Old cellar at Pilsner Urquell

Old cellar at Pilsner Urquell , originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

Pilsner Urquell may not ferment their beer in these old barrels anymore, but that's where their heart is (or the PR deptartment's, anyway). On a smoldering hot day (35C outside), this was too cold to walk around with just a tee! This gives a better control of the fermentation, and later on, during the conditioning phase, allows for the precipitation of pretty much everything you don't want to have in your pint. One more thing, if you get the chance, have a bit of ground hops: all the bitterness of a pint in a sand grain sized scrap of the stuff! You'll want some water nearby...


Potser Pilsner Urquell ja no fermenta la seva cervesa en aquests barrils tan anacrònics, pero clarament respecten les seves tradicions (si més no, al departament de marketing!). En un dia botxornós (35 al carrer), aqui feia massa fresca com per passejar-s'hi amb samarreta! Això els hi dona un millor control de la fermentació i, més tard, a la fase de condicionament, permet filtrar tot allò que no voldries tenir flotant a la teva cervesa!. Una cosa més, si teniu l'ocasió, probeu el Llúpol tot solet: tota l'amargor d'una mitjana, en un trocet del tamany d'un gra de sorra! Assegureu-vos de tenir un got d'aigua a prop, però...

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.

70m above Charle's Bridge in Prague

70m above Charle's Bridge in Prague, originally uploaded by miquel_martin.

This balloon soars up to 70m above Prague's Karlův Most, for the modic price of 30 euros. Yup, there's two people hanging off the bottom of the balloon! What got me, however, was the amazing colors of the sunset on a sphere like this. Fly above the clouds, little one, but keep a theter to the ground!

Note that this balloon is actually a closed off gas compartment, more like a weather balloon filled perhaps with Helium, if any consideration is due for the passengers. The alternative would be hydrogen, which is cheaper, but we all know how that ended... So, it's only by the sheer force of an industrial crane pulling at that theter that it stays down for passengers to board, and only high enough for them to breath! I should have taken that ride...


Aquest globus flota fins a 70m sobre el Karlův Most de Praga, pel mòdic preu de 30 euros. Efectivament, hi ha dues persones penjant a la part inferior! El que em va sorprendre, però va ser la llum de la posta de sol sobre una esfera tan perfecta com aquesta. Vola petitó, pero manté aquest cable cap al terra!

Per cert, que aquest globus és, de fet, un compartiment de gas tancat, com seria un globus meteorològic, ple, tal vegada, amb Heli, si és que algú va decidir tenir alguna consideracio pels passatgers. L'alternativa seria hidrogen, que és més barat, però tots sabem com va acabar allò...Així doncs, es tan sols per la tossudesa d'una grua industrial tirant del cable, que el globus baixa prou perquè els passatgers hi puguin pujar, i nomé prou amunt com perque encara puguin respirar! Hi hauria d'haver pujat....

If you'd like some more info on this picture, there's a bunch of extra details in flickr.