Tuesday 7 August 2012

I Spy FiveFingers

I haven't posted for a few weeks because I've been on holiday, enjoying some sun and heat and the hustle and bustle of Florida's many theme parks.

Whilst I was away, I spent a lot of time in very busy places, sometimes in queues (for those hairy scary rides), sometimes in cafes or restaurants, or just cooling down with an ice cold drink.  I used the opportunity to entertain myself with a few games of "I Spy Vibram FiveFingers".  Surprisingly, I didn't see that many - of all the tens of thousands of people I must have seen, I would say I only spotted a dozen or so people in VFFs.  I also noticed a slightly greater number of people wearing Fila toe shoes - with one split for the big toe and a separate pocket for the remaining four.  Interestingly, a Google search for Fila Toe Shoes reveals that Fila actually make five toed shoes also - very similar to VFFs but at a much reduced price - something for me to research at a later date.

But I digress...  by far the most popular footwear at the theme parks were trainers (not surprisingly) and the rather strange (at least to me) practice of flip flops and woolly black socks. I think this is an American trait, and may be perfectly normal to some, but in 36 degrees and blazing sun, I can't think of anything worse than woolly socks.

I did dare to wear my Classics on two days in the parks - once at Universal's Islands of Adventures, where we spotted a couple of girls curiously pointing to my feet and whispering whilst queueing for the new Harry Potter ride, and on another day when we went on an Airboat ride (very practical for that) followed by a wander around Downtown Disney, where a lad said "I like your shoes, Mom" as he passed me on some stairs.

I had thought that not running for a couple of weeks would cause the skin on my soles to soften a little, but I need not have worried... a number of days in water parks where we wore nothing on our feet all day, and only wearing a pair of Birkenstocks (or my Classics) the rest of the time meant my feet had an excellent workout (and we must have walked miles each day) and were raring to go on my return to the UK.

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