Wine opener from Italy. "Mind the Gap" tea/bar towels :-D.

We bought the Alessi pizza wheel cutter that looks like a little man in Santa Margherita Ligure in 2001. Last March we bought a matching little man potato peeler. Everyone likes them.

I collect images of the Blessed Mother and some female saints, so we usually (no, always) find something great in Europe. I love a little ivory barogue china statue of Mary we bought in the Bourse flea market last year in Paris.

I wear purses from the straw market in Florence all the time. Don't ever want a Coach or other pricey bag again! And Camper shoes I bought in Rome: I adore them.

where do I start

Watch from Switzerland
A nice swiss utility knife
Shoes from Spain
Shoes from Italy
Jewelry from Poland
Ceramic from Spain and Italy
Wine from Spain and Italy....ooops I drank it all already

A wooden instrument I bought years ago sometimes called a sangria stirrer. It's great because it's one of the few kitchen items that can be used by left-handed people like me. It's flat and I use it when cooking sauces as well as making sangria. Bought several more in Spain. They are hard to find in the U.S. For a little over a dollar, a great thing!

My last England and Belgium trip 2 years ago I had bought too much souvenirs (tea pots, beer ... it adds up!) I actually needed another bag to carry it home.

While in London I saw a duffel bag I liked from a street vendor, only I didn't have enough money. So I bought the cheesey (or so I thought) black tote bag that says "London" on it.

It turns out that I LOVE that bag! It has held up so well too. I thought it was cheap and would fall apart but I was wrong! ... It is a great bag and every time I use it I am reminded of great memories. :)

I bought a Certina watch in what is still one of my favourite cities, Luzern-Switzerland. I bought it on my first wedding anniversary-on this very day. I have never seen another Certina watch like it. The salesperson was a young lady from California who was doing what we were doing-travelling Europe in a VW van for a year. Twenty nine years later it is still on my wrist and I like it even more that when I first bought it. Same can be said for about my spouse for the past 30 years today. Since then I have acquired a number of watches but they are just not the same even though they may be more stylish or in vogue. I walked in to a watch repair shop (a real one -not a depot) in Vancouver, Canada several years ago to get it cleaned. The proprietor smilled from ear to ear. Not only was he familiar with the movement, but he had apprenticed with Certina in Switzerland. Needless to say I let him do a thorough cleaning/inspection!

A lambskin leather jacket from Rome that gets alot of wear and the Longchamps handbags from Paris. My son got a 13th b'day gift while in Bern: a relatively inexpensive Certina watch. But he wears it daily and it's been almost 3 years now the battery still works!

Some ten years ago in a craft sale in Otford in Kent I bought a tea cosy, and have used it repeatedly since. I found that if I use the controls for short machine washing at moderate temperature of delicate articles it goes through my washing machine, and it has morning colours of green and yellow, to light up the tray at tea time.

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-Frenchie dishtowels from Galleries Lafayette
-A folding Opinel knife that I saw an elderly woman using on the train to slice cheese and fruits...can I still take it with me on the train?
-Some really cute household stuff from KARE store in Munich (not sure the brand) and a Habitat store in Hong Kong
-I bought pounds and pounds of a Taurin Gummy candy from Bears Friends in Munich--this is used by me and my friends in marathons. I need more!
-A couple of alarm clocks from Japan that scream at me in Japanese every morning (I have a hard time waking up) to open my eyes and get up

A fanny pack I bought outside Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I have several others more expensive or stylish but this one has the exact number of pockets I want and I can always remember what's behind each zipper.......so this is the one that has gone on every trip for three years now and counting.

The cheapest possible kitchen knife I bought in a Spanish supermarket for my beach picnic - cost less than £1, and it's still slicing my salads nearly 20 years later.

A pearwood fruitbowl from Lahore in Pakistan.

Sneakers. The ones I found in Paris & London were very different than I have seen here in the states.

gosh that's tough. I bought much of my kitchen stuff there, I buy shoes and bags galore, cosmetics... clothing.... art... books... couldn't narrow it down to tell the truth.

A hair dryer that works in Europe. For years I carried adapters and converters and it was a hassle. Then one day I was in Belfast and my "American" hair dryer kicked the bucket. I bought one that works there, then I bought an adapter so I can use it in the rest of Europe too. I wish I had done this years before, it's great not to deal with that darn converter box.

Great Question!

A Monopoly game from England. It's a great souvenier because instead of Boadwalk and Parkplace, it has properties like Mayfair, Bond Street, Regent's street, etc... It's a wonderful conversation piece. (not ideal if you are packing light though!)

I agree that useful "everyday" items make the best souveniers.

My other favorite is a little purse from Burberry. I carry it almost everyday, inside my handbag. True, I can purchase Burberry here, but everytime I see it, I am reminded of fun shopping trip I took with my girlfriend in London. (much more practical for packing light!)

Leather jacket from Spain; leather purse from Italy.

Our family collects Christmas Tree ornaments and we just added a Beef Eater from our recent London trip, Pashimas (I LOVE them! and didn't think I would enjoy them that much); Christmas ornaments from Scotland, several sweaters from Scotland; Beads that I've made into jewlery and given as gifts (I loved The Bead Shoppe in London...and am delighted they have a US branch so I can continue to order my favorites.) Some traveling Laundry Soap and local cook books. I like to shop, much to my DH's chagrin! :)
Julie

A rug that I had to lug throughout France in 1999 that we bought at Château du Clos Lucé, Léonard de Vinci's home in Amboise. It is still in our entry hall. Also in our entry hall is an original painting that we bought on the Ile St. Louis in December 2001. Obviously, if it doesn't go in our entry hall, we do not keep it.
((H))

I love a linen tablecloth I bought from a vendor at the Acropolis in Athens. She just kept coming down in price to €15, and our guide nodded, so I bought it. On the way out, she offered one to a woman walking beside me for €10. When I laughingly said I thought she owed me €5, she replied without batting an eye, "That wasn't me. That was someone else." I use it quite a lot, and it always makes me smile.

I like bringing home things I will use or enjoy as decorating items and have a number of them; e.g., a little Wedgewood dish, a couple of Belleck pieces, a fairly large sized copy of a b&w photo of Parliament and Big Ben and a bridge and lamp post taken from the South Bank in London, a sweater from Scotland, small paintings from Greek islands, some gold jewelry--really, just what is a meaningful souvenir that is affordable at the time. What I really need is to go back to Italy and get some leather gloves.

They're not really the "best" of anything but I like the 4 pair of rayon print baggy shorts I bought a couple summers ago in Switzerland when I was caught in an unexpected heatwave.