Just Like at the Hermitage, well not quite.

RantWoman has a problem, a footwear problem.

RantWoman has several friends of different ethnic backgrounds who ask people to take off their shoes when visiting their homes.

Sometimes RantWoman finds this a liberating intimacy, especially if her friends offer some kind of house slippers. Unfortunately RantWoman has large northern European feet, the kind of large northern European feet that do not fit into just anyone's house slippers. In fact, RantWoman has the kind of large northern European feet that are absurdly happy to spend all day in a Copenhagen shoe store full of shoes both large enough for RantWoman and even larger. Alas, RantWoman will not be visiting Copenhagen this summer.

But RantWoman will definitely visit a friend, Grandma FF who asks visitors to take shoes off. RantWoman just last night arrived at Grandma FF's house in the rain, wearing sandals, with damp socks in the sandals and another medical reason her feet were going to be happier staying in shoes. RantWoman asked Grandma FF whether her shoes could just stay on.

Grandma FF demurred.

Hmmm. RantWoman REALLY did not want to take shoes off.

What to do?

With thanks to
http://www.saint-petersburg.com/virtual-tour/hermitage/

Ding! Ding! Ding! Those plastic shopping bags that cannot be gotten in Seattle anymore! Grandma FF found two lovely shopping bags. RantWoman tied them onto her feet and suddenly found herself in a time warp, in snow boots covered with grit and snowy muck at the threshold of the Hermitage, one of the most famous museums in Russia. The entrance to the Hermitage is guarded by fierce docents who offer and demand that everyone put on felt slippers to keep people from tracking grit and grime all over the historic parquet floors.

That's it. Covered shoes, just like the hermitage, and actually also a good way to keep wet feet warm.

What more could a RantWoman ask for?

Ummm...