A Liberal Sprinkling of Foot Powder is in Order

After an entire day of sightseeing, I greeted Luc's suggestion of a pre-dinner drink with great enthusiasm, eager as I was to sample yet another of Belgium's fine beers. We made our way to the Dulle Griet bar situated right by the market square in Ghent, which boasts a selection of over 250 beers. We plopped ourselves at one of the outdoor tables, and soon the waiter arrived.

Luc had suggested we try Kwak beer, partly due to its distinctive round bottomed glass, held in place by a wooden stand. (This brought back unpleasant memories of Chemistry lab in college, a subject I passed solely based on my skill in picking lab partners). The waiter replied that since these Kwak beer glasses are among the most favored by fleet-footed, sticky-fingered customers, then we'd have to consume the beers inside. Reluctantly, we left the nice weather outside and found a table indoors. Although quite a popular local and tourist hangout, at the moment it was somewhat empty.

After confirming that we indeed wanted to drink Kwak, the waiter then made quite an unusual request. "Please give me one of your shoes". Confused, I glanced quizzically at Luc, in case something got lost in translation. He smiled and nodded, confirming that I had heard correctly. "What's he gonna do with our shoes?", I asked, wondering aloud more than expecting an answer from him. Turning to the waiter, I asked "Are you sure?!" Not that I doubted his grasp of English, but my question was more out of concern for his health, as I pictured his fingers handling one of the well-worn brown sandals which my bare feet had logged miles in during the trip, and which I imagined must surely be fermenting with various strains of bacteria, microbes, dust, dirt, and other undesirable elements visible only under a microscope in...where else? Chemistry lab! (Involuntary shiver).

His nonchalant demeanor indicated that he had made this request countless times, so Luc and I surrendered a shoe each. Our footwear was put inside a metal wire basket, then pulled up by rope to its place by the ceiling. Out of reach except to staff. Would-be snatchers of the Kwak glass surely would be fidgeting by now, especially if they wore their best Nike sneakers.

Luc and I had barely finished laughing over this episode, when another suprise greeted us. The beers were huge! Twice as tall as we had expected. How on earth were we gonna finish THAT?! Well, the answer is, quite obviously, to drink slowly. It's quite hard to gulp down all 1.2 liters of high alcohol beer in a matter of minutes. The brilliant design of the glass made that close to impossible anyway. As the level of beer drops lower, the more extra careful you have to be in tilting the glass at a proper angle to consume the remaining content (we demonstrate this technique superbly in the complete slide show). Tilt the glass a bit too much, and your shirt will be drenched with sweet-smelling Kwak.

Left with no alternative, Luc and I took our time in finishing our respective drinks,. Pretty soon, more patrons arrived at Dulle Griet including another Belgian local escorting three visitors from Spain. They sat at the adjoining table, and spying our unusual beer glasses, the Spaniards asked their host about our drink. The local, undoubtedly familar with the bar's patented anti-theft device, did his best to encourage them to order the same, while trying not to appear overly eager. Luc and I observed this little comedy with amusement, and were delighted that one of the guests fell neatly into the trap, and practically fall off her seat when faced with the shoe request. At that point, their Belgian host howled with laughter, as did we. She was a good sport though, and didn't hesitate in presenting an expensive looking boot. As the waiter operated the pulley to bring down the metal basket, I made my way to the rest room, gingerly walking with my right foot pressing against the cold cement floor, with my mind working overtime trying to figure out how to hide this monstrous glass inside my jacket pocket.

Check out the complete pictures from Dulle Griet bar here.

For more Belgium blog posts, click here.

Let's Have "The Birds and the Beers" talk

Beer is to Belgium as wine is to France. Beer drinking culture pervades this tiny country of 10.6 million people, with 150 breweries producing about 800 different types of specialty beer ranging from the world-renowned Trappist (brewed by monks inside monasteries), lambic (“wild” beers produced by spontaneous fermentation), and kriek (lambic beer mixed with cherries, a “ladies” beer), to mention a few.

In short, Belgians appreciate variety and high quality stuff, and despite the relatively high alcohol contents of their beers they rarely drink to excess nor get drunk.

One of the highlights of my week-long trip in Belgium was sampling a wide variety of their home brews with my friend Luc and his friend Carl, both of them beer connoisseurs whose houses are equipped with beer cellars. Their precious bottles reside there awaiting to be popped open on some unknown date for a special occasion.

Thanks to these two beer masters who served as drinking buddies and teachers, my beer adventures were loads of fun (as you shall see), and my crash course in Belgian Beer 101 ensures that I will never order a Bud Light again. Ever. Nor a Heineken ("80% Marketing, 20% Beer", sniffs Carl).

Follow our adventures in this beer slide show that I created. Note that each beer comes in its own distinctive glass with its own logo. Serving a Westmalle in a Chimay glass is guaranteed to incur the wrath of Belgian beer fans. Drinking from the bottle (as we do here) is an even bigger no-no. No plastic cups too, por favor.

For more Belgium blog posts, click here.