KARLSTEJN CZECH REPUBLIC
After four days in Prague, we found we were retracing our steps. So we asked the woman at the reception desk of our hotel to recommend a day trip outside Prague. She told us about Karlstejn and how to get there by train. So off we went to the train station the next morning.
Waiting for the train to take us to Karlstejn from Prague was like a scene out of Schindler’s list.. When we got there the station was bare and it was a foggy damp morning with a grey overcast blanket. Looking down the tracks reminded me of a black and white movie scene depicting the dreary boarding of a train to the concentration camp.
We were afraid this would be our train. It was not. Whew!
While waiting, silently the Orient Express pulled in behind us. We did not even hear it arrive. As we turned around we were struck by the contrast with the train above.
As we rode our train to Karlstejn the weather improved and the sun painted the the landscape with a palette of warm fall colors. Getting off the train at our stop, I saw this idyllic scene across the lake. When I took the picture, I thought it was a house, but upon looking at it later I saw it was a restaurant. If and when we return to Karlstejn, I will make it a point to dine there.
It was a long walk up the hill to the castle. Along the way we stopped and had a sausage sandwich. That sausage alone was worth the trip. For around a dollar it was memorable – the best I have eaten.
Of course you take the carriage.
The castle towers over the town below.
The views from the castle were magnificent.
Here you look down on a local hamlet.
Inside the Castle
