The Good Soldier Švejk
,
reads like a massive bar crawl
of WWI-era Prague, leading the main character, the
slacker Švejk, through the city’s best taverns and bars.
Unfortunately, most of those that still exist have been
turned into tourist traps. Could I find one that hadn’t lost its
original charm?
Out in the Nusle neighbourhood, the bar U Bansethů
(
ubansethu.cz
)
has several mentions in
The Good Soldier
Švejk
.
At one point, Švejk claims he was beaten up in U
Bansethů because of the appearance of sunspots — and yet
its distance from the centre keeps it from being frequented
by many tourists.
Despite the suburban location, the city’s excellent public
transportation makes the journey quick. I hop on an 18 tram
A few people are
chatting – are they
writers? Someone is
scribbling notes – a
novelist perhaps?
just outside Slavia, disembarking at the Nuselská Radnice
stop and I’m drinking my first writerly beer before 20
minutes have passed.
“
Other than the prices, Hašek would probably feel like a
fish in water here today,” says Vladimír Bašta, the owner of U
Bansethů, when I ask himwhat has changed in his bar since
The Good Soldier Švejk
appeared in 1923. “Traditional Czech
meals and beer are certainly no different than they were
when Hašek used to come here.”
Looking around, I spot one change: a small brew
bar, Pivovar Bašta, that opened only a few years ago in
an adjacent space. Beyond that, the place seems like a
museum devoted to the history of beer, goulash and
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P R A G U E
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