Category Archives: shoes

justo

23 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in culture, friends, sevilla, shoes

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The other day after I picked up my loaner iPad, Peter and I stayed at the Vineria San Telmo to enjoy a drink outside in the sunshine. I mean, sitting out in the sun in mid-December is pretty special. And then I saw my old buddy Justo. I’ve known him as long as I’ve lived in Sevilla. He used to do the shoe-shine thing outside my old home until the “powers that be” decided it was bad for tourism to have gypsy shoe-shine guys pestering the tourists. And to be honest, the majority of them were pretty obnoxious. But not Justo. He was always charming and chatty. I remember once, maybe 15 years ago, splashing out to have my shoes polished on my birthday.

And so when I saw Justo again we had a chat and, as usual, he pointed out the bad state of our shoes. Well, mine are suede so he couldn’t do anything about that, but Peter never takes care of his shoes and Justo said he would add two years of life to them for just 4 euros. How could I resist? So I bought Peter a shoe shine, and also about ten minutes of Justo’s time. We chatted and caught up a bit – Justo told Peter about how he’s known me forever – and I found out that he has been made the official shoe-shine guy for Restaurante Modesto! He even has a little badge saying so. All of which made me think about how much all our lives have changed over the years. And also about how “connected” I feel here, to all kinds of people and to all sorts of memories.

I told Justo I would put his photo on Twitter and make him famous, and he made me promise I would say he was the best shoe-shine guy in the Puerta de la Carne. Which I did. Because he really is. Peter’s two-year-old shoes look brand new.

shoefiti

03 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in shoes, silly, weird, wtf?

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On Saturday afternoon while out on my tapas tour with Rachel (now aka @JaenTapas) we spotted the shoes on the right dangling up there and I stopped to take a photo of this curious sight. I put the pic up on Twitter when I got home and probably would have forgotten all about it, except that two days later (yesterday) I spotted another pair of shoes up in the air which seemed, well, weird. So I also put that on Twitter and got a few responses including one from Baron Grim who left a Wikipedia link about shoe flinging which also mentioned “shoefiti”. Seriously – shoefiti?

Have you ever seen this before?

Shoefiti

sandal dilemma

21 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in shoes

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Well sort of. Last year I almost bought a pair of these very Mephistos but when I tried them on they didn’t seem to fit well and, as I didn’t find any other sandals I liked, I got through the summer totally wearing out these two old pair, which clearly couldn’t be used anymore (the shredded insoles were shredding my poor feet!). And so when the wonderful spring weather hit this weekend I had nothing comfy and cool to wear on my feet. But same story! I really didn’t see any sandals I liked other than this same Mephisto style, which is being repeated this year. So I tried them on and – hey! – they actually fit just fine. But the salesclerk said they looked short and I should try a bigger size. Okay…

I mean, when I got my new shoes a couple of weeks ago I realised that going up a size was the most comfortable thing to do, even though they are a bit long. But with the sandals, having them too long just looks stupid. Except the salesclerk insisted that my toes were too close to the edge in my “usual size”… aaargh. What it comes down to is that I actually need a 39 1/2. Yeah, the 39s are a tad short at the front, but the 40s felt and looked like boats and – more importantly – my heel kind of swam around at the back, and the back strap isn’t adjustable. So after much deliberation I went for the 39s, which is the same Mephisto size I’ve been wearing for over 10 years. Was I wrong?

now defunct 3-year-old red Mephistos and brand new ones

One thing’s for sure. I am going to start using my gel socks again! My heels are in great shape now after a winter of comfy socks and regular moisturising. I reckon that if I do the gel sock thing after a quick pedicure a couple times a week I may end up avoiding painful cracked feet around mid-August. Watch this space…

like a kid with new shoes

04 Friday Mar 2011

Posted by in retail therapy, sevilla, shoes

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There’s an expression in Spanish – como un niño con zapatos nuevos – which is used when someone is excited about a new purchase or gift. In this case it’s doubly accurate as I am very pleased at having found a pair of zapatos nuevos that 1) fit and 2) are rather cute. So I am finally able to put my 7-year-old red Campers out to pasture.

Of course I found these while looking for new sandals as my old Mephistos seriously bit the bullet last summer and are no longer wearable. But I reckoned that if I didn’t get these now, next autumn – like last autumn – I may not find any suitable shoes.

Meanwhile, it was definitely sandal weather this past weekend and though it’s cooler again this week I’m sure it’ll soon be too warm to wear my new shoes, so new sandals must be found as soon as possible. Life ain’t easy when you have triple EEE feet.

novembery

15 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by in cancer, change, sevilla, shoes, spain, weather

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Unlike when I posted this, it is now mid-month and definitely getting Novembery out there. Think it’s finally time to put away (well, throw away) the sandals and get a pair of winter shoes. Have actually worn my old red shoes a couple of times this month already, but as you can see, RAIN is coming, so I’ll need a some non-leaky ones soon. Have also been tempted a couple of times to switch on the space heaters in the living room but have so far opted for an extra sweater.

I’m kind of looking forward to winter now. I’ve noticed that they’ve almost finished putting up the Christmas lights around town, and will probably switch those on at the end of the month. Used to be they didn’t turn them on until December 8th – día de la Inmaculada – but last year they bumped it up a couple of weeks.

For my part, I’ve finally got my clothes sorted and have put all the summery ones away. Have noticed I could use some warm pj’s and a new sweater or two, but otherwise should have enough winter wear to get me through until it’s time to look for new sandals in February. As always, when I think of the future, it’s with a bit of apprehension (will I be on chemo in February? Will I be okay?) and as I get closer to the next PET scan I’m sure the “scanxiety” will reappear. But for now just looking forward to Christmas and my birthday and hope to make lots of happy memories as I go…