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MEXICO
CITY - MARKETS AND SHOPPING |
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The big advantage of shopping
in the capital is that you
can get goods from all
over the country and, if
you are flying out of
here, you don't have to
lug them around the
country. For crafts
and traditional goods
don't miss the markets and
artesanía shops we've
listed, though they will
usually be more expensive
than at source.
One fascinating (and
occasionally frustrating)
facet of shopping in the
capital is the practice of
devoting a whole street to
one particular trade,
something found to some
extent throughout the
city. There are whole
streets where you can buy
nothing but stationery,
other blocks packed
exclusively with shoe
shops, and still other
areas packed with musical
instruments. Unless you
happen to find the right
street you can walk all
day without ever seeing a
guitar. It's probably the
most concrete hangover of
Aztec life - their
well-regulated markets
were divided up according
to the nature of the goods
on sale, and the practice
was continued by colonial
planners.
Every area of the city
has its own market
selling food and
essentials, and many
others set up stalls for
just one day a week along
a suburban street. Less
formal street stalls
spring up all over the
city and can be just a
sheet on the pavement with
some New Age devotee
selling cheap jewellery,
to a relatively
sophisticated stand
selling anything from pens
and watches to computer
hard drives and fake
designer clothing and
bags. The Centro
Historico and Zona
Rosa are good hunting
grounds, though the
concentration of stalls in
these areas is influenced
by occasional crackdowns
on this illegal but widely
accepted trading. At more
sensitive times you'll
notice vendors alert to
the presence of the
authorities, and
occasionally catch them
packing up and sprinting
off.
For anything you really
need - clothes and so on -
a good starting point is
El Palacio de Hierro at 20
de Noviembre 3, just south
of the Zócalo, one of
several big department
stores in the area. It
is also worth trying one
of the many branches of Sanborn's
, which sell books, maps
and quantities of tacky
souvenirs, and every
branch has a sizeable
pharmacy.
If you've a taste for designer
clothing , quality jewellery
or genuine Mexican antiques
, the Zona Rosa has
traditionally been the
place to go. There are
still classy shops there,
but in the last few years
many have moved out to
Polanco.
If you been in Mexico
for a while you'll be
desperate for English-language
books and magazines.
Sadly the capital isn't
much better than the rest
of the country. Time
and Newsweek are
available all over the
place, but for anything
else you'll have to seek
out the places we've
listed, none of which have
a huge range. For art and
architecture books, most
of the major art galleries
have good selections.
Haggling for a
bargain is no longer the
thrilling (or daunting)
prospect it once was in
Mexico City. The nation's
increasing prosperity and
sophistication means that
most things are fixed
price. As a tourist (and
especially if your Spanish
is poor) you can expect
people to try to bump up
the price occasionally and
it pays to remain alert,
but on the whole what you
see is what you pay. If
times are quiet some
hotels (particularly large
business hotels) might
drop the prices if you
ask, but hostels and
budget hotels seldom drop
prices. The best hope for
reductions is with crafts
and artesanía goods, but
even here fixed prices are
becoming more common.
Markets
Bazar Sábado ,
Plaza San Jacinto, San
Ángel. Very popular
open-air art and
sculpture market takes
place pretty much all
day Saturday. On Sunday
it moves to Parque
Sullivan, just north of
the Zona Rosa.
Central Artesanal
Buenavista , Aldama
187, just east of the
train station.
Handicrafts from around
the country in what is
claimed to be Mexico's
largest shop. Rather
pricey compared to the
Ciudadela (see below)
and less characterful.
Daily 9am-6pm. Metro
Buenavista.
Centro Artesanal
de San Juan (Mercado
de Curiosidades
Mexicanas), about five
blocks south of the
Alameda along Dolores.
Modern tourist-oriented
complex that's possibly
the least appealing of
the major artesanía
markets, though there
are still deals to be
had (particularly in
silver) provided you
haggle. Mon-Sat 9am-7pm,
Sun 9am-4pm. Metro San
Juan de Letran.
Ciudadela ,
cnr of Balderas and
Emilio Donde. The best
place in the capital to
buy regional crafts and
souvenirs from every
part of the country. If
you forgot to pick up a
hammock in the Yucatán
or some Olinalá
laquerwork in Guerrero,
fear not: you can buy
them here for not a
great deal more.
Bargaining has limited
rewards. Mon-Sat
11am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm.
Metro Balderas.
