Gent by Night - or - Ten is Too Many

Maybe I didn't realize what I was getting myself into, or maybe I knew exactly what I was doing. You be the judge.

ESN, or Erasmus Student Network, is a group of local volunteers who help organize activities and social events for foreign students here in Gent. I'm on their e-mail list, and here's the e-mail that caught my attention:



GHENT BY NIGHT

Wednesday 15 march there will be the ‘Ghent by night’ city tour. We leave at
20.00 at de brug. Your tour guides will be Petrus and David.

What to expect

- The most beautiful places in Ghent by night.
- The best bars in Ghent (This means not the bars in the overpoort).
- All kinds of useless information concerning Ghent, bears and bars.
- Some of the best bears and drinks in Belgium (not just bear!).
- And a whole lot more….

Cost

15 euro

For this you get: 10 drinks in 10 different bars

What else?

-There are only 20 places and you have to sign in on Tuesday 7 march between
17.00 and 19.00 in the esn-room in de brug.
-Please come by

David's Apartment
Standing on the roof of David's apartment building. 12 stories up, it commanded a very nice view of Gent.

bike!


Hope to see you there.

Sounds like fun, right? I thought so too, so I signed up. Now, what you've got to realize is that ten beers is a lot for one night, even back home. But I'm not at home, I'm in this magical land called Belgium where the beer is delicious and really, really strong.

On the Wednesday night in question, after eating a hearty beladge broodje, I made my way to De Brug for an evening of pub crawling. I think that the 20 person limit had been stretched a little, so we ended up being more like 35. But that's OK, the more the merrier.

Pub #1 - De Hopduvel
Getting off to a nice start we went to a local bar for a local beer. I know that "local" is rather vague, but it will just have to do. At the first bar I made a point to write down the name of the bar, the name of the beer I had, and a little something about each. But that only lasted for, you guessed it, the first bar. Mainly due to the large group I was in, and the subsequent mayhem that ensued, I later forgot to write all that stuff down. I know the location of all the places that we went, and could easily find them all again, but the only place name that I remember other than the first one was...


Pub #2 - David's Apartment
No, not a pub, but the residence of our tour guide David. Dave's place was the second stop on our tour, and we all got to drink a beer while admiring his bachelor pad with its commanding view of Gent. We also went up on the roof for a bit, which was maybe a little dangerous in that it was 12 floors up and had no guard rail. But what's life without a little risk, right?

Notable moments - Didn't fall off David's roof. Had a converstaion with a Latvian guy about his fascination with American made automobiles. As he put it, they're so big ..."you can make a party in your car".


Pub #3
Leaving Dave's place we went to a little bar near Castle Gravensteen that I've seen several times, but never entered. From the outside the place looked quite small, but inside there was a room underground that was just large enough to accomodate all of us. I've stopped being surprised by the vast, underground facilities that seemingly tiny buildings have. This one in particular was like a small stone quonset hut. Just look at the picture. The beer we had here was quite good. It was a special variety that is only served at that particular bar.

Notable moment - Hung out with Laura and Patricia, who have become two of my very good friends.

Pub #4
The next pub we visited was situated on the edge of the Vrijdag Markt. This one is unique because certain beers are served in such elaborate glasses that you are required to give the bartender one of your shoes before he will serve you. This is to prevent theft of the glasses. I still haven't had one of these, but it's on my list.

Notable moment - Met a bunch of guys named Louis.

Pub #5 - Flea Market Explosion
I wouldn't exactly call the next place we visited a "pub". When we turned down a small street/alley and stopped, I initially thought we had taken a wrong turn or were lost because there was no evidence of a pub anywhere. Walking through a door that looked like the entrance to someone's home, we walked into one of the most interesting, unique, and bizarre places I've ever been. Look at the photo. The owner of the place is a construction worker by day, and apparently serves beer out of his junk shop by night. There were real oil lanterns on the tables, and all kinds of "stuff" hanging from the walls and ceiling. Definitely a place I'll have to take visitors.

Notable moment - Was mesmerized by a mass of junk with a density approximately equal to that of a neutron star.

Pub #6
Next we went to a local pub near the Overpoort. Not much mentionable about this one except that my good man David gave me two beers instead of one, and I had a very pleasant conversation with one of the locals. I think we briefly discussed American culture and politics, but don't ask me the details.

Notable moment - Saying something to the effect of "GW may not be the greatest, but Johnny K was a @#$%$@#$%".

Pub #7 - The

Pub #4
Up near the Vrijdag Markt. Near the big cannon.

ESN Pub
Home sweet home. No better way to round out an evening than with a Duvel at the ESN Pub. I had my final beer here, and called it a night. I ran into Daniel, Krzys, and Pawel, but left shortly after I saw them.

Notable moments - Danced way more than normal. Saw friends, got laughed at. Didn't fall off my bike on the way home.

So we didn't make it through all ten. But you know what? I'm OK with that.

Overall, another great night in Gent.

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