Frogs, jamon & things you might find in a Thieves’ Market

The euro’s so strong against the US dollar but that won’t stop Filipinos from shopping for books, food, clothes or – and please think twice about souvenirs – key chains. Cities such as Madrid and Lisbon thankfully offer shopping places that cater to every budget.

Just remember: Nobody really uses those mugs.

MADRID: There are two kinds of banners hanging all over the streets of Madrid: One is what every tourist is looking for "rebajas" or sale, the other is "Madrid 2012" for the city’s campaign to host the Olympics in 2012 (other cities vying for the right are New York and Paris).

The first banner is what concerns us. Famous Spanish brands such as Zara and Mango have branches in every major mall, so does the Swedish brand H&M. The department store El Corte Ingles has nine branches around Madrid; apart from its fabulous clothing section, check out its grocery section for pasalubong fare such as tapas and cheeses. You can ask them to slice and pack the tapas for travel.

For high-end shopping, head for Calle Serrano, one of the most expensive streets in Madrid with designer and jewelry shops. On weekends at plaza mayor, stamps and coins are traded and sold, along with other flea market finds.

El museo de jamon (museum of ham) stores are scattered around Madrid. The vicinity of Puerta del Sol offers many souvenir, clothing and electronic shops, too.

The Rastro is Madrid’s most famous flea market, open on Saturday and Sunday. The name of the market originates in the 16th century, when there was a slaughterhouse called "rastro" and other merchants did their trade around it.

TOLEDO: Artisans make a good living in Toledo for their beautiful gold jewelry, gold-embellished pillboxes and life-sized swords. The streets around the squares are lined with shops selling miniature swords, armored figurines atop ornamented horses, and a fully armored Don Quixote, looking quite sane and respectable.

On our afternoon in Toledo, KLM’s Joyce Canilao bought some hand-painted tiles at good prices. The designs range from Bible stories – yeah, but do you want a crucified Christ staring at you while you’re washing the dishes? – Don Quixote, and sherry making. Five years ago in Jerez, I got some pretty tiles with sketches from Cervantes’ Don Quixote – factory-made, of course but they did have that hand-painted quality.

For the best sweets, go to the patisserie Santo Tome, which has the best marzipan, yema, barquillos, rosquillas turrones and many more – sweets we could get at any of Manila’s supermarkets, but hey, why not try the Spanish version, right?

AVILA: There are small shops around the cathedral that sell basic clothing, decorative tiles, accessories, souvenirs, and home accessories. Religious articles and books on Santa Teresa of Avila are also available in some shops. Would you believe that the autobiography she wrote when she was a Carmelite nun was a bestseller for centuries in Spain?

SALAMANCA: It’s a little Madrid, except there is no El Corte Ingles in every street corner. Mango and Zara are on the main cobbled road leading to its spectacularly-hued plaza mayor, plus other good quality Spanish brands. There are grocery stores for the locals’ everyday needs – cheeses, tapas, chocolates – which means pasalubong for tourists. Almost all the stores have the rebajas sign. Souvenir shops have that quirky Salamanca exclusive – frog figurines adorning obligatory T-shirts and mugs, and even plaster skulls sport green frogs sitting on their, uh, skulls. I wonder, though, what kind of tourists will bring skulls home as souvenirs.

FATIMA: Only religious articles are worth buying in Fatima – all kinds of rosaries, from those made of rose petals to silver-plated ones, bottled water from the spring found at the shrine, books, medallions and magnets with the Lady’s image, crucifixes, etc. There are so many different representations of Our Lady of Fatima, but I have to say the most beautiful for me are the unpainted figurines that show her with downcast eyes and a very serene look on her face; the heavily adorned, complete with her gold crown, and with a painted face are a little too garish for me. The shops nearest the shrine have the most expensive items which, to those who have been in Lourdes, will find quite the opposite.

Look for Centro Commercial Fatima, which has a large supermarket filled with aisles and aisles of religious articles. Rosaries here cost a third less compared with the small stalls.

LISBON: One of the biggest malls in Lisbon is Columbus Center, accessible through the metro and every cabbie in town knows it. It has 400 plus shops, with clothing, electronics and home and toy stores. Terence Conran’s Habitat home store has a branch here. El Corte Ingles also has branches here.

In the supermarkets and small food stores downtown, look for the famous Portuguese sardines and sardines pate to take home. Grab a Portuguese cookbook, too, and learn how to make authentic bacalao.

Downtown, Rossio St. is the place to go. It’s got a bevy of cafes, restaurants and high-end shops such as Cartier and Louis Vuitton. If you’re in Lisbon on a Tuesday or Saturday, don’t miss the Ladra Fair, sometimes called Feira dos Ladroes (The Thieves’ Market), where you can find all sorts of small and big merchandise. I wonder, though, if it got its name because they fence stolen goods here or because thieves like to prey on the shoppers.

We’ll do anything for a bargain, right?