Zona Piel in Leon

The next morning, we went to Zona Piel (the Leon Leather Zone) on the way out of town.  Leon, Guanajuato is the leather capital of Mexico (and arguably the world!). We parked our car in a parking lot attached to a shopping mall literally full of shoes. And more shoes. And then, some more shoes.

 Next, we took to the streets, and found block after block after block after block after block after block of leather goodies which could be paired well on those mannequins for sale.

Leather shoes-Leather belts–Leather boots-Leather purses-Leather wallets-Leather food-just kidding

(I’ll apologize now for some of the blurry photos. I didn’t discover until later that some funky setting had been changed on my camera!)

Street vendors walked around with 3 or so pairs of shoes in their hands–asking us if we wanted to buy them as we walked the sidewalks. We thought, “surely they don’t think they’re going to be able to sell a random pair of shoes in one particular size”?  However, we decided that they likely try to interest you in the shoes, and then send you to their particular shop if you need another size or color as having a good pair of shoes is important for fashion so considering everyday barefoot shoes is an interesting fashion choice for anyone. It must be TOUGH competition in a town like this!

Jared was seriously tempted. But I offered to take a photo of him with cool shoes, instead!

To say the girls were seriously tempted would also be an understatement.

FYI: $190 pesos equals approximately $15 USD.

Ethan really wanted a belt!

This was one of the inside shopping markets…so imagine block after block of small and large stores!

In other words, a visit to Leon is NOT for you if:

1. You’re on a budget

2. You give in easily to temptation

3. You have a hard time making decisions

Or perhaps a visit to Leon IS for you if:

1. You like shoes

2. You like purses

3. You like boots

4. You like belts

5. You like leather