From Castle to Turnov

We leave Prague today for the start of our hiking but before we leave we have one last thing to do, see the  Hradcany Prague Castle. It was built in the 9th century and is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world. 

But wait….we have to have the breakfast included in our hotel stay. It was by far the most extensive spread I’ve seen in a while. Sorry about all the photos but you can see why… even bubbly was available.

and more 

My plate 

And I didn’t include the cereals, yogurt, puddings and jams! Now we were ready for the hill climb and it was only 9am.

Starting early we hoped for fewer crowds and cooler temperatures.

Beautiful gardens on the way up and statues everywhere, often men slaying snakes, dragons…

Or each other for a women. 

But some are less aggressive 

We climbed over 330 steps/stairs…

to get to the top. 

We made it

L for Leopold and now the reason one climbs to the top. The amazing churches, St Vitus and the Romanesque Basilica of St George. 

Entrance 

Quite impressive! 

And a statue this time of a female slaying a dragon! 

The view from up high is another reason to climb. 

Now down we go and maybe something very Prague to reward us for the climb- a Trdlo! Sounds odd but tastes delicious while getting sticky fingers.

The most unusual ice cream puffed-like-pastry cone we’ve ever had. 

Something Yellow Bunny would approve of. 

We had to wash our hands when finished since we used our fingers to rip the layers. I think you’re suppose to just bite your way through…. next time. 

Time to get our back packs and catch a train to Turnov. We found the train station but figuring out how to actually catch the correct train took a lot longer. Not a lot of English there but we found our way. 
It was a 2 hour relaxing train ride with views of yellow canola oil fields. 

Now only a 28 minute walk to our hotel, note with full packs and day packs! No taxi for us! 

Turnov is a town in Semily District of about 14,000 people near the Bohemian Paradise. This is why we are here! 

Up a few stairs

And a few more, finally our Karel IV hotel 

View from our balcony 

Now showered and refreshed, time for dinner. Not a lot open since it is still the May 1st holiday. Da Giorgio was recommended. We hadn’t had a meal since breakfast so anything sounded good. Even the bear (on the wall above our table) didn’t bother us.

We filled up on pizza with some left over for the walk tomorrow. Some of us love cold pizza.

And tomorrow we start our first self-guided hike. Hope we find our way and  make it back here for dinner again.