San Miguel de Allende buy · Money and Shopping in San Miguel de Allende
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Money and Shopping in San Miguel de Allende
Money and Shopping in San Miguel de Allende
Any type of Mexican artwork that you can think of. In addition to its cultural staples, San Miguel de Allende is known for its amazing shopping. Being near the geographical center of the country, artisans from every part of Mexico have been known to send their artwork to San Miguel to be sold.
Whenever possible buy directly from the artisan. Many amazingly, talented artists are not able to support their families due to the low prices they receive for their art. At times it is very necessary to barter and at other times inappropriate -- use your intuition and allow for mistakes.
We can afford to be generous in this developing nation!
The best place to get great quality Mexican and international art is at Fabrica La Aurora . This old textile factory, redesigned by Christopher Fallon, has been converted into a unique art and design center that now houses over 30 artists, galleries, restaurants, antique shops, and specialty stores. It is about 10 minutes from the main square down Hidalgo Street on Calzada de la Aurora. Inside the Fabrica la Aurora you will see galleries such as Galeria Atelier. Artists are usually in-house and demonstrating on Thursdays. See galeria/atelier .
The streets around the Jardin are full of specialty shops selling common souvenirs, clothing, art, furniture, and Mexican tile. The open-air Mercado Ignacio Ramirez (Ignacio Ramirez market) a few blocks from the zocalo (locally called the "Jardin") is several blocks long where you'll find reasonably-priced jewelry from beads to silver, tile, mirrors, and other accessories for the home. It winds down the side of a hill, ending on yet another street of stores where you'll find (among other things) local pewter which can be very attractive and a real bargain. Some still call it by the name "El Nigromante", which is not as loaded a term in Spanish. There's the local food market indoors, and as one goes more downhill there are the usual clothing and music kiosks. The artsy-craftsy merchandise is found in the sunlight and down by the stream-side as one progresses through the area. Kiosk food is safe, by and large.
Also of note is the Tuesday Market - acres of native crafts, cheap Lakers t-shirts, fly swatters, cheap leather jackets and miscellaneous stuff that you really need, like flypaper, sewing kits, and more flyswatters. This correspondent is six foot tall, and feels like an NBA star walking through the crowds there. This correspondent cannot find any clothing to fit him there, either Tamano Grande (sorry can't access tilde) is US Medium. T. Ex-G does not exist. Still. it's worth it, if only for some of the more occult candies on offer.
Fair Trade Shopping includes the following:
Casa de Las Artesania de Michoacan, Calzada de la Aurora #23, a non-profit shop where the artist profits 60% of the retail price.
Save the Children shop on Hidalgo, this store offers crafts from various villages around Mexico. Artists receive a fair price for their arts and crafts, entire villages have become sustainable through Save The Children Mexico projects.
There is also a women’s co-op shop.
Ladies: don't forget to pick up a pair of San Miguel shoes as soon as you arrive. Your walk around town will be much more comfortable.
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San Miguel de Allende Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.