specs

Okay,Fodorites here is a last bit of summer silliness. After some of the recent firestorms on the forum I'm thinking we need a little fun. Here is something for everyone. It doesn't matter where you have traveled, gender and age are of no consequence, politics and prejudices carry no weight. Participation by everyone is welcome (even Sean Connery and unrepentant gypsies). <BR> <BR> The challenge I pose is a great leveler: What was the tackiest thing you ever brought back from a trip? And, what were you thinking when you bought it? <BR> <BR>Be truthful, I know there are a lot of you out there who now cringe at the very item you once thought quaint, festive, just your color, or size. <BR>

Maira

A Matador hat in Spain (what was I thinking?) <BR> <BR>A brass hanging water container (cantimplora) in Morocco (I lived in Upstate NY; country house; this thing is completely out of place...)

specs

Hmmm. A matador hat. I bet you regret passing up those matching toreador pants now that capris are back.

Diane

A really tacky clock from Switzerland.

Adam

A foul looking green and white marble "colloseum" effect clock in San Marino. It broke in the suitcase. Can't imagine what possessed me.

elaine

First trip to Paris, 1984 <BR>My Mona Lisa dishtowel. Still have it. <BR>My excuse is that I knew at the time it was tacky. My embarrassment is that I still kinda like it. <BR>

specs

I think those purchases capture much of the twisted logic of truly tacky souvenirs. "This is really ugly and cheaply made, but ... it is useful". <BR> <BR>I sense an emerging trend. Even now some sharp entrepreneur is seeking financing to produce Mona Lisa clocks with eyes that roll back and forth like Felix the Cat, or a cuckoo clock version where a little door flips open in her forehead. <BR> <BR>Human nature being what it is I'm sure there are some other bower birds out there who brought gaudy trinkets back with them. Let's hear about 'em.

ilisa

Big, dangling flamingo earrings from Juan-les-Pins, France.

martha pyhton

Well, it wasn't tacky, but it did offend: the sweater I bought in Greece. I had a cold, so I couldn't smell it at the time, but pheuw. Those must have been some kind of pungent sheep. Or maybe they hadn't been separated from the goats sufficiently. Drycleaning didn't remove the smell. Washing it made the colors run.

elvira

1)model of a Maltese boat. Bought it specifically because it was a little delapidated and dusty (kinda like the country). Looks REALLY bad once on display, and requires a lot of splainin. <BR>2)lace collar from Brussels. Nothing wrong with it, but whatever possessed me to think **I** would wear a lace collar? <BR>3)a hair thingy from Paris that, to this day, I have never gotten to work right. Always looks stupid like I got a dead bird in my hair.

lola

A huge, ornate faux- gold chandelier at a London auction. I didn't even realize I had bid on it. When it arrived home it was smashed in pieces (luckily, I suppose). Be careful when you scratch your head at auctions!

donna

I wish I had a Mona Lisa dish towel, and I'm gonna look for one next time in Paris. <BR> <BR>I also wish I had more of the little Eiffel towers to set around my house and office. I even have one on my car key chain. <BR> <BR>On our bathroom key chain for the office, I have an Irish leprechaun, an Eiffel, and a red British phone booth. We will never lose the women's restroom key. <BR> <BR>My most favorite from Paris is the bread knife hidden in the loaf of French bread. <BR> <BR>Hey, I found a baguette that tasted like the real thing! at the restaurant La Titi de Paris, in Buffalo Grove, suburb of Chicago. Had a three hour lunch there last Friday with a friend: 5 courses plus bubbly. Awesome way to usher in September. <BR> <BR>I got a small Rosetta stone at the British museum. I can't even see the print, much less decipher it. <BR> <BR>I bought two bottles of water in the airport in Copenhagen, bottled by FARRIS, which happens to be my maiden name. I will never open them, never drink them. I just move them from shelf to shelf. <BR> <BR>I almost bought an animal pelt in Bergen. Knowing how my Siamese likes to kill things, I think it would have been destroyed. <BR> <BR>One thing I hate is the wine cork bottle thing bought in Lisbon. To this day, I can't figure out why we got it OR the rooster wine stopper . . . anybody want it? <BR> <BR>This was fun. Thanks for the idea. I'm going for the Mona Lisa towel next. <BR>

Maira

Donna, I trade you the Matador hat for the wine cork bottle thing...do we have a deal? <BR> <BR>(Lola---hilarious!!!)

Mary

Years ago, my husband purchased a leather jacket in Turkey. It was lined with five different types of fur. Finally it was cold enough to wear it, and did it look good! When he took it off, HE was covered with fur. What a bargain he got!!!

Ann

Fortunately, this one turned out well, but it was also more than I bargained for. My husband bought six panels of stained glass from an old house that he found in a jumble shop in Banbury, England for the great price of $100. When we got them home we tried to figure out what to do with them, how to clean them up, join them together into one piece, etc. we finally called in a stained glass artist. Well, $1000 later (not kidding!) we have a beautiful window made up of all the glass from the original six panels plus a lot more! I might have been more forcefull in talking my husband out of his "find" had I realized what we were getting into. On the other hand, the new window is quite amazing!

Kevin

<BR>Good Posting, I've enjoyed reading it. <BR>But there was no need to have it under a separate posting, further down on this listing is a posting asking for recommendations for things to bring back from visits abroad, and this is just as funny. Diana plates from London, 16" Eiffel Towers to make into lamps etc. etc. Very entertaining <BR> <BR> <BR>Kevin

Kevin

Oh and I forgot to add from my naff memento Hall of Shame a rather large obelisk from Luxor, Egypt which was broken before I even bought it, but I just enjoyed haggling with the boy who was trying to sell it to me so much, and took so long doing it that I felt obliged to buy it in the end just for the entertainment he had provided. <BR>(The worst thing is I still have it!) <BR> <BR>Kevin <BR>

specs

Kevin, I agree that we don't "need" another posting but this site may be for those who experience fleeting confusion between their "wants" and "needs". <BR> <BR>Having experienced this confusion myself, I'll own up to a wine stopper from Switzerland with a little man on the top who tips his hat when you pull a string. My friend bought one with a man who opens his mouth and displays a discolored tongue. I still covet hers, while mine lies at the bottom of the junk drawer. <BR> <BR>I also had one of those hair thingys from Paris. Is it faux-crochet? There must be something about travel and head gear. I will trade you my large gauze headscarf decorated with garish fake coins for the Matador hat. I bought this in Greece although I saw no Greeks wearing them. I must've had too much sun or retsina.

elvira

I LOVE my two Eiffel Tower lamps (a 16" replica I wired with a Christmas light) and a regular lamp I bought at Target, not in Paris. No Diana plate, but three Loons have 'em. Lotta doremi would have to be waved around to get me to part with either lamp (Nate says ditto on the Diana plate). <BR>Specs, I'll trade you the Belgian lace scarf for the Greek scarf - you can keep that faux-crochet thingy (my dead bird is black and white striped nylon chiffon - need I say more?)