Our second day of touring in Prague was another full day of experiencing the best Czechia had to offer. Today was the day to dance with the Green Fairy.
What?
I have always enjoyed Absinthe – which for many years was thought to be a hallucinogenic alcohol which was banned in several countries. This mythology has since been debunked – and so Andrew and I finished up a walking tour of the Old City with a pre-booked tasting experience at the Green Devil Absinthe Bar in Prague.
My first introduction to Absinthe served in a traditional way was in Seattle, Washington. In one method of serving, ice water is dripped over a sugar cube on top of a slotted spoon until the absinthe undergoes a transition from clear to cloudy (termed “The Louche”).
My introduction to this bar in Belltown was after getting blown out in a Thanksgiving Apple Cup in Seattle – and Andrew and I were looking for somewhere to drown our usual post Apple Cup sorrows.
Fast forward about 6 years – and once again it was time to dance with the Green Fairy (slang term for Absinthe).
Our appointment started in the late afternoon – and we got to try samples of 8 different Absinthes. In theory it was only going to be a total of 2.5 shots spread across the tasting. Whomever was measuring this significantly underestimated how much Absinthe we got to try.
The Absinthes were varied and from different European countries. They ranged from pretty normal to kinda of weird – including one which had a huge South American Beatle (this sucker was 6 inches long) in the bottle. See the picture if you don’t believe me.
Our host also served us a couple of Absinthe samples that he flamed as part of the preparation process.
We confidently walked up the stairs (stumbled?) at the end of our tasting before heading back to the hotel for some rest before dinner.
Our family is a big fan of Rick Steves and his travel guides for Europe. Rick is a Seattle native and always emphasizes spending time with local folks to get a sense of a place. Over an hour we had a wide ranging conversation with our Czech host about where to travel, what he might like to do in a visit to the States, and what his favorite wines were (Italian and not French). The absinthe was good – but the conversation we had with him made it a really enjoyable cultural experience.
The shop had all of the Absinthes we tried for sale – so I bought a bottle of a unique Swedish spicy red absinthe to try back at home in Richland. I won’t need an Apple Cup loss to break out the Green Fairy this next time ….
Tomorrow we leave Prague to continue on our European journey with our next stop in Athens, Greece to meet up with Noel!
Kirk’s Travelogue 