Shopping in Cuenca, Ecuador
Welcome back to my series on Ecuador! Today I'll be sharing shopping in old town, Cuenca. My fiancé's mom was there to show us all the good spots to hit. Like I mentioned in my last post, I'll be starting starting with The Rotary.
The Rotary has a mix of handmade and factory made items. Our family friend, Maria, has a booth of handmade baskets where we picked up a purse, a hat for our dog, and some miniature hats. If you're a fan of miniatures, some of the booths have miniature versions of the red roof tiles you can buy individually or in small bags.
After hitting the Rotary we walked over to San Francisco Plaza. On the way you'll see lots of stalls that sell clothing (we avoided these as we were looking for more locally made items) as well as women selling fruit. You'll be able to hear them shouting out prices and trying to get your attention. We were told there was a larger market where you could buy fruit so i recommend going there if you're interested in produce.
Inside one of the shops on the plaza was a hidden back door that lead to a two story shop filled with items! We picked up some embroidered bags, dream catchers, and some woven items. They had beautiful hammocks as well but we opted to wait. Make sure to bring cash and try to haggle, we were able to get a few dollars off our total. We also met a couple visiting from the States and bonded over their shirt from Powells Books in Portland, where David and I went to college.
After that we walked across the plaza to the Artisans Market: "Centro Municipal Artesanal Arts and Crafts," where local artisans sell their hand made arts and crafts. We definitely went overboard here! I picked up a doll for my niece that was hemmed with a child's English homework, which shows you just how handmade and unique each item is. There was a woman selling the most beautiful ceramic catch all bowls, which I bought one with an owl to put my engagement ring on at night.
Upstairs there are two beaded jewelry stalls. We fell in love with the work and went back two more times! I bought two necklaces for myself as well as some gifts. I was told that the average amount the women would make in a month is $480, so we wanted to support them as much as possible. The third time we returned the woman, Angelita Chuisaca, kept showing us more and more of her work, you could feel how proud she was and how happy she was to be sharing her work with us. Our last stop in old town was to find some beads and alpaca yarn. We managed to find a bead store as well as a craft store to pick up local items.
We were then interested in picking up some local alcohol. Our guide mentioned that the Don Capelo liquor store sells Chaguarmishqui, an Ecuadorean agave liquor similar to tequila. They were closed when we drove by, so we opted for some Chilean wine at a local store to gift to our friend for dog sitting for us.
Near the house was a panaderia and pasteleria, also known as a bakery here in the states. The prices were so low we went back two more times! They had amazing breads and sweets.
Finally, our last shopping trip was in Chordeleg. While not in Cuenca it can be reached by a 45 minute car drive and our guide took us there after a trip to Ingapirca. Chordeleg is known for silver earrings in chandelier style and a style that represents the sun and moon. I picked up the latter style of earrings, a hammock, and a large textile to use as a couch cover. I'll be talking about our trip to Ingapirca and Chordeleg in a later post so stay tuned!
