the famous gate.
Feeling rather disconcerted that I'd found the brewery without really trying, I wheeled the Shift in, and found a nice prominent bike rack to lock it to. My main concern riding in would be where I would leave it to minimise the risk of theft - and, similarly to the effortless locating of the brewery, a rather perfect spot immediately suggested itself. It was outside the city centre, in full view of the visitor centre, and of course secure. I locked up the Shift, went in a booked a tour for 1pm, and then loped over the bridge which the brewery has built to connect to the old town centre.
The very handy pedestrian bridge put in by the brewery. You can see the old brewhouse directly in front, with the very space-age modern brewery to the left and the old water tower on the right.
And went through a rather charming park, which was also full of harmless punks (not pictured). The ornamental legs would actually bob around as the current passed.
I had a sandwich and a coffee in the main square. After being knocked back by the enormous €5 price - I wasn't in the country any more - I wondered back towards the brewery. You can see the water tower peeping through here.
If you to Plzen, I highly recommend the tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery. As well as all the historical parts, such as the vast network of tunnels reaching under the city, you see quite a lot of the modern operation. Since they run the biggest bottling operation in Europe - all Pilsner Urquell sold around the world (which is a lot) is made and bottled right here.
Inside the bottling plant. Something like 4.5M bottles or cans can be produced every day.
A better view across the bottling plant. The entire system is self-cleaning and can be run by - and I asked about this - 20 people for each shift. They seem to spend most of the time rather relaxedly checking the status of the machines.
I did catch a glimpse of one of the workers. It must get a bit annoying being gawped at by all the tour groups, but they didn't seem particularly stressed out by it.
A vial of the original yeast strain used to make the pilsner. Aliquots of the strain are also preserved in London and Copenhagen - in case something goes wrong with that used in Plzen.
During the tour I had a chat with some American guys from Chicago. After marvelling at how few people worked in the bottling plant, we then discussed Czech koruna expenditures. "I just can't get through it" he said, and I felt inclined to agree. Though admittedly I had been eating from supermarkets and camping, I'd still not got through even most of the 1000 koruna (€40) I'd withdrawn in Adřspach. I decided to head into town to try to spend some of it. First I went back to the town square and went up the spire of St. Bartoloměj. It was a stiff climb, especially for my legs that were reeling from the last few days.
A better shot of the town hall, with the detailing on the front a bit more obvious
Next, I felt hungry, so decided to go for a late lunch at the restaurant Na Spilce opposite the brewery. It's the largest restaurant in the Czech republic and will seat hundreds down in the cellar. It was nice and cool, and I had some rather good pasta.
It was still late afternoon, so I went back to the park with the punks and sat drinking ice coffee at a rather good cafe. I used the time to ponder the route I might take tomorrow. I'd done well to get to Plzen, but I had only five real days of cycling - until the end of Friday - left. I was feeling pretty drained from the last few intense days - I wasn't yet aware of quite how much climbing had been involved in total, but knew I wanted to avoid as much as I could.
I figured that instead of heading NW from Plzen, towards Cheb and the panhandle of the Czech Republic, I'd do better to head more immediately north, avoiding the very hilly CHKO Slavkovský les and heading instead for the spa town of Karlovy Vary. From there I planned to get to Germany by directly attacking the border. There were some significant mountains, but I could see passes with train lines, and it would definitely cut some distance.
After my coffee and laying in the sun for a while, I didn't actually feel like another meal, so instead wondered into the park, where a sort of punk band was playing. They were pretty great, and I had a couple more pilsners.
It was with some relief that I saw the Shift safe and sound still locked outside the brewery - I'm not really sure what I would've done if it had been nicked.
Today's ride: 23 km (14 miles) Total: 767 km (476 miles)
