If the Shoe fits...

There is something about shoes here. They just never seem to fit. On women I think it is really a matter of fashion comes first; if they like the shoe, they’ll cram their foot in any way they can. Toes are often bulging off the side of sandals, and covered shoes are totally misshapen.

With men it’s another story and I’m starting to wonder if importance is measured in shoe size. Men here like big, long shoes. You can see the creases of their toes six inches before the tapering point of the shoe (and it must be pointy). A man of 5’5” may wear shoes that you’d struggle to measure with a 30cm ruler.

I followed such a man up some stairs. The steps were posing quite a challenge. The depth of the step, the length of the shoe and the length of the foot inside the shoe simply did not combine to allow a suave stair-climb; it was very cloppity clop.