Monday, 13 July 2015

Traditional mulled wine recipe



Hello everyone,
 
I have wondered what would be really useful gift/information we can easily share with all of you, and as always, inspiration was right “under my nose”. In this case it was previous post of my brother where he is also introducing to you a traditional way how you can prepare svařák (here). To bring new experience to your home, I decided to make this short video you can easily follow, where you see mulled wine is not a rocket science, you just need to follow the right steps.
I believe that the Winter season had already hit us all and even though I’m writing this post from UK, therefore not really from a freezing climate (as temperature in my home town is right now -9°C), I would hardly refuse a traditional svařák. And guess what, once I upload this post I'll make another one, but this time with white wine…
Anyway, let's get back to the business. Would you like to make yourself, your friends and family happy? Than prepare the delicious mulled wine following a traditional Czech recipe!
It’s soooo easy, so have fun and “na zdraví”!
Ingredients:
fruity wine (any, red or white will do)
water
cinnamon (sticks, not grounded!)
stars of anise
claws
sugar
orange (pealed and sliced so you can eat this afterwards)

Prague castle reconstruction in 2015



This year, Prague castle will get new facelift. There is a significant reconstruction of many exteriors planned for the year 2015. So it may happen that tourists coming to Prague will have scaffolding on their pictures.
Parts that will be reconstructed are facades, roofing, and windows and some interiors of St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague castle.
The reconstruction will cost about 11.7 million €. Majority of works will be done during main touristic season, because of the weather conditions. So it is almost sure that anytime you come, you will see some reconstruction works in progress.
Our brief recommendations are:
  • If you are coming to Prague with main objective of taking pictures of Prague castle, better you wait for the year 2016.
  • But if you come anyway, there are many other interesting sights and stories to discover. Some of them are described in our Mysterious Prague Guide. You can download it from Prague holidays page.
We wish you pleasant stay in Prague.
Dan & Aleš

Beer spa is not only Beer bath



Let’s discover what benefits and pleasures can beer bring us, if we use it not only for drinking. Beer wellness can be a nice and original tip for a holiday or weekend trip.
Beer… it is one of the most popular beverages ever. At the beginning, it was a meal. Later drink. In Czech cuisine it is used also as ingredient for cooking and baking and lately it has found another use: bath, wellness and spa. You can find some holiday tips and packages in our e-shop.

Beer bath – to refresh, peel, nourish and soften your skin and relax entirely

It is essential and most popular procedure of whole beer wellness possibilities. What does it really is? Take warm water, mix it with specially brewed bath beer and mix it together.  In good spas they add also fresh living yeast (similar to those used for baking bread), husk (fermented grain) and dried herbs for nice smell. After you dip into the bath, warm water start to warm-up your skin and open your pores and slight perspiration cleans your skin. Added malt works as peeling agent. Yeasts nourish your skin by many of B vitamins, proteins, saccharides and contribute to skin softening and regeneration. To increase psychic relaxation it is recommended to calm down and drink a pint of local beer.
This procedure takes about 20 minutes and it is recommended to repose after it in relaxation room for another 20 minutes. This is important to calm the body and relax muscles. Your refreshed skin continues in absorption of healing substances from what rests on it after the bath. It is also recommended not to shower after the bath at least for several hours.

Hops bath – to relax and get rid of stress, nervousness, and insomnia

This bath is about comfortably warm water with added hops. This herb is used to give beer its characteristic bitterness that is significant especially for Pils beers. Water in this case helps to release all healing substances. Hops contain also aromatic oils that have relaxing and antibiotic effects on your body. It usually takes about 20 minutes.

Malt wrap – to relief pain, repose muscles and get rid of dermatologic problems

During this procedure, warm malt will be put on your body and you will be wrapped. During following 20 minutes your body will get two types of healing effects. First is physical. It consist of warming effect on your problematic parts. Most often it is used for neck, loins, shoulders and arms. It helps to relief pain and stiffness. Usually any warming wrap is used as preparation for massage.
Second effect is more chemical. Healing and health beneficial substances are absorbed through your skin to your body. Those substances are especially vitamins and proteins. This effect is provably positive for patients with dermatologic problems like dry skin, eczema or psoriasis.

Massage – to relax muscles and smoothen and nourish your skin

This is one big topic. To keep it short, massage gives you mental and physical relaxation. In good combination with other beer wellness procedures and other beer cosmetic they intensify absorption of healing substances contained in beer ingredients, smoothen and strengthen skin and make you feel better.
Some breweries offer also their own beer cosmetics. You can choose from variety of creams, peelings, shampoos, massage oils or soaps.
 

“Hopped wort” (in Czech called “Mladina”) to strengthen your immunity

This magic substance is actually a half made product of beer brewing process. Firstly you get sugars and taste from fermented corn. This tasty sweet liquid is boiled with added hops. Hopped wort has no alcohol, but it is full intensively charged by vitamins. It is recommend for drinking cures with positive effect on digestion, strengthening liver and kidneys and improves immunity functions.
 

Beer spa – physical and mental relaxation, optimisation of hypertension and younger skin

What should we understand by “spa”? Contrary to wellness it has two main differences. It has long lasting healing effects and it is designed by medicals. In West Bohemia, you can also take advantage of healing effects of natural mineral water!
This unique combination of beer bath and special mineral water to drink and to bath in intensify healing effects. In the Czech Republic, there is only one place that can offer this. If you are interested which, check Real Beer Spa product.

