SHOPPING ...

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... IN SANTO DOMINGO

Duty-free at Centro de los Héroes, La Atarazana, departure lounge at airport; all purchases must be in US dollars. 

The Mercado Modelo, on Avenida Mella esquina Santomé, includes gift shops and is the best place in the city for handicrafts; you must bargain to get a good price. Guides appointed to assist tourists in fact get a 5-10 percent commission from the vendor. 

 Calle El Conde, now reserved to pedestrians, is the oldest shopping sector in Santo Domingo; 

Avenida Mella at Duarte is a good spot for discount shopping and local colour. 

A flea market, Mercado de las Pulgas, operates on Sunday in the Centro de los Héroes and at the Mercado de Oportunidades, 27 de Febrero. 

In contrast are the modern complexes at Plaza Naco and the new US style Unicentro shopping mall at the corner of Av 27 de Febrero and Av Abraham Lincoln; also Plaza Caribe, at 27 de Febrero y Leopoldo Navarro, the new Multicentro Churchill on Av Winston Churchill esq Gustavo Mejía Ricart (with La Sirena, the supermarket Pola and other shops) and up to 10 other Plazas Comerciales 
offering a variety of shops, food halls, banks and offices. 

MORE SHOPPING......

The native amber is sold throughout the country. Do not buy amber on the street, it will as likely as not be plastic. Real amber fluoresces under ultra violet light, it floats in saltwater; if rubbed it produces static electricity; except for the very best pieces it is not absolutely pure, streaks, bits of dirt, etc., are common. 

Larimar, a sea-blue stone, and red and black coral are also available (remember that coral is protected). Other items which make good souvenirs are leather goods, basketware, weavings 
and onyx jewellery. 

The ceramic muñeca sin rostro (faceless doll) has become a sort of symbol of the Dominican Republic, at least, as something to take home. 

There are excellent cigars and very good rum at very reasonable prices.