Fodor's Expert Review Vega Chica and Vega Central

From fruit to furniture, meat to machinery, these lively markets stock just about anything you can name. Alongside ordinary items you can find delicacies like piñones, giant pine nuts found on monkey-puzzle trees. If you're undaunted by crowds, try a typical Chilean meal in a closet-size eatery, or picada in the Vega Central, chowing down on brothy cazuela (a typical meat and vegetable soup) or a plate of fried fish. For greater selection and a little more space, go to the second floor of the Vega Chica (now called Tirso de Molina) where Chilean, Colombian, Thai, Mexican, and Peruvian food is dished out in large portions at fair prices. As in any other crowded market, be extra careful with your belongings.