The Poles. Loved by all (except daily mail readers).

The man behind the desk took my shoe box and glanced inside. 'Cute shoes' he said, scanning the bar code and reaching for a bag. 'At the right price too' he added as the unbelievably reasonable price came up on the cash register.

I grinned and pulled out my wallet.

'Do you guys have a points card?' the guy asked, and I shook my head, 'No, we're just visiting'.

'Oh, where are you from?' he continued, rearranging the shoes in their box and putting back the lid.

'We live in Poland' I answered, 'Marek's Polish, I'm English'. The man looked geniunely interested as he turned to Marek. 'I always raise my hat to Poles' Marek looked confused so the guy continued, 'in World War Two they really held their ground.'

'Well, yeah they're still pretty gutsy now' I contributed, winking at Marek. He continued to look confused, but smiled at the man.

We continued to make conversation about Poland while the guy fiddled with the register.

I handed over the cash and was given my change. 'Have a good trip and I hope you create wonderful memories in these shoes' the salesman said, with a slightly manic look in his eye as he handed me my bag. I thought that was a bit over the top, but I'm getting used to the overly friendly salespeople here so thanked him, smiled and turned to go.

'Welcome to Canada sir!' he suddenly let out at a rather high volume. Marek, extremely confused by this point, turned back towards the guy, who was striding out from behind the counter. He took Marek's hand in his and shook it warmly 'have a really good trip' he repeated.

We walked away from the emotional salesman and went towards the escalators, but he was still following. 'We have eight floors of wonderful things, be sure to take a look around' we heard as we escaped down a level. I got a glimpse of his grinning face disappearing as Marek looked at me with a puzzled expression. 'What was all that about?' he asked.