I was out at 7:45 this morning (which is very early for me) and was rewarded by being able to experience the festive atmosphere of the day. Today was the last day of school in the Czech Republic. Little kids, older children and teenagers, alone or in groups, headed to school all dressed up. Instead of schoolbags, many of them carried flowers to give to their teachers. I remember how much I used to love the last day of school, which marked the beginning of a carefree, two-month summer break. I still get excited just imagining how it used to feel.

I was at a bank yesterday and overheard a conversation between a very bored looking teenager and his upbeat mother. The mother was making all kinds of plans for the summer and talked about all the fun stuff that her son and his brothers can look forward to – summer camp, visits with relatives, camping, traveling around the Czech Republic (“you can even bring your friend along”)… All the boy had to say was: “Stupid summer break”. I couldn’t believe my ears. What’s not to love about summer break??

Seems like Prague is not alone in battling a graffiti problem.  That’s good news in a way. At least we know that unsightly graffiti scrawled on beautiful new facades of historical buildings are not a Prague specialty and that vandals can – unfortunately – be found everywhere. There’s also another benefit to the international character of graffiti vandalism. Cities can share strategies and experiences in their efforts to keep walls clean.

An article that came out yesterday talks about a new set of high-tech tools that many U.S. cities have purchased and are using successfully in reducing the incidence of graffiti vandalism and increasing the rate of arrests and fines. I wish the City of Prague took a similar approach. Judging from the ever present scrawls around the city center (take Ječná Street for example), it seems that nothing much is being done about the graffiti problem in Prague.