Tourist Shot #1.

I took a ride a week or two ago down to the Pivo Na Naplavce beer festival along the Vltava River, just south of the Charles Bridge.

My short ride was notable for a variety of reasons.

1. The beer festival, which featured the work of dozens and dozens of small breweries from across the Czech Republic, was phenomenal. Wonderful beer, great atmosphere, perfect weather, good food. It was exactly what the Czech Beer Festival on Letna was not but desperately needs to be.

2. My ride took me through some prime Prague tourist spots and I was able to appreciate the beauty of the city anew. Sometimes it's good to be a tourist in the place where you live.

3. And, perhaps most significantly, I decided not to wear a helmet or even to take my backpack (with its spare tube and a tire pump) with me.

As you may remember, we took a ride in Amsterdam back in October. Of course, no one wears a helmet in Amsterdam, and we didn't either. It was liberating. I felt like a kid. (We didn't know what a helmet was when I was growing up.) I experienced the true freedom of being on a bicycle, untethered. I wanted to feel that feeling again, and I did.

Some may say that drinking beer and then riding through the city without a helmet on is crazy, stupid, maybe even against the law. I can't argue with that.

I also can't argue with how great it felt to just hop on my bike and take off.


My bike was still wearing the residue of my last ride, "I Don't Like Mud Days."


Tourist Shot #2.


Tourist Shot #3.


Munchies at the beer fest.



One of my favorites.



Fried carp nuggets. Boneless and delicious.


Pivo Na Naplavce was all that the Czech Beer Festival is not.


Grilled sardines, from the good folks at Nenasyta, Food Adventure, the Prague 6 Slovenian restaurant.


Four wheels can be good, too.

Behind the scenes of a blog post. (Photo by Mark Baker)


A discerning palate. (Photo by Mark Baker)