Thursday, February 28, 2008

February 28, 2008 - Custom Fit Shoes

Both of us have a hard time finding shoes that fit - even in the states. I have wide feet, and Rick has narrow feet. And here in Costa Rica, we both have BIG feet!

So, on almost every trip to Costa Rica, we look a bit for how to get shoes. Last time, I found some cowboy boots in San Jose, and followed up on a lead for a place that made shoes to order (didn´t find it tho). This time! YAY! We found a place in Alajuela! Rick got a pair of dress shoes, made to his measure. It took 10 days (here, that means *after* 10 days, or what we usually call 11 days), and $70. When we picked them up, Rick put them on, walked around, indicated that one was a bit tight, and the shoemaker stretched it a bit - on the spot!

The miracle worker:

Zapatería Rodrigo Oreamuno (note: I fixed this name, and adjusted the directions)
3 1/2 blocks West of Coffee Dreams (1 block North of the Cathedral)


BTW - Coffee Dreams is highly recommended (definitely avoid Café Deliciósa just across the street)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great advise on the shoe fit. I too have large feet, and did not think about the aspect of not finding the right kind of shoes. Another thing I was worried about was the food, but I read an entry at Costa Rica HQ that says the food is quite good.
Seems that moving to Costa Rica won´t be as bad.
Rick

Scott S said...

I know sometimes I have trouble finding shoes that fit in the US I can imagine how it must be there.

I am becoming quite fascinating reading stories of North Americans moving to Costa Rica to live.

I must have read a dozen blogs by bloggers who have done just that.

Two that I specifically recall are Costa Rica HQ and one called yo-yoinparadise. They are both by Americans that moved to Costa Rica.

They are all passionate advocates of how great a place Costa Rica is to live.

Is there a large American population there now?

How did you decide to live there?

Scott S.

Julie said...

Hi Rick - The nice thing (well, not the *only* nice thing) about Costa Rica, is that you can find someone to fix almost anything! I asked around about getting some pants tailored, and got 4 or 5 suggestions. (I gotta blog about that). So much of this sort of thing is much more difficult to find in the states - we often don´t think about even looking for it.
re: ¨moving to CR won´t be as bad¨ - you bet! Remain a cynic, it´s good for your mental health - but difficult to do while you are here (well, at least for me...).

Julie said...

Hi Scott -
I read soooo many blogs before (and even after) moving to CR - I love to see other views, and it is a super way to learn from the experiences of others.
The American (or rather, North American, or Gringo) population seems a *lot* bigger than it probably really is. You know how when you go to the county fair, you notice so many of your friends - you sorta feel that you know half the people there. That´s how it is here - you seem to see gringos everywhere, so you think there are a lot of us. There are places you can live where you are surrounded by gringos, and there are places where there are only Ticos - all a matter of preference.
A site to really check out is The Real Costa Rica (http://www.therealcostarica.com). It will answer a ton of questions about living here. BTW, it quotes immigration saying that the immigrants from North America number about 8-10 thousand. Not much, huh?
How did we decide? - if you click on the ¨criteria¨ label, you will get all the posts related to this question (http://julieandrickincostarica.blogspot.com/search/label/criteria)- plans always seem to change, constantly...