After a hearty breakfast at La Fonda, I headed over to central mercado Francisco Madero. The streets seemed a bit subdued for a Saturday morning, but the mercado's seafood and meat vendors were bustling. The fish monger had fresh supplies of sea scallops, mussels, clams, shrimp, dorado and tuna all kept on ice and under glass showcases.
The meat purveyor down the hall was busy butchering a pig and the poultry purveyor also had nice plump chickens fresh from the farm. I noticed the food venders seemed to be doing better than the curio, clothing, dress shops, but the barber shop was busy with people waiting. .
One favorite stop in downtown La Paz is the Parisian fabric store, colorful and vibrant usually filled with women chattering and rummaging through the sale bins, but on this Saturday morning the aisles were quietly empty. I walked back towards Climasters and discovered tortilleria La Rosalia located on Allende near Independencia. The piping hot tortillias were coming off the conveyor belt steamy and puffy and inviting as Krispy Cremes. I bought a kilo for $28 pesos and made a few photos of the workers. On the way home, stopped at the new Burger King at the Soriana Shopping Center and the place was packed. Blockbuster had lines of people at the registers and the mall parking lots were full, so looks like business is good at the mega stores. I've often read about the effects of shopping malls in the suburbs attracting shoppers away from the downtown, but to see it in action--so fast and on a smaller scale such as in La Paz--makes me realize that growth is inevitable, but as consumers we also need to support our local vendors and merchants, otherwise we'll forget why we moved to México.
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