Feb 24 2009
Every Expat needs a “Stammkneipe”
Every Expat needs a “Stammkneipe”
The German word Stammkneipe means in English “favorite pub” but that somehow doesn’t cut it! The concept of “Stammkneipe” is broader then simply meaning a “favourite pub”. A “Stammkneipe” is a home from home, a place where the food tastes like your mother would have cooked it and where you can be sure always to find a friend, an open ear, a shoulder to cry on or a person to laugh with the moment when you come through the door.
Everybody, and expats especially, do need a place like that to keep spirits up 
Let me tell about our “Stammkneipe” here in Prague:
It is close, just 10min walk from our place, so it gives us some distance to walk and to think we have done some exercise. When we come through the door, the regulars great us and wave at us, they give us the thumbs up for every little improvement of our Czech. The food is good and affordable and the beer fresh and well cared for. The landladies know our names as we know theirs. And the most important for us, there are normally no other expats, we have a Czech Stammkneipe! Integration into a Prague neighborhood is best done with a pint glass of beer in the hand and a smile on your face.
Do you have a “Stammkneipe”? And if yes, what do you like the most? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
