Alas, wish I had known you were searching, as I could have shown you some stores you could visit for those shoes. Shopping can be a great frustration because the local stores are so poorly marked. Often, I happen to walk by a building and see an open door--a little loja! Who knew?
The best way to find where to buy something on Pico is to ask a resident--and hope you can follow the directions, as they are usually vague and based on some visual clue known only to someone who already knows where the store is. If you checked Sol-Mar in Madalena, you were two blocks away from a sporting goods store that has a shoe department with every kind of athletic shoe. Also, you were one block away in the other direction from a "Chinese store" that also has a wide selection of shoes (mostly women's, though, but several men's as well). All the larger towns have stores owned and operated by immigrants from Macau, who have come in under special conditions set by the Portuguese government to provide goods at lower prices. They import scads of goods made in China and other Asian countries; some are of inferior quality and some are completely lousy. However, some are pretty good, and the prices are amazingly low. If you're visiting for a few weeks and need a pair of walking shoes, a Chinese store could be the place to get just what you need for the time you need it, and the cost will be in line with your use. FYI, I ship pairs of shoes over for myself each spring so I'll have them there in summer. I have to because I wear special shoes with rocker soles that enable me to walk without pain or difficulty (and avoid surgery that has only a 50-50 chance of success). Thus, I don't know first-hand the quality of the shoes at these stores, but I do know plenty of locals who have bought shoes there, and they're satisfied. Everyone: Next time you're headed to anywhere in the archipelago in the summer, let us know ahead of time, as several list members come here each year for extended periods of time. For example, I usually get to Pico late May and stay through the summer. I have family in Flamengos, Faial, so I go over there now and then. With the "third age" fares on the ferries, I go to other islands for brief visits. Because some of us are here for extended periods and have learned more ins and outs of finding things, especially specific locations and records, we can sometimes aid genealogical research of other members. I have done some digging around here for list members in the U.S. and photographed the homes of some earlier family members. Just as list members help each other with genealogy matters on the list, so we can help each other here in paradise in the Atlantic! -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
