I've had an epiphany on my recent travels: my favorite souvenirs apart from the pictures and memories we bring home are the things I bring back that I use often. Case in point: I love the reusable bags I've bought in Washington DC, Quebec, and Vermont. I use them each time I shop, and every time I bring them out, they bring back memories of the trip (and people in the stores always ask about them). I think I'm going to focus on these kinds of souvenirs on future trips. What are your favorite usable souvenirs?
Posts: 187 | Location: Lilburn, GA | Registered: 29 July 2006
The parsementerie key-ring offered by my Venice landlady. Silk cushion slips from Jim Thompson Bangkok. Hand-held silk fan from Beijing. Aprons from Hong Kong and from Versailles. Bread basket in Provençal fabric from Bonnieu Tea towels from vineyards all over France.
I cannot believe that I forgot my most favourite souvenir of all times! Our blue Murano glass wedding pendants bought in Santorini. We have matching green Murano pendants for our engagement. This is the photo from August 6th. Sandy
I love table linens and always buy some very special ones and then I also like the very cheap table cloths you can get at the outdoor markets.
artwork ceramics gloves/scarves eyeglass frames/sunglasses spices like fennel pollen or saffron paper/stationary Even the fake stuff is beautiful. Kitchen stuff I look for unique pasta and ravioli cutters
One time I bought cabinet pulls from a hardware store. They are beautiful and cost about 1 euro each.
These are the green Murano glass pendants. Unfortunately mine is accidentally hidden. The photo was taken in Steveston Vancouver June 2009 the night before our flight to Scotland. So I would have to say that my favourite and definitely most used souvenirs are jewelry!
I usually bring home some nice decorator piece for the house--I love to go in each room and see things that remind me of special times. Some of the pieces are pottery, glass,etc. but others are inexpensive indigenous pieces from undeveloped countries. Then, I like my aprons which I get to wear daily; wine stoppers; olive wood cutting boards (I have too many)and linens. And I really enjoy the dishes from Ravello which we use every day and each time I think of Italy.
I also love using the spices I buy in other countries to use in apartments there. It's fun to use them here. And........having just returned from Italy,I brought back two bags of 00 flour and some forno paper--weird, I know.
But the best are the pictures through out the house of special people, special places and, most importantly, special memories.
Fun thread, thanks for starting it. All my life I have lived in small places that don't allow for collecting stuff so my reusable souvenirs are all consumable. I happily remember the dinner parties when we consumed
I think my favorite is the mailbox I purchased in Norcia, Italy. It is very unique and goes well with my house. I'll never forget buying it...
The woman at the hardware store who sold it to me was so wonderful. She did not speak English and I can speak very little Italian. We somehow had an entire conversation about US and Italian relations. She told me a story about her father who assited the US military during WW2 and received a thank you letter from a high ranking US military officer. She had the letter framed and hanging there in the shop. She was so warm and friendly.
I returned to Norcia last year and intended to stop in and visit with her, but the hardware store was no longer there.
Zoe
Posts: 226 | Location: Sandpoint, ID USA | Registered: 22 March 2005
Most of my purchases have been small- calendars, stationery, tablecloths, and two favorites of all: jewelry (usually inexpensive, made in the area) and photos we take.
It's fun to read what everyone else chooses.
Joana
Posts: 116 | Location: Baltimore, MD USA | Registered: 02 June 2003
I, too, enjoy photos and tablecloths, but my very favorites are my Christmas Tree ornaments. I love decorating the tree and remembering where we were when I bought them. In the years when I don't feel like decorating the tree, knowing I get to see my travel ornaments helps me get motivated!
Denise
Posts: 342 | Location: Central California | Registered: 12 February 2006
Ceramics are my souvenir of choice. Especially in the form of espresso cups.
Deborah Horn In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I want to do a past life regression and stay there. ----------------------------------- www.petsburg.com My blog: Old Shoes - New Trip
Posts: 5590 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: 04 September 2001
Hi, I like ceramics too. I have a garlic jar from Spain for more than 10 years now, it is a great decor and also a useful item in our kitchen. Otherwise it could be anything. We bought T-shirts on our previous trips, and I now have to go through a pile of them.Paintings or reproductions can always be useful in a house. We like books. From Africa we have masks and small statues in acajou (red wood) or other black hard wood. I have covers from Mexico and Guatemala, wall carpet from Peru. It depends where you go. My mother likes purchasing jewelry: she brought me some from Brazil and Thailand, also from Africa some golden pieces and some precious stones, silver jewelry or stensils. Shoes from Italy, Spain and Greece, belts too. I purchased pads for my kitchen chairs in Italy as they had sunflowers on them and just perfectly fit our kitchen decor. From France tapestry, Limoges porcelain, foulard with Paris on it, fashion clothes. From Russia and Eastern Europe crystal glasses, matreshka dolls, woolen shawls, hats, porcelain, carved jewelry box. It can go from the small soaps to and some amusing shampoo bottles, it doesn't have to last for ever or be very expensive, but still are nice souvenirs. Matches packs from hotels or restaurants, always useful in camping or for some BBQ.
