© 2026 Bill Robertson Publishing

My stepson, Brandon was/is a bit of an adventurer who attended semesters abroad in Prague, Seoul, and Washington D.C.  To solidify his adventurist reputation, he hitchhiked across Europe, from Katmandu to Seoul, and from Washington D.C. home to Southern California.

He was going to turn twenty-one (21) while he was attending classes in Prague; so, his mother and I decided that we would go visit him for his birthday.  As our travel date approached, Brandon often shared, “Bill, I can’t wait until you get here so that you can try the Pilsner.”  Side note: The pilsner style of beer was created in a section of Czechoslovakia (the Czech Republic when we visited).  So, essentially it is like having a Hefeweizen in Germany.

When we finally arrived in Prague, we had been traveling for about twenty-four hours in real time. It was almost midnight local time, and we were tired, but excited to be there and to see Brandon.  We decided that the first thing that we should do is get to the hotel, check-in, and get rid of our luggage.  The hotel was European.  When I say that I mean that the elevator was built in what was a closet and could barely hold one adult and some luggage. It was fine, because we were on an adventure and it was Brandon’s birthday.

Once we dropped off the luggage, we were excited about taking Brandon out for a late (early, since it was now about 1:00 am local time) dinner in the city center.  Brandon was excited to show us his temporary hometown.  Prague is beautiful.  It is another level beautiful at night.  As we walked through Prague in awe of the beautiful and well-lit architecture, the city was alive with fans who were in town for the Hockey World Championships.

We stopped in front of the Estates Theatre, the opera house where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni in 1787 and where Miloš Forman filmed scenes for Amadeus.

It was amazing seeing fans from mostly Europe and North America wearing their national jersey, wandering around with their faces painted, and celebrating together. Believe it or not, most of the restaurants, taverns, and bars were packed at 1:00 am … like I said, the city was alive with excitement.  Every time we passed a bar or restaurant, we would say to Brandon, who had restated his excitement to have me try the pilsner, “How about this place?” and Brandon would respond, “No, it’s too expensive!”

Now that we have seen most of Prague and that it was now close to 2:00 am, we came upon Freedom Square, where a million Czech people demanded their independence from the Soviet Union.  As we took in the history which had been witnessed where we were standing, Brandon said, “This is the place!”

I turned to see a sausage stand on the corner of the square.  I said, “Where?” and Brandon walked over to the stand and said, “Here!”  We walked over to join Brandon and he turned to look at me with a ‘this is about to be the greatest moment of your life’ look on his face.  He looks at his mother and then the lady behind the counter and said, “Three sausages,” as he glances back at me one more time, “and two pilsners.”

The woman behind the counter prepared our sausages, handed them to Brandon, and he passed them to his mother and then me.  Then she handed Brandon the first pint glass (yes, it was glass at a street food vendor) and he handed it to me.  Then she handed Brandon a glass.  We clicked our glasses together and I took my first drink, while Brandon watched closely, waiting for me to have a religious experience.

The beer flowed over the edge of the glass, through my lips, down my throat.  It was good.  Very satisfying … especially now that we had essentially been traveling for twenty-six (26) hours. As I pulled the glass away from my lips I said, “This tastes really familiar.”  I looked at the server behind the counter and asked, “What kind of beer is this?”  She puffed out her chest and said, “Pilsner!!!” with an incredible level of national pride.  I took another taste and asked, “What brand of beer is this?”  She replied, very matter of factly, “Budweiser.”

I laughed.  Brandon eventually laughed and then asked if she had any of the beer which he intended for me to drink.  Unfortunately, they were out.  As I mentioned, the city was alive with thirsty hockey fans.

The next day, we went to Prague Castle to remedy the terrible injustice of traveling over 26 hours and six thousand miles to have a Budweiser.  We enjoyed Pilsner Urquell, the national beer of the Czech Republic.

The lesson: Be specific and be willing to laugh at yourself.

This is one of the true stories in Do As I Say, Not As I Did™, a book of life lessons from a father to a child, now in the works. The stories are coming to a podcast too, and Prague Pilsner is episode one. Check back for the next story.