Tyson

I'm going to Prague in February for a week. I was wondering if anyone had any advice- Things I should see, The weather during Feb, where to get a glass of Absinthe etc etc. Any advice is appreciated.

Wendy

Tyson, Although I have never been to Prague I belive Absinthe has been outlawed in Europe for ages!! It was well know to cause people to go mad! Am I completely wrong with this?

pastis

It is legal in Spain

Wendy

So is Pastis and Absinthe the same thing?

mimi taylor

Pastis is like absinthe but minus the wormwood, made with anis and lots of other herbs. With pastis, a generic term for Pernod, Ricard, Prado, Garmier many other brands you pour cold or iced water and it turns milky. With absinthe, named the green fairy, it turs green and was usually drunk after ouring the water over a slotted spoon that held a sugar cube. Van Goth drank to much absinthe, the blamed it for his cutting off his ear, he was just crazy. Absinthe was first developed in Switzerland and banned about 1915. For more info, there is a wonderful book out.

mimi taylor

To keep the spelling or error police at bay, <BR>I drank too much Pastis <BR> mimi

David

Absinthe is readily available in most bars in Prague - and also a very popular buy at Ruyzne airport duty free.

letting

There is a new pastis out called Absinthe but no wormwood. Ricard is better.

Wendy

Mimi, you are a wealth of information! Enjoyed! Thank you! I still had no idea that it was still legal but now I do! Sorry Tyson for turning your question in a different direction!

Christina

No, pastis and absinthe are not the same thing. My advice is not to drink absinthe, and to get a good guidebook which will describe the usual top tourist attractions so you can decide what appeals to you. I would not go to any major city without a guidebook myself, as you will miss a lot and not be able to plan very well. There are several good online weather sites that give historical weather averages for major cities (I like Yahoo and the USAToday weather section). Absinthe is legal in Czech Rep and you can get it in most any bar.

Marc David Miller

Time Out Prague has a good sidebar on drinking absinthe.

009

Sheesh. <BR>I kept wanting to post about Absinthe containing wormwood but all my brain could come up with was wood worm wood worm wood worm which isn't the same thing at all. <BR>Agent 009 needs to reevaluate current operating efficiency levels in CPU unit.

wendy

Can you bring Absinthe back from Prague to the states?

mauld

I recently went through Duty Free at LGW and saw Absinthe being sold very openly--so I imagine it is not quite the 'drug' it once was. It wasn't even that expensive, and they had a big poster promoting it!

Kavey

The absinthe sold commonly now (in places such as the Duty Free) is a variant without the wormwood and not the same stuff which is banned in so many countries.

wendy

Kavey, ah ha! Finally the real truth! Thank you, I hd suspected as much!

kavey

Hi Wendy <BR>As far as I know yes. <BR>I think most countries in Europe have banned the older Absinthe and only the one without wormwood is now sold. <BR>Someone mentioned somewhere that the name for the new one is something like Absenthe which I thought was a cool play on the word Absent. <BR>I don't know about the stuff they sell specifically in Czech duty free, as I don't know if that country has also banned wormwood Absinthe and so on. <BR>I don't know where to check either but you might be able to look up Absinthe on Google and see if it takes you any further? <BR>Kavey

kavey

Looks like the original with wormwood and all can be bought on the internet. <BR> <BR>I searched for absinthe czech on google and found a number of sites. <BR> <BR>Kavey

kavey

Sorry I will go now... <BR> <BR>But check http://www.mgm.com/deceiver/stories/absinthe.html <BR> <BR>Kavey

mimi taylor

The book I mention has very interesting photos and reproductions of paintings of absinthe drinkers by so many great artists. <BR> Barnaby Conrad <BR> ABSINTHE <BR> History in a Bottle chronicle books