Another month of my life in Austria has come to an end — in the country where I am happy and where I was able to find the calm that, I believe, every person should strive for. At the end of each month, I talk about how my adaptation in this country is going and share small observations that do not become separate articles.
Our summer with Julia began with a trip to Rome — the Eternal City, which I love very much. It was an incredible weekend adventure, and it went exactly the way summer should begin in some kind of kind fairy tale. We walked a lot, took many photos and managed to enjoy every minute in the center of the empire. I will make a separate photo report about it, but in this article I wanted to mention the incredible feeling I had during this trip. When we were flying to Rome this time, I felt as if I was going to another home of mine — maybe not my native home, but the home of someone very close and dear to me. I think this was not my last trip to the Italian capital, but at the same time it felt just as important and meaningful as if I had come to Rome for the first time.
Summer in Austria and Europe greatly changes the rhythm of life and the way evenings and weekends feel. There were many more trips, and many of them were repeats of our old routes. This month, for example, we managed to visit Znojmo, walk around the city, eat a delicious pork knuckle and spend time with our friends. In Europe, another country and another city can feel like a trip to a neighboring district.
Another event we managed to attend in June this year was a techno party in a church. Yes, it was an officially approved party with real techno music right inside a church building, which on ordinary days serves its usual purpose. Evenings like this stay in your memory for a long time and make integration feel even deeper.
But the main and most important event of June, as always, was and remains the Pride parade — that very forbidden celebration from the LGBT organization banned in Russia. This year Pride took place on June 13. The weather interfered with the event a little, as the rain kept trying to spoil the march for us, but literally at one o’clock in the afternoon all the weather forecasts changed, and Vienna was filled with sunshine and the kind of freshness that only comes after rain.
In summer, as I said earlier, there are more and more trips. So in June we also managed to visit Bratislava and my beloved Linz. In both cities, I felt a pleasant sense of peace and something close to home. In Linz especially, I feel that this city helped me during the first years of my emigration and adaptation.
Summer in Vienna is full of music, events, festivals and an endless line of concerts. You simply cannot be everywhere, so you choose what you have enough energy for. So one weekend, after our trips, Julia and I went for a walk through the summer city, exploring other districts of Vienna, and came across a place where pleasant music was playing. Then we walked a few more blocks and again saw charming street musicians, mostly performing French songs. And it is hard to describe how many new neural connections appear in my head after all these walks, journeys and meetings, and how deeply I sink into Vienna, into the imperial greatness of an old country that is now neutral. There is something fairytale-like in this, and also something simply sweet.
June 2026 will also be remembered because today the whole world is following the World Cup. For the first time in two decades, Austria managed to qualify for the tournament itself and also make it out of the group, although from second place. For local people, this is an incredibly important and joyful event, something you can truly feel only when you come into contact with a dark past. You see how local people can finally be fully proud of their country, their flag and themselves. It is truly inspiring, even despite the heat that settled over Europe during the last week.
The weather in June was honestly a little difficult. The beginning of the month was rainy and cold, so I often wore a jacket so I would not freeze. But by the end of June, the temperature was already around 39 degrees, which in some ways becomes a real test for the people living here. For Julia and me, those few days were more like a reminder that we come from Krasnodar, where this kind of weather usually lasts for a month or two.
I also want to mention a few connected events. On the last weekend, we went to Prague to remember one pleasant date. On June 30, 2012, Julia and I got married in this beautiful city, and every year, one way or another, we try to return to the Czech capital at least for a short time.
Summer Prague, incredibly hot, wrapped us in love, care, delicious food and kind people. Everything felt just like it did 14 years ago — absolutely wonderful, warm and emotional. And once again I could not shake the feeling that I was at home here, and also that I would definitely return to Prague, maybe even this year.
June was full of events: many pleasant meetings, walks, all kinds of personal stories and that childhood feeling that summer is one small separate life. In Europe and Austria, you feel this all the time, and because of that you want to live even longer and do everything you can to extend your new reality.
And that is all for today! With all my heart, I congratulate Julia on our day and thank her for the fact that we are such a team. I want us to keep doing what helps us become the best version of ourselves.