Coyoacán markets
. There are two
interesting markets in
Coyoacán: the daily
markets three blocks up
from Plaza Hidalgo are
typically given over to
food, while on Sunday a
craft market converges
on the plaza itself.
There you can buy any
manner of típico
clothing and that
essential souvenir, the
Marcos doll, made in
Chiapas by the Maya.
Metro Viveros.
La Lagunilla ,
Rayon, a couple of
blocks north of the
Plaza Garibaldi. Comes
closest to rivalling La
Merced in size and
variety, but is best
visited on a Sunday when
the tianguis
expands into the
surrounding streets,
with more stalls selling
stones, used books,
crafts and bric-a-brac.
Get there on buses
("La Villa")
heading north on Reforma,
or walk from Metro
Garibaldi.
La Merced ,
cnr Izazaga San Pablo
and Eje 1 Ote. The
city's largest market, a
collection of huge
modern buildings, which
for all their size can't
contain the vast number
of traders who want to
set up here. Sells
almost anything you
could conceive of
finding in a Mexican
market (and much more
you'd never thought of),
though fruit, vegetables
and other foods take up
most space. Even if
you're not buying you
could easily spend half
a day here browsing
metre-diameter columns
of nopal leaves as high
as a man, the stacks of
dried chiles and all
manner of hardware from
juice presses to
volcanic-stone mortars
known as molcajetes. The
Metro takes you right
into the heart of
things. Daily 6am-6pm.
Metro La Merced.
Mercado de Sonora
, three blocks from La
Merced on Av Fray
Servando Teresa de Mier.
This market is famous
for its sale of herbal
medicines, medicinal and
magical plants and the
various curanderos
(indigenous herbalists)
who go there. Metro La
Merced.
Palacio de La
Flores , cnr of Luis
Moya and E Pugibet. A
small market selling
nothing but flowers -
loose, in vast
arrangements and
wreaths, growing in
pots, even paper and
plastic. Similar markets
can be found in San Ángel
and Xochimilco. Metro
Salto de Agua or
Balderas.
Artesanía shops
Artesanía Del Centro
, Palma Norte 506-F at
Cuba. Small shop
conveniently sited near
the Zócalo and stocking
a small but select range
of metalwork, replica
icons, scented candles
and the like. Metro
Allende.
FONART , Juárez
89 (tel 5521-0171, www.fonart.gob.mx
). A reasonable crafts
shop run by FONART, the
government agency that
promotes quality arts
and crafts and helps the
artisans with marketing
and materials. The fixed
prices are usually
higher than elsewhere,
but it is worth visiting
to check price and
quality before venturing
to the markets. Metro
Hidalgo.
English-language books
and newspapers
The News ( www.novedades.com.mz/the-news.htm
) and international
weeklies are available
downtown from newspaper
stands (especially
along 5 de Mayo), but
for most other items
you'll need to head to
the Zona Rosa or Colonia
Polanco. Sanborn's,
dotted all over town,
usually have a modest
supply of
English-language
material, much of it
business oriented. The airport
has numerous small shops
partly stocked with
English-language
magazines and airport
novels, plus a few
foreign newspapers. The
best bets are the Cenca
store in Sala E2, and
Libros y Arte between
Salas C and D.
American Book
Store , Bolivar 23 (tel
5512-0306). Despite the
name, their stock of
books in English is
limited and mostly
business or computer
oriented. OK for a few
paperbacks, magazines
and newspapers. Mon-Sat
10am-7pm.
Casa de la Prensa
, Hamburgo 141 at
Amberes (tel 5208-1419).
A good source of
magazines and newspapers
in English, German and
French. Mon-Fri
8am-10pm, Sat & Sun
noon-9pm.
Cenca ,
Temistocles 73, near cnr
of Mazarik and
Arquimedes in Polanco (tel
5280-1666), has a good
selection of magazines,
novels and even a few
guide books, plus a good
café next door for
reading them all.
Mon-Fri 8am-10pm, Sat
& Sun 9am-9pm. Metro
Polanco.
La Torre del Papel
, Callejón de
Betlemitas 6a, beside
the Museo del Ejercito y
Fuerza, near Bellas
Artes. Stocks up-to-date
newspapers from all over
Mexico and Latin America
with a good showing of
US, British, Spanish and
Italian newspapers, plus
magazines such as National
Geographic, The
Economist, Entertainment
Weekly and Paris
Match . Mon-Fri
9am-6pm Sat 9am-3pm.
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