Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine April 2017 | Page 180

Day 3: Shopping in Punda and the Duty Free Zone
Ladies, this is your day:
SHOPPING!! And boy, is there
great shopping in Curaçao!
Luckily I was staying in
Otrobanda, one half of the
city of Willemstad (the island’s
capital and a UNESCO World
Heritage site). All I had to do
was cross the Queen Emma
swinging bridge to find myself
in the shopping mecca of Punda,
the other half of Willemstad.
Behind a line of towering
pastel-coloured buildings
reminiscent of old European
architecture are tons of small
bustling shoe and clothing
stores. My eyes opened wide in
anticipation at the prospect of a
mountainous retail adventure! I
remember summoning one poor
Venezuelan salesgirl and telling
her to follow me around her
crowded store as I grabbed outfit
after outfit and then sent her
to claim a change room for me,
all the while trying on endless
shoes, of course!
The next road over teemed
with a rainbow of souvenir
and duty-free shops selling
everything from keychains to
perfume to miniature bottles of
The Genuine Curaçao Liqueur,
a product of the island. On
another day, we ventured into
the duty-free zone, where
vendors purchase clothes and
other goods in large quantities
to be sold in shops overseas.
It was quite the shopping
experience: my fellow pilots who
had initially laughed at me for
bringing such a large suitcase
ended up having to buy an
additional one to hold all their
purchases!
Punda - shopping district
Photo Credit: Marcela Correa