Golden Treasure by Marcy

Golden Treasure

How I miss a beer from my country, the Czech Republic. It is so hard to describe. It is like I left a piece of my heart in my country. Every time I think about it, it brings me memories of the people I miss the most. The beer is what connected us and brought Czech people together as country. The Czech Republic is the second country in the world that drinks the beer most, and Czech people proudly call it “Golden Treasure”. Since I arrived to the United States, I have been thinking about my beautiful city, my first experiences and my “Golden Treasure”, and I hope one day I will find it here in Chicago.

I was born in the capital city of Czech Republic called Prague. It is the most beautiful city I have ever visited. When people talk about the best beer, it is usually in Germany or Belgium, but then everything changes, when they visit the Czech Republic.  I am not saying that just because I am from there. I have travelled around the world, lived in a different places and every time I go back, I cannot wait to see the city, smell the sausages, food trucks and uncomfortable cobblestone streets. Prague is a small historic city with many streets to explore, and on each one, people will find a pub, restaurant or even fast food where people can buy this yellow water with a big head of foam which we proudly call our “Golden Treasure”. I did find an excellent beer in Chicago, but it did not taste the same like in Prague.

When I was younger, I used to hate beer, however beer was a cheap option on Saturday night. Beer is the cheapest alcohol in the Czech Republic, it is even cheaper than water and that would never happen in Chicago because water here is for free. I had the option to save up money, and that changed my mind. I remember my grandfather always told me to take a sip of the beer after a big meal, but the smell and bitter taste always stopped me. It is interesting how my tastes have changed. For example, as a little kid, I would not touch broccoli, but now I love it, same with the beer. When I was in high school, I had a low paying job and an urge  to go out. Liquor was expensive, cocktails were out of my league and beer was cheap, but I did not like it. At that time, I decided to enormously change my thinking about my finances. It was a sacrifice, but it has payed off because I could spend time with my friends and go out.

After I started drinking beer on a regular basis, it immediately changed my life. I started to have more money for other things too. By other things, I mean everything that tastes good with a big pint of the cold bubbly drink.  I would eat it with sausage, bread with lard and very, very smelly cheese. I felt like I found the “Golden Treasure” which goes with everything. I found out there are even many colours of beer, about the volume and if it is served with the “head”. My search did not stop in Chicago, and it is keeping me occupied. Years ago, every pint of beer was served with coasters. Which is a small piece of paper that stops the beer from sweating down and makes the water ring on a table. Coasters had information about breweries, commercials and even jokes, which people would find very funny after few pints. I used to collect them for my grandmother, and she would always wonder, how it was possible I got so many for her. They came from my friends, of course.

After I moved to Chicago, I thought nothing would taste more like home than a good Czech beer with sausage to remind me home. If I am lucky enough to find a Czech beer, the taste is always different. Usually beer is too flat, or there are too many bubbles. More common is to find it in a can, but that is just not acceptable for a Czech person. Czech people love beer nice and fresh and straight from the tap. After all those years, I still hope that one day I would find a small Czech pub. It would be the place I would take all of my friends from different countries to try the best from the Czech Republic, our beer our “Golden Treasure”, and I would end the evening by reading them silly jokes on coasters.