Castles and more Castles - Cesky Raj

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There are a number of castles and other sites around the area, so we took off early to avoid the crowds. First stop Trosky castle. There has been some volcanic activity in the distant past. The surrounding sandstone had eroded away leaving two spikes of basalt sitting high above the surrounding countryside. A good defensive position so a tower was built on each spike and living quarters on the section of ridge between. The castle was never defeated.
We decided we could navigate a short distance to our next destination without using the computer - just the map in the Lonely Planet guide. So off we went along the narrow roads, past cyclists, down onto wooded valleys, and through some cross roads and when we out the side of the van there was Trosky castle. We must be going the wrong way we thought so went back to the cross roads and off in the other direction - after 20 minutes there was the castle again out the left side of the van - we just kept going around in a circle. So we gave up - headed for the main road and got there in the end. Kost castle is Gothic - set on a rock ridge in the bottom of a valley - highly touristy. We stopped and looked and took photos, like all the other tourists and then set off for Prague. We had seen the advertisement for the camping ground at the border, and it looked good, and checked the website. When we got to the address there was no campground. Just as well it was a holiday and traffic was light as we set off for the next site.

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