Beer ingredients in food – healthy and tasty nutrition

What wellness would it be, if you wouldn’t take care also of your stomach, right? In good establishments you can taste special “beer” meals that are great with or made from beer, eventually they contain some ingredients used during beer preparation, for example malt
 
So have a great relaxing time during your beer wellness or spa procedures and “dobrou chut” (Czech version of bon apetit). And if you like, explore beer wellness packages ready for you.

How easy is it to get to the Czech Republic?



Hi Guys,
Few days ago Aleš spoke with one of his friends who mentioned quite an interesting and important thing to him. She said: “I didn’t know how easy it is to get to the Czech Republic”? Did you?
"Yes we do" is our answer. So let me share some tips with you on how to get to the Czech Republic and how much for. Let’s say, you are in the United Kingdom. You have generally three options as trains are really expensive and complicated comparing to the following options:
Plane
It takes about 2 hours of flight. You can find return tickets starting at £ 50.00 or € 60.00!
Direct connection is always to Prague from where you can get to Pilsen in 1 hour and to the Spa Triangle in maximally 2 hours of drive or coach ride directly from Prague airport.
Main departure destinations are in the London Area (Stanstead, Luton, Gatwick and of course Heathrow). But you can also fly to Prague from Bristol, Manchester and Edinburg!
There are some low cost companies who fly to Prague. The most frequent are EasyJet, WizzAir and Ryanair. From my experience, best is to use www.kayak.com flight finder so you can see the best match on your chosen dates.
Coach
Another quite a good option for travel between UK and Czech Republic is Coach. You will depart from London, arriving to Pilsen or Prague after 21 hours of ride. Prices usually start at £ 40.00.
These two companies offer options that worth to be considered. Student Agency http://www.studentagency.eu/ and EuroLines http://www.eurolines.co.uk/.
Car
By car it takes about 15 hours from London to Pilsne or Prague (of course depending how fast you drive and how many breaks you take on your way).  Each way is about 700 miles (1130km). I personally like to use the following tool for my road trips: http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp.
Price? Is rally difficult to say. It depends on how many of you will travel and how hungry car you have…
My personal recommendation:
It's important to be organised so bare in mind other aspects alike number of luggage you need to take with you, transport to and from the airport and time spent there. How many people is travelling with you and what do you want to do on your holiday. In conclusion all the above mentioned options worth your consideration.
Wishing you a great journey!
Yours Dan & Ales

Free Holiday Consultation



Hello guys.
Lately, we were thinking how to introduce you Czech Republic and how to seed an idea into your head. That idea should be about spending your holidays in the heart of Europe.
As there is so many options and possibilities what to do, we decided to give a gift to anybody, who will want it. We will give the best of our knowledge, our experience and verified tips. And all of that will be for free!
If it sounds interesting to you, just share your preferences or ideas about your dreamed holiday with us in this on-line survey.
It doesn’t matter if you come alone, with partner, with friends or a family. And it doesn’t matter, if you want to visit Prague, UNESCO sites or other interesting places. Whatever your preferences are, we will recommend you, where to focus on, what destinations would be best fit for you and where to find some other information.
 
Sharing your ideas will save you hours of searching!
And we will able to help you with realisation, you will get also individual holiday package offer.
So, why not to check, what magic moments and wonderful experiences are waiting for you in the Czech Republic?
If you are not sure, you may start by exploring our destination, or directly get some inspiration and holiday tips. Eventually, you can check some of our actual packages in our ESHOP.

Where to go on holiday in July



The summer is almost here and with it comes many occasions, how to spend great holiday and unforgettable moments. Let me share some holiday tips with you and to give you some inspiration about where to go on holiday in July.

In Pilsen region:

Do you like baroque? Then you shouldn’t miss at least weekend of 9 weeks of baroque. Everything starts on 29th June and ends on 24th August. Every single day in that period there is something interesting. Local craft and traditional goods markets, exhibitions and excursions if baroque sites like churches and chateaux, baroque music and other cultural events. Unfortunately, this year there is no program in English. But in case you think about visiting West Bohemia during summer, contact us and we will help you to organize your holiday. The best Baroque sites south-west from Prague are in Pilsen region, co don’t hesitate to ask us for individual advice.

In Karlovy Vary region
 
In case you would prefer some unusual cultural experience, what about rock concert or opera in amphitheatre underneath medieval Loket castle? If yes, whole summer there is a plenty of events you can enjoy.
Summer is a time, when you can bath in rivers, and lakes. It is the time, when you can ride a bike on a country side and eat wild growing cherries, apples, and plums. Or check some other tips for active holiday.
In the summer, you can enjoy great and low cost holiday full of relaxation, new explorations and great moments in the Czech Republic.
You can always ask us for a free consultation of your holiday wishes.

Tailor made holiday



Original tailor made holiday in the Czech Republic!
Do you know what kind of holiday you want? Does “original” and “tailor made holiday” sound interesting to you? Are you tired of searching holiday that would meet your preferences and not finding it?
Then we have something you might like…
Your next step to your dreamed holiday is Tailor made Solutions in our eshop.
Important note: With our Tailor made solutions we first need to know your wishes. Afterwards we consider if we are able to fulfil it. And only if yes, we will proceed with your order to payment! So you pay nothing before you know, we are able to deliver good match to your dreamed holiday!
With D&A Individuals
  • You save your precious time!
  • You can be sure you got the best value for your money!
  • You will not miss anything important and great on your holiday!
  • You got 100% individual approach and service!