If it’s different, strange or downright bizarre, I’m always interested, so today I found myself in a church looking at the footwear of famous film stars. The exhibition Zapatos de Cine (Shoes of the Cinema) is at the former Convent of Santa Domingo in La Laguna and features 18 pairs of shoes and boots from some great movies of the last 50 years.
If you want some history, they have a pair of white slingbacks worn by Marilyn Monroe in the 1962 flick Somethings Gotta Give or how about some rebelious footwear, the 1955 vintage leather boots (below) worn by James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause. Maybe your feet will be tingling at the sight of this thigh length pair of brushed blue waders (steady boy) as worn in El Perro del Hortelano (Dog In A Manger) a former stage comedy. 
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The display area is just a small space, and the exhibits are in slightly frosted plastic tubes, not easy for photo opportunities. Most of the items are on loan from a large private film memorabilia collection but there are some more modern samples on show. Try these gravity defying fashion shoes (below) from the film of Sex In The City (released in Spain as Sex In New York and not to be confused with the low budget British version -Sex In Bognor Regis), there is also a menacing pair of Arnies boots from the first Terminator film.
It’s not the biggest show in the World but Zapatos de Cine is FREE and worth shuffling along to, it’s just yards from Plaza del Adelantado (round the corner from the tram terminus) and is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 2pm, and 5pm to 8pm, plus Saturdays 10am to 2pm, until March 27.
If the word FREE made you sit up and take notice, you will like La Laguna, my tram trip from Santa Cruz bus depot was FREE on my Bono bus ticket, as I had just come off the 110 direct Titsa bus from Los Cristianos (make sure you have at least .95 cents on your ticket in case – I don’t want to drop you in for a big fine). Most of the shopping areas of La Laguna are pedestrianised, so it’s a nice place to explore and has several museums and historic buildings. There are FREE daily mid morning multi lingual sight seeing tours from the information centre, also just off the Plaza del Adelantado, but you need to book in advance.
It’s been a little while since my last visit so I called at the newly re-opened local produce market in Plaza del Cristo. The old market started to slide into a barranco, so just over a year ago a new one was built in record time, only to slide into legal wrangles. Now you can find it open every day from 8am to 2 pm, with 88 units, mainly inside, selling local fruit, veg, sauces, flowers, cakes and pastries – blimey it even has 2 bars and a state lottery shop.
A good vantage point to see over La Laguna is the tower of the Church of our Lady of the Conception. It’s pretty easy to spot, being 7 storeys high, last time I went it was a couple of euros to climb the tower but this time there was noone collecting and no signs about any charge, you know what that means – yep another FREE attraction. The bell tower gave me great vantage points of the surrounding area and even the planes coming and going at Los Rodeos airport. The wind was whistling through the ballestrades (feel free to add your own smutty inuendo) and I was so busy clicking away that the bells suddenly clanging noon, nearly made me jump over the side in shock.
At least I was able to restore my hearing over a coffee in the sun at a street cafe while watching a living statue, perform for the passers by. Yes La Laguna is a grand place to visit, and that’s not a load of cobblers.
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