Nailed it!
Because no one is allowed to walk at graduation in “trainers”, not even archaeologists. Not even if they’re not muddy!
To get to the shoe shopping required a walk past Newport Castle, a waterfront fortress built in the 14th century. Not much left of it now but hints of its former grand scale.
Judy and I have now gone with local style and adopted proper British scarves for this cold English winter weather.
We’re not yet mistaken for locals though. The first thing the Uber driver said to us today when we got in was “Oh boy. I love listening to your accents.” And we’re enjoying every version of British accent we get from the people we meet as flavored by their places of origin.