Originally posted by Anastasia: Hi, I like ceramics too. I have a garlic jar from Spain for more than 10 years now, it is a great decor and also a useful item in our kitchen. Otherwise it could be anything. We bought T-shirts on our previous trips, and I now have to go through a pile of them.Paintings or reproductions can always be useful in a house. We like books. From Africa we have masks and small statues in acajou (red wood) or other black hard wood. I have covers from Mexico and Guatemala, wall carpet from Peru. It depends where you go. My mother likes purchasing jewelry: she brought me some from Brazil and Thailand, also from Africa some golden pieces and some precious stones, silver jewelry or stensils. Shoes from Italy, Spain and Greece, belts too. I purchased pads for my kitchen chairs in Italy as they had sunflowers on them and just perfectly fit our kitchen decor. From France tapestry, Limoges porcelain, foulard with Paris on it, fashion clothes. From Russia and Eastern Europe crystal glasses, matreshka dolls, woolen shawls, hats, porcelain, carved jewelry box. It can go from the small soaps to and some amusing shampoo bottles, it doesn't have to last for ever or be very expensive, but still are nice souvenirs. Matches packs from hotels or restaurants, always useful in camping or for some BBQ.
How do you get all this stuff home?
Posts: 560 | Location: Connecticut | Registered: 02 December 2005
I am a sucker for a grocery store (any surprise there?) I stock up on spices and other things I can never find here. There is a pizza grinder I love, porcini broth, jars of truffles.I have all the items to make my cappuccino in the morning. It brings a smile on my face to whirrr my milk for that first sip.
I also have several very special and unusual pieces of jewelry... not special as in expensive, but speciall in that they never fail to bring a smile to my face.
I like to bring back Italian canned tuna --- like Rio Mare. It's possible to find it in the US, but much more expensive. Warning: Once you start buying it, you'll never be able to go back to Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea. (NB, Genova tuna, a Chicken of the Sea brand, is usually NOT from Italy.)
One of my favorite things to do when visiting during the Christmas Market season is to pick up Gluwein Mugs from each market. Then we celebrate Christmas at home European style. Sometimes if we really enjoy the gluwein in a certain area we will pick it up and bring home a few bottles. Better yet, get to know the people who make it and they may give you their recipe.
I also like to go into an area and find out what their specialty crafts are, for instance in Sorrento they make the most beautiful in-laid woodwork. We went to the Noturno Factory, it has a very long history of the art, how it was started and how the trade has been passed down through the centuries. Everything you find is a work of art that you can proudly display in your home or bring back as gifts. Or, if in Turkey, the rugs they make are the souvenir of a lifetime. I don't go on the tours because sometimes they lock you in a room and you can't leave until they let you out and almost force a rug on you. But, walk around and find out the better shops then take a look. I love the carpetbags (now I know where purses actually came from!) with tooled leather.
That little hinge-lidded grated-cheese dish found on every dining table in Italy. I bought one in Venice and use it for my kosher salt (thanks for reminding me, Kim).
Posts: 432 | Location: Maryland | Registered: 04 March 2007
Purses, lots and lots of purses this last trip. Went to carpisa and bought 5 for less than 100 Euro. Where else can you get fabulous, designer style (if not name) italian leather hand bags for an average of 20 euro?
Tapestries from Florence. I have 3 cheap table runners that I use on my sideboard in my dining room. I look at them and remember some wonderful times in Florence.
My nomination bracelet. I put a watch on as one of the links and use it every day.
My birthday silk scarf from Nicolletta and Fabio - I didn't buy it but it sure is one of the BEST souvenirs I ever had.
Paintings. We buy ones from the street aritists. They are never going to be famous but we don't buy for investment we buy for enjoyment. Water colors of the 4 River's fountains, a small street scene.
Olive oil - I bought 4 liters from the maid at the villa in Agropoli. Every time we serve it on salad or eat anything that has this great oil on I am instantly taken back to that fabulous week by the sea.
The pictures we have taken. Some I have blown up and framed, others are a rotating desk top background.
T shirts. SPQR, Borghese, the roman legions insignia ones, Hard Rock Rome, I love them all. I wear them proudly every weekend.
It might seem quite an unusual souvenir but what my wife and I always collect wherever we go are tea clothes (you know - for drying dishes in the kitchen). Why do we collect these - They are usuable - Always cheap - Light to carry and easy to pack - and they seem to sell them wherever we travel to. It started as a joke and becoem a habit
My top three are gorgeous scarves (woven where we've visited), tables runners (always in view, as the kitchen/dining/family room are all open), and Christmas ornaments (not the tacky ones with names written on them).
Our biggest one was a whole silk bedroom set from China - duvet, cover, and pillow shams.
Posts: 27 | Location: Finger Lakes in New York | Registered: 06 July 2006
Oh my--we buy 90% usable souvenirs-- I wear my millefiore pendant from Venice everyday, we have wine glasses which I use for everything from V8 juice to milk to wine, my husband has a leather sports jacket from Florence which he wears on EVERY dressy occasion, huge keytainers we use daily from LaSpezia, reusable shopping bags from China, silk pants from China, panniers from Bruges for our tandem, spices from every open market we have ever found, oil&vinegar sets from Las Ramblas and Italy, cutting board from Bermuda, cracker tins from Belgium which look like individual houses, candlestick holders from the Britania, a glass mug from a coffee vendor outside the Schoenburnn Palais in Vienna, Royal Dalton mugs from England, funny reading glasses which open at the bridge for my husband from Yangshou, China, and the list goes on and on and on--these are items we both use on a daily basis. If I walked around my house, I could probably find a dozen more I haven't thought about this second. On an aside--we also bring funny things home for our christmas tree- a huge castle key from an england rummage sale, a tiny light coke can from a demonstrator in the Florence train station, a metal "Seal of Purity" from our salami in Cinque Terre, a straw doll from the Bahamas, a canal boat replica from England,and that list goes on too.
Posts: 7 | Location: near St Louis, MO | Registered: 22 September 2009
