I am not done yet with my stories from Belgium. And, as I promised, I am going to tell you all about my experience in the coolest pub in Ghent: Dulle Griet.
I had heard rumours about this place before, in a few travel blogs and among some guests, but I hadn’t found the time to visit it myself. Besides, although I constantly eat alone in restaurants and cafes, I still think there is something sad about me going to have a drink on my own. It is ridiculous, I know, but I’m working on it.
In any case, I had been quite busy exploring my new locations and walking countless hours during the day, that, at nighttime, I was completely exhausted to even consider the possibility to go out. However, the three Dutch girls I met in the shared bathrooms didn’t think the same.
Three Dutch girls and a Mexican walk into a bar…
So yeah, I was in fully grannie mode with Snow White pyjamas, dental floss and a Netflix movie waiting in my laptop, when three chicks came into the bathroom and starting doing their make-up. They were in full party attire and talking lively in Dutch. I felt a bit uncomfortable with my washed face and my Dopey top, so I rushed my night beauty routine to get back to the comfort of my room, but, suddenly, one of them spoke to me:
“Hey! You work here, right?” She said in English.
“Yeah” I answered while brushing my hair.
“Awesome!” The second one said. “This is such a cool place… But how come you are not going out tonight?
“Oh, well…” I started, trying to think the best way to explain the perks of a Gilmore Girl marathon.
“Nonsense” said Dutch girl number 3, “Of course she’s going out, she’s coming with us, right?”
“I don’t know…” I hesitated, tempted the comforts my cosy bed and a bowl of hummus. However, it had been so long since I had a girls’ night out…
“Oh, c’mon”, said the first girl, “Come with us, we are going to this awesome place. You have to leave your shoe on the bar in order to get a beer”.
I think two seconds past before I added my last sentence:
“Let me go and change”
The Dulle Griet
I guided the girls to the pub, which was just a few minutes away from KaBa Hostel and we managed to get a few seats in the bar.
The place was incredible. It had a coarse, rustic and slightly medieval atmosphere that you couldn’t not love. It had an old school look with all the wooden panels and a bunch of buckets, barrels and every sort of weird artifacts hanging from the ceiling. And there, right in the middle of the place, a metal basket full of… Yeah, you guessed right, shoes.
So what is it with Dulle Griet and shoes? Well, turns out that the house especially is the Max Van Het Huis beer, a strong Golden Ale very popular among locals and tourists. However, the thing is that they only serve it in 1.2 litres glasses. And those babies look kind of like this:
You’ve seen bigger, right? These boot-shaped glass is gigantic and it has to be placed in a wooden platform to support it. However, it appears that it became a bit too popular among the visitors and some of them started to disappear (I can´t blame them. It would certainly be a killer souvenir). Therefore, in order to prevent any more thefts, they started to charge a deposit fee: footwear.
Yup, so you an choose among its incredibly varied menu, which offers the largest beer selection in the whole city, and keep your feet warm, or you can leave your least favourite shoe on the counter and get a huge glass of golden elixir.
I guess you can get an idea of which one I chose.
Anyways, if you think that 1.2 litres are too much for you (they are too much to anyone, to be honest, but when in Rome…), you can still choose among the dozens of choices Dulle Griet offers. And if, like me, you have absolutely no idea of which one is the best for you, you can always ask the bartenders. Believe me, they know their stuff. You just need to tell them your general preferences (blonde, dark, sweetness, strength) and they’ll recommend you something right away.
The overall experience
I think Dulle Griet is a perfect place to spend a night out in Ghent. It can get a bit too crowded since it is not a very big place and it is very popular, so make sure to arrive early to get a table.
On my experience, Belgians are not very used to talk to strangers, but Dulle Griet is full of people from different places, so it is easy to engage in conversations with other tables. The three girls and I ended up hanging out with another Dutch group and doing a pub crawl. They were nice enough to speak English (most of the time). Also, they taught me a lot of innapropriate phrases in their native tongue (don’t ask me which ones)
Just a few warnings: No matter how much the Dutch people around you insist, do not drink more than one Max Van Het Huis. And if you do (I am not saying I did), locate your nearest friture shop and absorb the alcohol with a good dose of Belgian chips.
If you have visited Dulle Griet before, tell me about your experience on the comments. I’ll keep you posted of the rest of my time in Belgium next week.
I guess I’ll see you on the road.
Love,
