Learning a Drinking Tradition's Origin in Prague

Planet Global Travel
Apr 24, 2018
2 min read

Have you ever traveled to a place that looked more like a fantasyland out of a theme park? That's how I felt in Prague in the Czech Republic. The Old Town Square looked like something pictured in a children's book. But it was real. The towering church (the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn), the medieval buildings, the imposing statues, the outdoor cafes...I didn't know where to start.

I started by watching the famous astronomical clock. (We'll feature that in a future blog post.)

Next, I climbed the clock's tower as I enjoy doing in so many cities, for views such as this one.

In the late afternoon, we joined a beer tour, which featured some famous bars and beers in Prague. Our hosts led us to three bars, explaining what makes a good pour, giving us a history of beer in the city, and sharing some origins of drinking traditions. One such story stood out to me and is something I repeat to many people when we share a drink at a local bar...the origin of a beer "cheers,"when people clink their glasses together before drinking.

There are two reasons for this tradition, and those reasons make more sense when you remember that these traditions were done in the past with heavy metal beer steins. The first is that sharing your food or drink with someone is a sign of friendship, and knocking your beer steins together with force (how they used to do it, not our gentle "clinks" of glasses today) made some of the liquid swap from one person's stein to the other. The second is the more interesting one. By sharing some of your drink by knocking the steins together, you ensured that your drink was not poisoned (since your "friend" would now be partaking of some of your drink)! What a lovely historical story that we can now all think about when clinking our glasses together with beer, wine, or anything else.

Can't we all just get along? I guess people couldn't back then.

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