Beer Gardens

When you live overseas, you tend to get the same questions from visitors over and over again. I don't blame them for not realizing I've had the same question asked at least a hundred times: I try to answer them each time in a novel way.

The question I get the most is "What is the main difference between the United States and the Czech Republic?" This is a really tough one because so many things are different, it's hard to know where to start. There is one thing, though, that I think encapsulates the core differences in a nice, neat little package. That's the beer gardens.

There are two beer gardens within 10 minutes walk from my apartment (there is the first difference: I walk to them). The closer of the two is called "Parukarka". It is located near the entrance to a large park at the top of a hill. There is a little bar inside a very small building that would be better described as a shack. You can get beer, wine, and shots inside the dingy little shack. A deposit of about $1 is required for each glass. Two 17oz. beers, with deposit runs about $4. After you purchase your drinks, you are free to roam around the park with your glass of beer. The deposit hardly covers the cost of the glass, but most people bring them back.

There are some benches outside and some people are smoking weed while they drink. I've only seen one glass get broken in the last 5 years. Usually on a nice summer day there are a couple hundred people around, but since all the beer comes from the one little shack, the wait can get really annoying.

On those days, (and any other for that matter) I like to go to "Reigrovy Sady" which is a more traditional beer garden. There are picnic style tables in a gated area. This beer garden lies in the middle of a beautiful park that has some of the best views of the city. The garden has mature deciduous trees that create an excellent canopy. The place seats at least 1,000 people, and they pack it out when the weather is good. There are several points where one can buy beer inside the gated area, so service is rarely a problem.

"Reigrak" (as it is commonly known) doesn't charge a deposit because the area is gated. However, plenty of people walk out with beer glasses. Some come back, and some don't. I guess they write off lost glasses to the cost of doing business. Officially there are no dogs allowed, but they put water buckets out for thirsty dogs anyway. I suppose they just want to reserve the right to throw someone out if their dog causes a problem. Weed is definately allowed. Marijuana is semi-legal here, meaning casual use and possesion of "a small amount" is allowed. There is a lot of smoking going on at Reigrak every day and every night. Despite this, the clientele is extremely mixed. Families with babies and small children visit, elderly couples visit, high school kids visit, but about 80% are of course 18-35 year-olds.

Now you might think that it's strange that people walk around a public park with glasses of beer, or that people are smoking weed without a care in the world, but that is not the main difference between the Czech Republic and the States. The main difference is this....

In the 7 years I've lived here, I've never seen a fight at either of these places. At Reigrak there is about 1,000 people a night getting totally drunk and there is absolutley no security whatsoever. No I.D. control, no police, no problems. This saturday, the finals of the Czech Hockey leauge were on the big screen. Despite an extra 200 excited people, still no problems.

People are free to do as they please, and yet they are generally very well-behaved. It is almost as if they know what kind of freedom they have, and they don't want to ruin it.

At least that is my theory.