Favorite Italy souvenirs?
 

My fiancé and I will be visiting Italy for our honeymoon in June/July. What are your favorite Italian things to bring back, and where do you find them? We will be visiting Venice, Florence, Rome, and Positano.

I know I will definitely want to bring back some art glass pieces from Murano. I would also love some Venetian lace, but I have read that they don't really make lace on Burano anymore. Where can this be found?

Can you bring back things like Parmesan cheese? What other souvenirs do you particularly love to bring back?

"a mask from venice"
and
leather, my husband bought a belt and i bought wallets and a purse.

Florence - leather leather leather.

Pre-1835 hand-colored copper or steel engravings of city scenes, framed or not. In Rome try Casali Stampe e Cornici on Piazza Pantheon.

Limoncello
Murano glass Necklace
Bookmarks
Calendars
Christmas Ornaments

<<I would also love some Venetian lace, but I have read that they don't really make lace on Burano anymore. Where can this be found?>>

I'm curious, where did you read this? I did not visit Burano during my visit to Venice, but when my parents went they did. They bought beautiful lace, in Burano, made in Burano. I will need to ask them.

I was in Florence and Rome just before Christmas and returned with a wonderful assortment of perfumes, soaps and creams from the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy:

www.smnovella.it

I was in Burano in July '03 and there are stores that sell lace made in Burano. In fact, there was a little old lady making the lace right there. It's a relatively big store to the right of the street and they have a lot. Ask around, I'm sure you'll be able to find it, sorry, I didn't buy any, so I don't remember the name of the store.

I'm not sure if you'll agree, but I thought my wooden Pinnochio figure from Florence is a good memento. Nowhere else I know of has Pinnochio dolls. And they come in many heights.

Pretty papers (stationery, etc.)and leather goods in Florence, limoncello and pottery in Positano.

Venice: We found a great, very unique, handcarved Pinochio at MAX'S in Venice. It was not cheap, but is one of a kind. This was a neat shop with many other small hand made items. It is on the same street as HARRYS BAR.

Florence: Leather items. Visit the Leather School in the Church of Santa Croce. Nice items, excellent quality.

Tuscany: We found a small shop in Siena where the local artist did her own vases, plates, etc. We watched her work on one and then purchased a plate and small vase. The colors are great and really remind us of that area.

Rome: The area around the Spanish Steps had great deals on clothes, shoes and men's ties. Not really a souvenir, but good quality. I mean deal from the standpoint of quality and not "cheap".

Bottom line suggestion: Try to find something that has been hand made where you meet the real artist. This is hard to do but worth the effort versus going into the numerous tourist shops. Many of these shops carry the same stuff. You want something different if possible.

After many trips to Europe we still enjoy most the small unique items we found that were not in every shop. We soon forget the liquor, soaps, candy and usable items that are purchased to consume. You will too. These are not souvenirs, they are groceries. Eat them while you are there.

Have a great trip!

Dried porcini mushrooms from a local grocery store, parmesan cheese (grana--the hard kind), olive oil (as much as you can carry)...

We always look for a painting that was painted by a local artist. It is especially delightful if the artist is working on a painting that we fall in love with and we can purchase that one or come back later to purchase it when it is finished. We get a chance to visit with the artist and just looking at the paintings brings back vivid memories of the experience. I usually hand mine in my office so that I can break up my day dreaming about trips past and looking forward to the next trip. Buy whatever moves your heart and draws you back to the experience. Lucky you, what a great trip! Jackie

I agree about the Venetian masks. I also like to collect the murano class birds nests with little glass eggs in them and birds perched on the edges of the nests. I love the tapestry fabrics and brocades available in Venice. I like to make pillows from them or elegant throws.

Florence - I always visit a certain mask shop tucked into the side streets of Via Calzziouli. A hand made sweater shop behind Coin department store and I love the little tiny jewelery shop between bar Rivoire in Pza Signoria and the Pharmacy on Via Calzziouli. Next to that is a beautiful shop that sells very fine leather photo albums and journals. All time favorite thing to buy in FLorence would have to be SHOES SHOES SHOES! Raspini, Pollini, Beltrami and of course Prada (when the sale is on). Cole Hahn has a great shop in the center of Florence ( I think it is still there anyway). Years ago while walking around on my lunch break, I happend upon a sale there. I bought the most devine black croc pumps for $100 down from $900! Now that is a deal that still thrills me!!! The wooden Pinoccio dolls really come from Lucca since that is where Collodi is. It is a treasured story that Italians just hold so dear. My husband has a life size Pinnochio from when he was a child.

In San Gimingano, I love to buy the very delicate and beautiful nightgowns, lace, linenes, kitchen utensils made from Olive tree wood and alabaster night light things.

Thanks, Calamari, for letting us know that the Pinnochio dolls really come from Lucca. I would have liked to have gotten a really large doll instead but it would have been too heavy to carry.

Francophile. Wherever yours came from, it is still one of the best souvenirs you can buy. They are such a lovely reminder of Italy. We bought some poor quality ones in Rome and of course when they broke, my kids were crestfallen.

I have to check when I return home where he came from; at least he is a native Italian. Whenever I see him, I recall our trip to Florence and Rome a couple of years ago. He really is a great memento.

We bought the most marvelous wine glasses and chandelier from Murano. If you're planning to buy one make sure you have a good idea of the space in which it will fit and stick to your budget. If you search enough you can find fairly simple lights in smaller shops around the island. And don't be swayed by paying more for one that can be configured for the U.S. We had ours done by a small local (U.S.) lamp store for about US$20 and even carried it back on the plane (which I would *not* recommend if you can avoid it -- nothing like a carry-on filled with metal and wires).

In general I love to bring back art of some kind -- like a framed sketch of the Bridge of Sighs -- or enlarged b/w photographs we've taken. Itlay lends itself to artsy photos.

And they do still make lace on Burano, though I only bought a handkerchef.

In Sienna and Ravello (small town above Amalfi) we got some gorgeous pottery pieces which we shipped back and everyone raved about. In Florence, we bought alot of leather and the beautiful paper-the best is at Il Papiro IMO. My husband also bought me a gold/lapis ring there. Lemoncello from Positano was tasty. We didn't buy much in Rome but bought some Parmasean. We also found a great store in Florence which sells Murano glass since we didn't make it to Venice this time (and we had a gift request of a piece) we picked up a beautiful vase for less than it would have been here. Most of all, enjoy your honeymoon. We spent our honeymoon in Europe and we so glad we didn't do Hawaii as all our friends seemed to.

Burano lace (wish I had purchased more) is still made on site at "Lidia's." The address is Via Baluppi, 215, Telephone 041-730052. She has some lovely museum pieces to show you as well. Worth a visit..

I have a ton of friends who go to Hawaii every year with all their kids and have never once gone to Europe! I just do not get it!