The Beer-Drinking Culture

The stories about the Czech Republic that make it to the UK are mainly about it´s rather liberal attitude to drinking alcohol and smoking weed. I think everyone must have seen the latest videos of a bunch of drunk first-league football referees (one having been seen urinating behind the goal) or the Czech president who can hardly stand up straight on ceremonial occasions.

Unfortunately, this is how we perceive the Czech Republic. But since I came here, I’ve started to realise that the Czechs are not heavy drinkers at all, they simply have a different beer-drinking culture. Beer is a natural part of their lives. It´s perfectly normal for a group of business women to have a small beer with lunch. People have “one” in the afternoon – just because they’re thirsty – and “one” on their way from work (which usually means two). People drink beer at picnics with children as well as on cycling trips. All this is perfectly normal and nobody really gets drunk. And if you do meet a group of heavily drunk men in the centre of the city, they are almost always Brits having a stag party.

I am also submitting a set of pictures from my favourite place to have a beer on a warm summer evening in Prague – Naplavka by the river. The most romantic as well as vibrant place I’ve been partying at.