Eltville (18 to 29 March, 2013)

Eltville is a wonderful little town. It is filled with beautiful old houses which have been lovingly restored by the people who really live in them!! I had fun wandering thru the streets, taking photos and talking to a few of the people I met on the way. (Check out my Pinterest boards to see some of my photos.)

Pinterest: Roaming Eltville, Germany visited: 18 to 20 March-2013/

Wiki: Eltville, germany

As I was roaming around, I saw a bakery which had a big sign advertising apprenticeships for bakers. (See photo below). I thought ‘wow, how cool’ you can apprentice right in this little bakery.

Then I turned around and looked at the shop directly behind me. It was the shop of a shoe maker…. Not the kind who fixes your shoes, but a place where the guy actually makes custom-made shoes for you.  The shop was closed, but there was a woman inside cleaning the floor, so I knocked on the window and a man came out of the back workroom. I motioned to him to come outside so that I could ask him a few questions. Turns out he is the ‘shoe maker’. This has been his family-business for two generations. It takes him 3 months to make a single pair of shoes and he has about 5 customers each month who come in and look around. He loves his work and as he proudly showed me the shoes he was wearing, he said he ‘mostly does it just for himself’. (Not sure if he meant that he makes a lot of shoes for himself, or that he does it because he loves what he does..but probably does not make much money!!) I mentioned that in the US, you would not ordinarily find someone who makes custom-made shoes (meaning this occupation was rare in a small town or even in a fairly large size city!!). He disagreed and quickly brought up the name Allen Edmonds!!

At any rate, I asked him if I could take a photo of him in front of his shop and he said no, he had to get across the street to the bakery to buy some bread before it closed…and he hurried off.  End of interview!!

Be sure to check my 'Roaming thru Europe' Pinterest boards for more photos!!