WHat's the silliest thing you've bought on a trip?

A Pope in a Snowstorm in Vatican City paper weight. It was for a joke gift but I kept it on my desk.
Sometimes I shake it to make it snow and watch the Pope wave.

Wooden shoes from Holland. I know, really cheesy, but it was our very first trip overseas! On the same trip, we bought a small Eiffel Tower statue too!! Gawd...

bettyk,

You're admitting those on a public forum?

Bright "Hawaiian print" skirt & top that I swear got gaudier by the minute as I flew home, with the tan fading by the minute as only Pacific Island tans can!

Arriving home to Melbourne's winter, I could only wonder who had secreted these items of indescribable garishness in my luggage

uh.....bacon bits.....you know the packages of bacon bits you put on salads and potatoes!

I love my little Tour Eiffel!
I usually buy pottery.
My "other" souvenir from Paris was a 4 euro divided serving dish from their version of Pier 1. Shoot me - I was excited to shop in Paris' version of Pier 1. I suppose that's "silly".

Well I guess it was a duck like shaped thing covered in shells the first time we went to Hawaii. I threw it away some months later. What was I thinking?

Or maybe the bright and I mean bright red jump suit my loveable sister-in-law insisted I buy when we were shopping at Armand's Circle in FL. I didn't want it but she nagged and nagged. I think I only wore it twice before it went into the bag for the Disabled Vets. Bright red jumpsuits were not the style in N CA lol. I felt like a "lady of the night" the couple of times I wore it. But that purchase was not my fault.

Good question ninasdream.

I like most of the "knick- knacks" I've purchased on my trips. The one thing I think is silly was something my son picked up in Hawaii. It's a glass ball with a ocean scene in it. I hate it and he keeps it on his night stand just to mock me...lol.

bettyk...I bought a small Eiffel Tower statue too. Nothing to be ashamed of.

I didn't even think my little Eiffel tower was cheesy or my wooden shoes. I made the shoes into planters for my outdoor step, they were cute for a while.

I'll see your Eiffel Tower, and raise you an Arc de Triomphe, a Big Ben, a Colosseum, a Vatican, a Trevi Fountain, Sacre Couer, Notre Dame, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Stonehenge, Brandenburger, and Sagrada Familia statues. They may be silly (read: tacky) but I think they are funny. I told my husband I'm going to set up my own little world and then crash through it like King Kong. He doesn't see the humor in it.

nina -- this is a fun thread. I love everybody else's contributions too. Isn't it funny how our brains work differently on vacation?

A hot pink t-shirt with giant flamingos on it (from Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas). I wear it when gardening to scare away the bugs.

While on Kauai I go caught up in the whole Hilo Hatties thing and came back with several shirts that are probably a bit much for the mainland.

I wonder if anybody is going to own up to a "leaning tower of Pisa" from the world's most tacky souvenier stalls ?

A laminated piranha on a wooden stand from Rio, with its mouth open and sharp teeth showing.

Definitely my worst purchase.

So far the Pope in a Snowstorm is my favorite.

Evil-eye pins from Greece.

Betty, I have the same souvenirs for myself, and I don't think they're silly items at all.

I don't think any of my nick knacks are silly. Not even the pink feathery flamingo pen I got from the Flamingo hotel in Vegas.

Hats made from huge mushrooms from Budapest! Really!

I brought them to our son and son-in-law.

I admit that our Eiffel Tower, gondola, Colosseum, Swiss cowbell, etc. hang on our Christmas tree every year.

And next time in Rome I'm buying a Pope in a Snowstorm!

Byrd

A Chinese rubbing of a temple wall somewhere in China. It must be 8 feet long and 2 feet wide. I have it hanging in my office at work. Then there is that door knocker, I bought in Tibet.It's still in a drawer. I also have a couple of those things the Egyptians wrap around their heads. I use it as a table throw once in a while. No matter how tacky a trinket is, if it brings back great memories of an awesome trip, it's worth its weight in gold in my opinion.

an australian salmon smoker! great device but a loooooong way to take home

an old small plastic plate with Gene Sarazin on it, from a bargain bin outside a shop in the Lake Country, UK; I have no idea why,but still have it!

A pair of inflatable flamingo boxer shorts from a Stuckey's on a road trip to Panama City Beach.

They were about the size of a postage stamp at purchase. You put them in water and they become adult size medium. My 16 year old daughter schelps around the house in them.

Hey that Eiffel Tower key chain, the little cup made to look like a crumpled Dixie cup, the 3 bottles of wine we carted back from Spain and the refrigerator magnets, were all sensible and clear headed purchases. Darn if I’d only seen that snow globe!

The silliest thing I’d ever brought back was a lovely little Murano glass clock I gave to my sister for watching my dog to say, “thanks for your time”. She stuck it in a closest still in a box, I found it when I was helping her move.

Hi L84SKY, Isn't it just fun to find a gift hidden away in their closet? LOL.

