Cute to dress up or down- also great for lots of walking

I'll start off my saying that I made the mistake of wearing these shoes for the first time on a walking tour on a cruise excursion. I figured they're like tennis shoes, they'll be comfortable enough... nope. I wore them without socks (which I believe they are meant to be worn that way). There is an area at heal that has a type of plastic that is probably supposed to keep your foot from moving around. Unfortunately, this particular area created painful blisters that lasted most of my trip. I had even sized down 1/2 size so my foot wouldn't move around a lot. Just too bad because they are a cute design. Might still try to wear with socks.