The Sights and Sounds of Summer

Roses at the Rudolfinum

Towards the end of June I was finished with more than half of my exams, but still had several essays to complete. A few of my English classes also ended, including the ones with kids which had been both more fun and more tiring. I got to spend more quality time with two of my closest friends from school, NS and MP, but it was bittersweet because they both had to leave Prague.

Senate Gardens

A white peacock!

NS's last weekend was a blast. We spent time acting like tourists and re-seeing the sights, and I even saw some new ones. We went to the flea market and farmer's market, walked along the Vltava, saw the peacocks at the Senate gardens, and had a lovely home-cooked dinner with friends before a night out dancing. Luckily NS is from France, so I expect to see him again soon!

Llama: Silvia Perez Cruz
and Ravid Goldschmidt 

In early July, MP and I got to catch a couple performances at the Bohemia Jazz Festival. It was set up in Old Town Square, a fantastic setting for a concert - a fantastic setting for anything, really! I was mesmerized by the last performance, by a Spanish duo called Llama, which I wouldn't have labeled as jazz, but who cares what you call it. It was music that got into your bones and your heart and pulled at the tears behind your eyes. My recording isn't great, but it will have to do.

A few days later was MP's birthday and one of her last days in Prague, so we frequented our favorite cafe, Cafe Calma, near Hradcanska, as well as our favorite beer garden, Letna. It was very hard to say goodbye, as we'd become fast friends when standing in line the first day at our Geopolitical Studies orientation, commiserating over our awful visa experiences before heading off to lunch where we discovered our shared love of smazeny syr (fried cheese). Luckily these days saying goodbye is made much less painful, thanks to technology, but it's still the only part of traveling that I hate.