A little wooden sheep covered in real lamb's wool from Ireland (black faced, of course)

A stuffed Nessie doll from Inverness. Complete with a tam o'shanter. She sits on my bookshelf In my defense, I collect dragons, and Nessie is sort of dragony

I've purchased Paddington Bears, little Big Bens and Union Jacks in England, Plush Nessies and replica St John's Crosses in Scotland...

Little Eiffle Towers in France, Boomarangs, a didgeridoo and plush Koala Bears and Kangaroos in Australia...

A three forked thingy that supposedly is used for cannibalism in Fiji (probably made in China)...

A Christ the Redeemer statue from Brazil...

A statue of Our Lady of Fatima from Portugal, a authentic Bull Fight poster from Spain....

Some Moroccan pottery and a teak wood camel from Morocco.... oh, and a rug....

I always get cheap tees as well for all the neices and nephews....

K

I never said I didn't like my wooden shoes and Eiffel Tower statue. I still have them both and cherish them. I just think that my um taste in souvenirs has changed over the years!

german catfood in the can.

Well I would not call it silly, but perhaps not the typical item from a trip. We were in Paris and the items in a window of a paint (home decorating) store in the Marais caught our eyes. We decided to go in and look around and ended up buying some really nice paint brushes (for walls, trim, etc). The brushes alone were like little works of art, with their beautiful blond wood handles, brass fittings, and great soft bristles. I have used them several times and they are by far the best brushes I own!

jorr, it would have been much more fun if I wouldn't have had an honest streak and just taken the thing. She wouldn't have ever noticed.

In Paris, I purchased a print of the Andy Warhol painting of Liza Minnelli. It's huge. And it was a pain in the butt to get home.

What the hell was I thinking with that?

In Avignon I bought a small ceramic lighthouse that is supposed to predict rain by changing colors. I always forget to look at it though and then when it rains, I can't remember what it looked like before so, after seven years, I still haven't figured out if it worked.

I have many Eiffel towers, and get them every time I can.

Hey, if anyone is going back soon, bring me back one of the medium sized ETs

I LOVE my eiffel tower!

...it was my first solo trip and I think of it as an i'm-a-big-girl-now trophy.

Now, if someone wants 10 little medals from the Virgin of the Macarena from Sevilla... thats another story

Starrs, I have an extra XS ET if you'd want it...

I have a small model of Chichen Itza that we bought on our honeymoon. I keep it on my desk at work. Is it tacky? Of course it is, but I like it.

I'm not a "shopper". Nor a souvenir collector - although we do take plenty of pictures.

Typically the only things we buy are art - folk or otherwise - that we really like, or something that you can get great prices or better quality on. (Leather or jewelry in Italy for instance.)

As for buying little tschotkes - I'm not richenough to waste money on those things - I have bigger things to do with my money. And the $25 here and $50 there really add up if you go for that stuff.

I think my little ET was 3 or 4 euros. My divided dish plate was 4 euros. It's on the dresser in the guest room for folks to put their change, pocket items, etc. I get a lot of compliments on it - but no one would have any idea it came from Paris (but I know). It's just a lovely piece.

A plastic San Diego snow globe! Maybe the sparkles were supposed to be sand and not snow.

$50 tschotkes aren't an issue -- if I buy knicknacks it's more the Eiffel Tower keychain price range!(and I did buy one)
I still regret not buying the "Where the %$#! is White Sulfur Springs" t-shirt I saw when stuck there...on Columbus Day weekend ... with a non-functioning car... for which a vital part was only available from Helena when the holiday ended...when I was 25 and really couldn't afford unexpected extra hotel stays--much less unneeded t-shirts. But it was a memorable weekend -- terrified Canadian girls discover that men in trucks with gun racks aren't necessarily crazed criminals --- astonished Canadian girls discover the only motel in town is attached to the hot springs, and RENTS bathing suits so you can smell like rotten eggs for a small fee! And the local diner sold 15 kinds of pie...wow, I can still remember the 80s.
Thanks for this thread, it's hilarious.

In Northern Ireland I bought a spatula. I saw it in a Pound Wizard store and realized I could use a new spatula so I bought it. It's kind of silly as a souvenier, but very practical and I still have it.

I opted not to claim this spatula on my customs declaration when returning to the US. It's just too silly to claim.

I bought a Princess Diana soup bowl. The one with her wearing the tiara. Haven't had the heart to cover her up with soup. I do use the Princess Diana shot glass though, but only with gin.

A beautiful bust of Mussolini. We gave it to my brother,and he adores it. We wanted it for ourselves, and despite many visits to roadside Italy, have never found one quite as nice.

A beautiful bust of Mussolini.........

you mean THE mussolini????

A moveable plastic Sigmund Freud action figure (with cigar).

My work days make more sense now.

P M that reminds me of another odd purchase we made. We saw this stainless steel contraption in a store in Germany and it turned out to be tomato slicer. We hauled one home and it works quite well.

An Elvis Clock - from Memphis with the swaying hips and all. We hung it in the garage and everytime we come home it makes us smile, think of the King and know exactly what time it is! This is definitely the silliest purchase we ever made on a trip.

