Visiting Puerto Vallarta - Part 49

THINGS TO DO : Places to shop continued;

Mundo de Cristal

Mundo de Cristal is one of our favourite places to shop and purchase souvenirs. You can find them marked at their location on any map of the Romantic Zone. They have an amazing array of unique and colourful blown glass items such as drinking glass, speciality glasses, pitchers, vases, stir sticks, glass hearts, wall decor, decorations for the home and office, as well as a large inventory of hand-painted ceramics for the kitchen and home. If you’ve often admired beautiful glassware at various restaurants throughout Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, it’s very likely that those items came from this store or the blown glass factory that provides its inventory. What is extra special about this shop is that they can take special orders. If you can give them a drawing of what type of blown glass item you’d like they can make it for you. Things like colourful Margarita glasses are quite common but really the only limitation is your imagination and the depth of your pocket. Depending on what the special order is there may be a minimum quantity that must be ordered, which was very reasonable. So if you are planning a special event or want to design a one off present then this is the store that can help you with that. They do have a web site that shows many of the items that they offer or have made in the past.

Emiliano Zapata Market

If you are staying downtown in the Romantic Zone, really fresh fruits and vegetables can be purchased at bargain prices at the Emiliano Zapata Market on Lazaro Cardenas. At this market, there is a wonderful tortilla factory, butcher shops, a florist, and places to purchase household items. This is where all the locals shop and prices on all items are excellent. It is also a good place to go for some delicious but low-cost eating options. There are a few small restaurants within the market that serve comida-corrida style meals; this is a series of courses cooked in a home-style fashion.

Galerias Vallarta Shopping Mall

Located next to the Walmart/Sam’s Club shopping centre, Galerias Vallarta is an upmarket shopping mall. Its high-end anchor department store is Liverpool. This mall has Cinemex movie theatre, Starbucks, a variety of women’s clothing and shoe stores which include AG, Prada, Hang Ten, Nike, and men’s stores which include Undercolors of Benetton, Pepe Jeans London, etc. There are children’s clothing stores, beauty salons and beauty supply stores, and several accessory and cosmetic retailers. There is a GNC health store, Game Planet, Radio Shack, and mobile and internet providers. There is a pet store, furnishing stores, a toy store, sunglasses store, jewellery store, optical store, and several miscellaneous shops. A food court is located on the second floor, and there are several restaurants within this mall which include Chili’s Restaurant whose tables by the window have an excellent view of the Puerto Vallarta Maritime Terminal.

Continued in part 50.