Two Words

Lokal. Blok.

Now let me build up to how I got these words.

Let’s start the day at 10:30 when I take a train to the gym, spend about two hours there, including meeting up with a personal trainer, and then heading off to the center of Prague at 13:00. I have one goal, and that is to see the Loreto monastery. I’ve been wanting to visit this building for a while now. I get off the train around 13:30 and walk around (where I’m pretty sure it could be), get lost in some garden full of statues, climb a billion stairs, get lost again, ask for directions, climb some more stairs, once against ask for direction, climb some– oh, you get it– and then finally hear the bells tolling 17:00. The statues of little angels surround the building, with its gold decorations and grandeur (look up pictures on Google!). It’s a magnificent spectacle. It is also closed. The sign reads that it closes t 17:00 on the dot. What time did I finally find the building? That’s right. 3.5 hours of getting lost and wandering around in search of it, and it’s not even open by the time I reach the top of the hill. mountain. All right… hill.

I finally head down, head lowered, but still determined to find something worthwhile… maybe a monument or something. Instead, I come to a halt in front of a giant house with a beautiful view. No. Not a house… a palace? I’d unknowingly walked all the way to the royal palace. What a treat! Because it cost so much for a tour, I determined that I would come back eventually and spend a day exploring and touring (shh!!). Until then, I would fully enjoy staring up at the cathedral in the middle of it, and even spend a little time staring at the stone-faced guards in front of either entrance to the castle.

Finally, I headed onto the metro and decided to head to my favourite cafe here (Cafe Louvre) for some tea with milk and sugar. Instead, I got off at the wrong exit and much to my surprise, I found a Korean market! I found myself some kimchi and aloe drink. That was my evening snack! (It’s probably the healthiest thing I could have had at that moment, and it’s one of my favourite meals back home.) I then got a text to meat up with my new friends at the Andel exit off the metro. We met up, sat in the park for an hour, and then headed to….

LOKAL BLOK.

‘Bout time, right?

So, anyway… this place is probably the best part of the day because I’ve had the best soup in the entire world. Yes. The. Entire. World. It’s a simple mix of vegetable soup with some coconut milk. Simple, but worthy of its title. I will be back here for this. Also, I’ve had my first official ratatouille. The only other time I’d had it was at home, cooked by my wonderful-chef-of-a-sister. This is true-to-the-core ratatouille–the same stuff from the movie. So, basically, a perfect end to a spontaneous day.

May the Lord bless your day tremendously with spontaneous blessings as He did mine. (Also, check out the book The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun. It’s a fantastic story about a pastor in the midst of Chinese communism and Christian persecution. Definitely a must-read. I listened to it on my iphone while on the metro and walking around. It’ll shake your world, and you’ll never be the same. Shame to you if you are.)

Much love!