The shower toad.

Every year that we rented our cottage in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we'd have a little frog that would come visit us in the outdoor shower under the house. One year I bought a little ceramic frog with crossed eyes and it sits on my computer looking at me. I can see him from where I'm sitting right now.

Hey, Clifton -- I was given a similar Albert Einstein action figure once!

a bottle opener purchased just outside of Vatican City in Rome. It has a picture of the Pope on it - thus The "Popener"!

While in Key Largo I bought a pair of earrings. They were of a Dangling shark and the lower part of a body in surf shorts hanging out of his mouth. I was really depressed when I lost one of the pair.

I knew some one out there had to have an Elvis souvenir!

My son brought me from Graceland a small plastic piano music box that plays "Love Me Tender". He was only 12 at the time so I can't bear to toss it and I'd never go to G-land myself but lordy it is t.a.c.k.y.

I bought a bobble head black bear in Gatlinburg to remind me of my recent trip. He sits on my monitor, when frustrated, I bobble him!

We saw this stainless steel contraption in a store in Germany and it turned out to be tomato slicer.

About twenty years ago, we stopped to watch a pitchman outside a department store in Bonn who was demonstrating a hand food processor. We thought the "slices, dices, chops and grates" spiel in German was hilarious - but the darn thing looked like it really worked, so we bought one. We're still using it on a daily basis.

So this wasn't really "silly" unless you consider how un-touristy the idea of it is.

Every year we take a trip to Padre Island National Seashore and every year, I buy another shark tooth necklace. Don't ask me why I don't just take one that I already own! I have no clue. It just seems like I must wear a shark tooth necklace at the beach. Ridiculous that I own, at least, 15 of the darn things!

First of all, I love my Eiffel Tower, and I'll never apologize, nor call it tacky.
The silliest things we ever bought on a trip weren't silly in and of themselves--it was our silly notion that we could carry three large onyx chess sets and one onyx backgammon set back from Mexico in our hand luggage.
They were a very good buy (about $10 in American money back then) and we started out getting one chess set for my stepson, then another for a chess-playing friend, and then, what the heck, we needed one for ourselves, along with that backgammon set.
It gets worse--my husband got dreadfully sick in Acapulco, I got sick during our layover and change of planes in Mexico City, and then we had still another layover in Cancun before flying to Newark, where we endured long weather delays before taking off in a commuter plane after midnight.
We were still sick and still carting our onyx treasures---and after 10 minutes aloft, the pilot came on to tell us that the weather was so severe that we were returning to Newark!
I still don't know why we thought this was a good idea in the first place, nor do I know why we didn't heave them in the nearest trash receptacle on our first layover. But, 25 years later, we still have the chess set, although the backgammon board is long gone.
Second craziest thing--I actually bought marmite in London and nobody, but nobody would eat it. I also brought home canned haggis from Edinburgh, and nobody ever ate that either.

I threw it out many years ago, but on my first overseas trip to Singapore, I bought a bright orange phone rest. It had a slot for notebook, holes to put pens and a black rest in the middle so it played The Godfather theme when you placed the phone on it, for the enjoyment of those who were placed on hold. Cringe.

On my very first trip, to Cairns in Queensland, Australia, before I developed the taste for which I am now renown, I bought a little statue made of shells as a gift for a favourite aunt. She kept it on display amongst her treasured things until her death. I think that's the definition of sentimental value.

After thought.. My favourite purchse, which I still use, is a mini-baguette biro from Paris. It always draws comments. Some day tht pen will run out so I guess I'll have to plan a trip to paris to replace it.

jette,
I have an Elvis pillar candle from Graceland. It's too tacky to display but I don't have the heart to burn it, so it takes up space in a cabinet.

Maybe someday if there's another blackout........

gtg - I hope Albert has been as comforting to you as ole Sigmund has been for me. He's a great listener, for having plastic ears.

I think this counts as a trip, but I didn't think of it until people started mentioning Elvis (we only live a few miles from Graceland now, but we didn't when we bought this odd item). Our fridge has on it a magnetic Elvis from Graceland, with magnetic changes of clothes - gold lame, black leather, hawaiian shirt - as well as sunglasses, blue suede shoes (of course), guitar. Hey, this was my wife's purchase. I do not play Jailhouse Rock.

Years ago, I went to Monterey with my aunt and her family. I was searching the stores looking for souvenirs to buy my sisters and parents. I was down to my younger sister who was a teenager at the time and had always loved dinosaurs and sharks.

In one little trinket store, there was a glass bottle with a dead baby shark in formaldehyde. It was about $15, so I bought it. I brought it home and for about 5 years it sat on my sister's bookshelf. Afterwards, she married and moved to Germany. She didn't want to bring the shark with her, so my Mom kept it.

For about 15 years, they cursed me for that wretched shark afraid that it would break everytime it was touched. It went back and forth between them during moves, etc. Finally, my sister got smart... she donated it to her kids' science class at school.