Czech Republic: another day trip out of Prague

It has become somewhat of a tradition that when I visit Mom, we do a day trip out of the city with a childhood friend of Mom's and her son.
Hana and Carl picked us up around 0900, and we started driving. The weather was good, everyone was happy. Our first stop was at a place that isn't on a tourist list of sights. There were actually signs telling us not to go there, buuuuuuttttt...
Our fist stop was an old quarry called Velka Amerika. Translated, that means Big America. It's an abandoned, partly flooded quarry. According to Wikipedia, it is sometimes referred to as the Czech Grand Canyon. It's definitely not that big, but it's really pretty. There is also a Little Amerika quarry somewhere close, but it's not nearly as picturesque.

As I said earlier, there are signs warning visitors not to go down into Big Amerika. The reason is because of safety. Howeva, that didn't stop us from taking a peek. We didn't go down anywhere, but we did stand out on a ledge and take a few photos.
On the other side of the quarry we could see the paths that had been worn by other visitors who had gone down into the quarry. Depending on the water level in the summer, it would probably be a fantastic place to have a picnic and swim a bit.
Our second stop was the major stop of the day. A village/very small town around a castle called Karlstejn.

As you might guess, the castle was named for the great Czech king, (Charles IV,)just as soooo many other things are throughout the country.
The castle was founded in 1348, according to the official web site. King Charles first stayed there in 1355. At the time, he was not only the King of Bohemia, but also Holy Roman Emperor. Get this, at the time, Berlin was in the Kingdom of Bohemia!! Bohemia was a lot bigger than most folks know, but was never a really well known military empire; at least not in comparison to others, like Prussia or Mongolia or Rome.

Charles built the castle as a storage place for his collection of holy relics, and the crown jewels of the Roman Empire. They were kept in the Great Tower of the castle. Though this was a castle built to last, only Charles IV and his son Sigismund ever stayed there as Czech kings. (Poor guy, Sigismund doesn't sound like a fun name to have as a kid, my apologies to anyone ever bestowed with that name.)

We walked through the tourist trap street up to the entrance of the castle. The street is filled with cafes and restaurants and souvenir shops. At the entrance of the castle, Mom and I got tickets for the next English tour, which started straightaway. Hana and Carl waited for us outside.
Our guide took us through various rooms and told us the history and story of the castle, it was interesting. There wasn't much decoration, and while I enjoyed the stories and history, I found the castle interior quite boring. As we were in winter season, the Great Tower wasn't open so we didn't get to see that at all. I'm glad we didn't pay the fee for photos, as it would not have been worth it.
After our tour we found Hana and Carl. I think they'd been hanging out in a cafe and nursing cups of tea for the hour or so. I stopped for postcards (not only of Karlstejn, but I also found some of the quarry!!) and a magnet.

After driving back to Prague, we had lunch at a place called U Michaela. It is a local place, catering to those who live in the area. Traditional Czech food, nothing extravagant. Exactly the kind of place I love. We started with garlic soup, then had chicken and veggies. Yum.
It rained while we were eating, but that was the only rain of my entire visit, so I wasn't complaining. It stopped raining just before we went back outside.
After eating we went back to Mom's flat, that was the end of the day. Another great day trip.