Buenos Aires General Shopping

General Shopping

If you are interested in buying goods, you have a lot of shops in the downtown area, and many shopping centers, but be aware, you can get much cheaper goods if you walk around the city. If you want a souvenir, the most popular are: The mate: It is a sort of cup made from different materials, commonly from a dessicated vegetal core, sometimes with silver or gold ornaments; which is used to drink mate, the most traditional social non-alcoholic beverage. The mate is drunk in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and southern Brazil. Other gaucho items: Traditional clothes, knifes, etc. Leather items: The cow is totally used here: meat, milk, sausages, and leather; all of that is high quality. The Florida Street and the Lavalle Street (from 500 up to 1000) are for pedestrians only, where the main tourist's shops are located. At the intersection of these two pedestrian streets, there is often some sort of interesting street performance going on, especially at night. The Palermo Viejo district is the SoHo of Buenos Aires and has many shops that will appeal to young or artsy people. Nearby is Murillo Street, a block full of leather houses. There are many artisans' fairs, most notably the weekend Recoleta fair located in the Francia park, near Recoleta cemetery (which is an excellent place for photography) and on Sundays the San Telmo market. In every fair you will find some excellent hand made products, but beware, also there are industrialized products disguised as "hand made". In the Corrientes Ave. from the Obelisco (big obelisk landed in the intersection with 9 de Julio avenue) up to Callao Ave., you will find a lot of cheap bookstores where you can find many books mostly in Spanish. "El Ateneo," a massive bookstore with a reasonable offering of books in English, is at Santa Fe 1860. The Último Taller at Jorge L. Borges 1975 (between Soler and Nicaragua streets) sells funky candles and street address plates and markers; there are charming cats, and photos can be etched onto these plates as well. The shop is open Monday to Saturday 10am-9pm; and its telephone number is 4831-4135. There are other stores that sell nice candles in this area as well. Exchange money: The peso exchange rate is currently 3 pesos to the dollar or almost 4 pesos to the euro. You can exchange at Banco de la Nación Argentina at the airport, but there are many safe places downtown where one can find better rates of exchange. Before you change your money check out rates and fees! ATM: There are several Banelco or "Red Link" ATMs all over the city that can dispense cash in pesos. This is probably the best way to get pesos in your hand, as they are more convenient and the exchange rates are usually better. Fees depend on your hometown bank and so there are few hidden surprises because the ATM can switch to English. Sometimes the machines also dispense dollars for international bank cards that are members of the Cirrus and Visa Plus/Visa Electron networks. Visitors from Brazil can find many Itaú agencies all over the city. Remember: banks open from 10 to 3 pm., only on weekdays. Saturdays and Sundays are great days for the outdoor markets, especially in the summer. The Feria Recoleta (in Plaza Francia) is an assortment of all sorts of artesania, from jewelry to shawls; and Plaza Serrano in Palermo viejo comes alive in the afternoon with a feria of artesania in the plaza and freelance designer clothes in the bars surrounding the plaza. Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo offers tango and antiquities.