Community Profiles

Individual Profile:

Fred

Spain

(interior designer)

Fav URL(s):
http://new york times

Comments:

• One of the worst shoes

  Birkenstock

  10 April 2008

  In the 1980's I lived on Vancouver Island in Canada. In that period, Birkenstocks was kind of a euro-hippy shoe that they used with socks. I used to make nasty comments about people who had them. About 10 years ago, they became quite fashionable (especially the white ones) in Madrid, Spain where I live today, really practical for the warm climate. But there was something that started to bother me about the smell that the cork retained so I started scrubing them with bleach to freshen them up. I still got along with my many Birkenstocks until last year when I started having serious problems with my feet. My search for good advice lead me a professor here at the one of the universities here in Madrid. The professor took one look at those Birkenstocks and much to my surprise told me that any shoe with a form that is not your own form is actually one of the worst shoes that anyone can possibly wear. The generic arch is not yours and can actually create foot serious foot problems that can also move up to your low back. From that day I have tossed the Birkies out and now use custom made leather forms inside my shoes which I started to have custom made with my arch already built in. Don't believe that they are healthy!

• Taking over Madrid

  Starbucks

  13 April 2008

  Starbucks is taking over Madrid. There should be a law or something that states that you can't have the same business within xx meters of each other! Everytime I see an old beautiful building with the windows covered in paper it says COMING SOON...STARBUCKS. They should announce...ANOTHER STARBUCKS! What I found really disturbing, last week I entered the construction site of one of the 'coming soon' locations to see workman spreading glue and sticking down those ugly new tiles over an old hand made tile floor that was still in excellent condition. At least if they are going to take over the planet with their over priced coffee they should at least attempt to leave a trace of the history of the buildings they so quickly violate of any historic identity.