JAZZ!!!
As we walked around Prague we saw so many signs for live jazz that we knew we had to get out and see some. Â And we met a very cool Dutch couple and an Irish guy at the hostel who wanted to come with us! Â The first night we were there was a Sunday and so I went online to try to figure out what was going on in the town. Â The internet in the hostel at that time was slow enough to be completely useless, so we ended up just marking some places on our map and heading out on the town.
We dubbed it the “Jazz Crawl” and aside from the company and the chance to see the famous clock strike at night time (there is no trumpet player at night) it was a jazz failure.  We went by about 5 different possible places.  Three of these were closed because it was Sunday.  One was expensive enough that we didn’t want to pay for it (although the music coming out of the doors sounded pretty good).  The one place where we actually heard a little jazz was called Jazz Republic and as far as I’m concerned gets a mixed review.  The music was just okay.  The atmosphere was pretty good except that even though they advertised it as free you could only get in for free if you sat in a tiny area at the back of the room where you couldn’t really see the band very well.
We decided to try again the next night and to abandon the “Jazz Crawl” concept.
Justin did a little research and our Dutch friends paid attention while they were out walking around and we all came to the same conclusion: Jazz Dock was the place for us.  And it was.  We were there while their summer workshop was going on, which meant that every night the workshop teachers and students would have a giant jam session.  It cost a little to get in, but very reasonable and the place had a great atmosphere.  So great that we went back for a second night in a row.  We had an amazing time, heard some great music, and loved getting to know our new friends.
If you’re looking for jazz in Prague, definitely check out Jazz Dock!
Hey guys! Cool to see your website, and we can see it’s up to date till our time together (good job haha). We still remember the best Jazz night we ever experienced, and we are glad to have met you guys! Our trip is over, we’re back in the Netherlands.. It’s a shame, but also good to be home.
Nice to finally see the bone-church! Kind of creepy. Have you guys enjoyed yourselves since you left Prague? To Slovakia, wasn’t it? We went to Vienna as an in between stop, on our journey to a friend of Sofies, who works at a camping ground in Bad Hofgastein (also Austria). Vienna was rainy, old people, rich people, coffee €3,50 and all together wasn’t so nice. We had a cool hostel though (also with mice / rats attached to the keys) and a nice guy helping us. We ate Knödel and other Austrian food :) That was pretty nice actually (Boud sais). Sofie didn’t really like anything in Vienna, me neither, only a very nice book shop, but not something typical Austrian or “Viennish”. However, the place we went to, Bad Hofgastein, was awesome. For Sofie it was really nice to see her old friend again. We had very nice walks with great views on the mountains and valleys. Beautiful fields with all kinds of flowers and fresh young grass (meadows you call them?), nice streams / rivers, a mountain marmot, and just everything as a whole. Really relaxing but in some cases also a nice workout haha (especially one very tough walk).
We were supposed to go to France before we went home, but the journey / accommodation was too much trouble to plan and way too time consuming. So we decided to stay a little longer in the valley, and then we had a 13-14 hour trip back home.
We’ll have a look on your website every now and then to see if there are any updates! Have a very inspirational, beautiful and “gezellige” trip the coming months! Liefs en groetjes,
Boudewijn & Sofie
Hey! We definitely have enjoyed ourselves! We actually have enjoyed ourselves quite a bit! We went through Vienna as well, and though we found a lot of the architecture impressive, we didn’t like anything else too much about the town. Definitely an overrated spot!
We went afterwards to Slovenia and had tons of fun things to do, especially in Bohinj where there is a lake and hiking and boating! Seems similar to your experience in Bad Hofgastein. Since then we have gone to Budapest, Bucharest (only the train station), Sofia, and Istanbul where we currently are. Soon enough you will read about it, though :)
Great to hear from you!
J&H
Hi – if you’re interested in learning a bit more about the local jazz scene then please do check out my site http://www.praguejazz.blogspot.com. JD can be pretty good, but sometimes not the best…
Hey Justin and Hazel,
Wow, so many places already since Prague. Impressive :) Just saw your card on my desk and thought to check out what you’ve guys been doing! Then I saw your reply to my message, cool :)
Sofie’s already working for 3 weeks and my I’ll start the second year of my master tomorrow, and I have been looking forward to that!
Myself, I’ve been to Switzerland and Ameland (Dutch Island) after my holidays with Sofie. If you guys ever go to Switzerland go to Interlaken and its surroundings (I was in Iseltwald). Beautiful blue lakes in valleys and room for hiking :) . But I’m sure anywhere you’ll go will be a great experience!
Groeten, Boudewijn