Karlstejn

 Yesterday some lady friends and I rented bikes and went for a ride. The guy working at the rental place told us the castle town of Karlstejn was only 20 miles away and the path was pretty easy to navigate. We agreed and set out through the city center in search of the bike trail. Let me tell you riding on cobblestones is no party-I hope I can still get pregnant some day. The bike path was fairly easy to navigate except when it ended abruptly, or forked with no signs to direct us. In those instances broken czech pleas for help and intuition came to our aid and after over three hours we made it Karlstejn. I think the 20 mile estimate may have been off by about ten because I've never been on a flat 20 mile bike ride that take 3.5 hours.
 When we finally got to Karlstejn we were quite dismayed to discover that the castle sat atop a sizable minimountain which despite the considerable soreness plaguing our behinds, we halfheartedly agreed to climb. It took about half an hour to make our way up the winding lane choked with souvenir shops and finally the steep path to the castle. When we got to the top we learned admission would cost thriteen dollars and decided to go back down. It was spectacular enough from the outside. Upon reaching the bottom we agreed that taking the train back was our only real option and headed back to Prague.
  At home I made some real good gnocchi, took a bath with an intense, self administered butt rub and went to sleep early. Today is my first day of real classes and I have 2: Art and Architecture and Anthropology of Czech Society and Culture. yeeee!