Life: Idiotropic

It should get boring, but it doesn't.  There is always something new and different even in those places I've passed by again and again.  And there's always something new to discover.

Today's discovery happened because of a shoe.

Frank's sandal broke, so he brought it with us to town to get fixed.  We stopped at a leather shop in the Plaza Redonda and the man there gave me directions to a shoe repair shop in the Plaza Doctor Collado just a few blocks away.

I am translator most often which is fine, but I don't always get 100% which can be quite comical.  We walked into the shoe store.  It was bigger than most shops in this area taking up a good portion of the block with a wide customer space and an extensive work area behind the L shaped counters.  It was dark as shoe stores tend to be and smelled just a bit of leather.  I asked the tiny old man behind the counter if he could fix the shoe and handed it to him so he could look.  He nodded, asked us to wait just a moment, and handed it to his coworker.

A moment later he was talking to me and gesturing to Laura's shoe. 
     "Take off your shoe," he's saying to Laura.  What??  I'm trying to figure out why, but either he's not telling me or I'm just not getting it, and all I can figure out is that he wants one of Laura's shoes.  Laura's confused. 
     "He wants my shoe?  Which one?  The right or the left?  Why?" 
     "It doesn't matter which one," I tell her. "Just take off a shoe and give it to him.  I don't know why.  Just do it."

So Laura is hopping on one foot untying and taking off her left shoe then hands it to the man.  He points to Frank who is a bit more skeptical, but I'm thinking that if we don't cooperate, we could be here all day.  While Frank fiddles with his shoe, the man slips something into Laura's and hands it back.  It's a thin piece of leather - real leather shaped to fit the inside of a shoe.  It's smooth on one side and more suede-like on the other.  It's supposed to give your feet more cushion and "breath" better too keeping them cooler.  Laura likes it... Frank isn't sure, but agrees probably as much to be able to get out of there than anything. 

They each get two pairs of inserts (4 for the price of 3) and we are ready to move on.  Before we do, I ask if there is a good tapas place nearby that he recommends.  He points to the corner and tells us that's where he goes.

A long bar is in the back with people seated along it.  Half the glass case is full of pre-fried things and the other full of raw things waiting to be cooked to order.  The menu has both English and Spanish, but I prefer the Spanish because I know what I'm getting.   English translations are often wrong or just not specific enough.  We completely miss the entire back of the menu with bocadillos and tortillas, but find enough tapas to keep us happy and full.  Calamari, olives, a croquette de bacalao.  It's all good.  Laura's eating teenie, tiny whole squid battered and deep fried.  They look delicious.

And the tour continues and we see cool stuff: a cow face and a sheep head at Mercado Central, a Corpus Cristi picture out of flowers in front of the Basilica, a sale rack in El Corte Ingles... then it's time to go and we run to the train thankful that it's 2 minutes behind schedule. 

The highlight, the tapas.  Local and good.  Simple, yet extraordinary.  Will I go back?  Definitely... unless I meet another shoe man.