Friday, March 5, 2010

Mercado Central in Belo Horizontes



One mandatory stop when visiting Belo Horizontes is the Mercado Central.


First opened in 1929 with just 22 vendors, the now greatly expanded and fully covered market built in the mid-1960s sits on 14,000 square meters of land with two floors of stalls, plus a parking level. There are 400 stores exploding with goods of every description: meat, fish, flowers, pets, vitamins, beauty products, house wares, artisan items of every description, and much, much more.


It’s a fantastic place to shop. And when you get tired there are luncheonettes where you can relax and share a cold beer and hot food with your friends.


This time around I bought some famous local Queijo Minas (cheese) and some fresh smoked pork sausage. I was looking for a tofu making machine but could not find one. (More on that in another post.)


Carlos, his friend Isabella and I wandered around, got lost a few times, bought our choice items, then enjoyed a cold one before returning to his house for lunch.


If you have a chance to visit Belo Horizontes, don’t miss the Central Market.

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