Jewels of Bohemia - May 23 - June 6, 2018
(Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary)
Part One, Czech Republic
Page Four - Slavonice area
Pat next to Budweiser Budvar Brewery statue. On the way to Slavonice,
Czech Republic
we stopped to take a tour of this famous brewery.
Budweiser Budvar is a brewery in the Czech city of Ceske Budejovice, best known
for its
original Budweiser or Budweiser Budvar pale lager, brewed using artesian
water, Moravian
barley and Saaz hops.
Our tour guide at the Budweiser Budvar Brewery.
Brewing in Ceske Budejovice dates back to 1265, when Ottokar II, King of Bohemia,
granted the city brewing rights. At one time, the city was the imperial brewery of
the Holy Roman Empire.
Budweiser Budvar Brewery and the American brewery Anheuser-Busch have been
engaged in an ongoing trademark dispute over the name Budweiser since the start
of the 20th century. In 1939, only one week before the German occupation of
Czechoslovakia, Budweiser Budvar agreed to concede exclusive rights in the United
States to the American brewery. During World War II and the Cold War, Budweiser
Budvar was unable to compete with then independent Anheuser-Busch. In 1994,
then CEO of Budweiser Budvar Jiri Bocek decided not to sign a trademark agreement
with the American brewery to divide their territory across the world. On 29 July
2010, Anheuser-Busch lost its last-instance appeal in the European Court of Justice,
meaning it may not register the name Budweiser as a European Union trademark for
beer. Due to the trademark dispute, Budweiser Budvar beer is imported as Czechvar
in Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Philippines and the United States.
Anheuser-Busch sells its beer as Bud in most of the European Union.
John from our tour group leaning on Budweiser Budvar bottle at the brewery.
Trebon, Czech Republic, an ancient walled town set among hills and ancient fish
ponds. Trebon has been a center of Czech fish farming since the Middle Ages.
Masaryk Square in Trebon - with examples of baroque and renaissance architecture.
One of 3 gates through which you can reach Masaryk Square in Trebon.
Peace Town Square in Slavonice, Czech Republic. Slavonice is a small town near the
Austrian border that has changed little since the 13th century. It is known for its
collection of Gothic and Renaissance homes adorned with sgraffito wall designs.
Sgraffito is a technique of wall decor, produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in
contrasting colors to a moistened surface. Examples shown in a couple of later photos.
The morning after we arrived in Slavonice, we drove out of town to a rural Czech
farming village called Placovice, where we visited a horse farm. The hostess
explained how the horse farm operated, and we had a home hosted
lunch. Here is a photo of the tour group in front of one of the barns, along with
members of the farm family on the left side of the photo.
Their young son was skeptical of us for a while,
but eventually warmed up to us.
One of their goats
The hostess and her son
The father
The hostess talking about her horses. She had won numerous medals in horse
shows,
and people come to the farm to ride horses, take lessons.
Back in Slavonice, a back street off the town square.
Another view of the Peace Town Square in Slavonice
A home adorned with sgraffito wall designs in the
preserved
old part of Slavonice.
Another example of a home adorned with sgraffito wall designs
A young girl enjoying ice cream while relaxing in the Town Square.
A really spoiled dog. His owner purchased a separate ice cream
cone just for the dog.
Photo taken in the Town Square.
Slavonice is very popular not only for its preserved renaissance town center,
but also for the underground tunnel system dating back to the 12th century.
Here the owner of the hotel and restaurant where we stayed 2 nights
is showing the group his wine cellar that is in the underground tunnel.
A local singing group performed for us at the hotel restaurant, performing
both
Czech and American folk tunes. They all had other jobs or were retired.
One of the musicians
End of Part One - Czech Republic
Link to Part Two - Slovakia
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