Sarah

Can anyone suggest items I should be keeping my eye out for on my upcoming trip to Prague, Budapest, Vienna & Salzburg? Food items that I should also pick up in the markets to bring home? <BR> <BR>I have been told that Prague is a great place to buy garnets and crystals. Any place in particular that I should be shopping for these items? <BR> <BR>Thanks for any advice! I always love to bring home local items from my travels.

michelle/nyc

Sacher Torte in Austria... I found many coffee shops selling them in different sizes and were easy to transport home in a box. In Budapest, I found some great black pottery made in a nearby village. have fun....

Linda

You can buy nice crystal in Prague, Budapest and Vienna (yes, even reasonablY priced). Of course, Budapest is the least expensive then Prague. <BR>Prague--garnets at Vily (Wenceslas Square) made a good deal; crystal at the department store near the Opera (American student there said they were less expensive). There is a department store at the north end that I found while exploring that did not have as many tourists and were a little cheaper but not much. Also, chocolate, puppets, flea markets, becerovka (spelling--if you like feel-it-all-the-way-down liquor) <BR>Budapest--crystal, dolls, wine, flea markets, paprika, chocolate <BR>Vienna--cd's, crystal, wine, chocolate, Sacher torte <BR>If you are going near Christmas, the cups in which they sell gluewein at the Christmas markets in Vienna and Salzburg

Tim

I hate to sound like a naive tourist, but what exactly is Sacher torte?

Carla

Sacher Torte is a wonderful, heavy chocolate cake with a layer of (I belive) plum jam in the middle, made famous by the Hotel Sacher. <BR> <BR>There's some controversy about where you can get the best Sacher Torte these days. You can find it all over Vienna --don't miss it!

Marc David Miller

Sweaters at Vienna's Loden-Planck on Michaelerplatz

francesca

Christmas ornaments in Budapest. I found many beautiful ones, some made of real eggs, in the state-sponsored crafts store on Vatcy Utsa (spelling?).

Liz

Sacher Torte has APRICOT jam between the cake and icing. It's wonderful.

Julie

While in Vienna, I was introduced to Milka chocolate bars and ended up packing 30 of them in my suitcase. I wish I could say that I gave them all away once I got home...suffice it to say that I kept a stash for myself. You'll notice the Milka chocolate bars by the Lavendar/Purple wrapping and I think there's a cow on there somewhere (?) Anyway, they're easy to find (they're also at the Vienna airport) but usually cheaper in the grocery stores.

Sarah

Thanks for all of the great ideas - I can't wait to get over there and try that cake. Keep the ideas coming!

michelle/nyc

I bought my sacher torts the day before I left at Cafe Demel (since I had been there a few days earlier enjoying a leisurely morning sipping cafe au lait... while catching up on some postcards)... they had 3 different sizes to bring home! they have another torte too that is delicious to bring home. Enjoy....

Sabrina

Michelle - Do you remember the name of the village that offers the black pottery? I'll be in Budapest next month and would love to bring home some pottery for my grandfather who is from Hungary.

Lee

In Prague there are many stores in the Old Town (Stare Mesto) that sell garnets and crystal. <BR>As for food, one interesting thing to try (and it can be boxed up to take home) is oplatky. We saw a little stand selling what we thought were "waffles". Instead, they were oplatky unlike I've ever had it as a kid. <BR>It's an extremely thin wafer...like the stuff given in church for communion. In Prague, they sandwiched two large circles of it with some sort of vanilla and nut flavoring inside. Straight from the vendor...and nice and warm...it was wonderful. We went back and bought some boxed up. Several of my relatives tried some back home and they loved it...although it was best when fresh. <BR> <BR>In Budapest, we saw lots of lace and embroidered items. Also, we discovered amber jewelry in many stores. <BR> <BR>Have only seen Austria from the road in Bratislava on the way to Hungary so I'm afraid I can't comment on Vienna. Sigh. <BR> <BR>Lee

Betsy

There is a store in Salzburg that is known for the handpainted eggs it sells. That is all it sells and there are a ton! I don't remember the name, but its the only one and any hotel or the TI could tell you where in the old town it is. They are beautiful, not very expensive and make really nice gifts. They pack them in an egg carton and mine got home fine, though I carried them onto the plane with me.

Bob

The BILL CLINTON doll in Budapest! <BR> <BR>I did not buy one and I should have. It is one of the wooden dolls that Russia is known for. You open it up and another doll is inside. This one had ole Bill as the main doll. Inside next was Monica Lewinsky, next Gennifer Flowers, next Paula Jones and then real, real small..............Hilary! The guy had a fun time showing it to me at the bazaar next to the river. I shoulda snapped him up on the offer. <BR> <BR>A classic example of Bill's prestige overseas.

I hate to shop

Why not save alot of time and money and just hit the outlet malls in Jersey. Those are all great towns to enjoy. I hope you get a chance.

xxx

The amber, garnets and crystal are all available in Prague. I've received all as gifts, so I don't know where exactly the best stores are, but it's beautiful jewelry.

Sal

So is it basically boiling down to some jewels and tortes? I'm going to be going to this region in November and was anticipating bringing back some neat things. DOesn't sound like there's much to choose from.

Christina

If you don't have a good guidebook, I'd suggest you buy one as a good one will give recommendations of good stores for various items. I had great experience with recommendations in Frommers Prague and Cheap Sleeps in Prague, Budapest and Vienna (those guidebooks serve double-duty for those who don't know, an excellent shopping guide is at the end). For garnets in Prague, both recommend (and I bought at both and agree) Cesky Granat and Cesky Turnov; for crystel, Crystalex has a big selection, good quality and low prices, although there are tons of good places (Moser for example at the high end). Prague has lots of nice small local crafts items, one store I shopped at (recommended in the Cheap Sleeps I remember) is a local authentic artisan store with several locations, and I got very nice small craft items. In Budapest I just bought knickknacks, although they were cheap and colorful (painted eggs and egg cups, etc.) I didn't buy anything in Vienna or Salzburg and didn't really look for anything, but Salzburg is full of tourist items, which I don't care for. As for sacher torte, I dislike it, so I'd suggest you try some before buying. I bought a piece at a well-known, good cafe (forget the name, near Hofburg Palace) and didn't like it at all. It is a very dry, heavy cake with little flavor IMO (and I assume this cafe was not serving stale stuff). I am not a big cake eater in general, but didn't like it at all. Sal -- I'd also suggest you get a good guidebook and see what you can get in these countries -- what were you expecting anyway, maybe somebody can tell you, although I think it's your trip so you should do some research. Crystal isn't jewelry (although can be); I bought a beautiful set of crystal winglasses for only about US$5 a piece which would be prob. about $40 a piece at home. I'll tell you what I bought a lot of which I'm sure you won't get a hoot about, but it was because of my personal interests and research, it's not what most tourists want -- Prague is an excellent city to buy cheap sheet music, particularly from Eastern Eur. publishers like Koenemann in Budapest, and for E/Cen Eur composers like Dvorak, Martinu, etc. European CDs are cheaper there, also, and books are a bargain; I spent hours in Czech bookstores myself as I've had trouble getting one decent Czech dictionary in US--there are tons of cheap ones in Prague. You might like that crafts shops in Prague I visited, it had a lot of diff. stuff, I'll look it up if you are interested.

Sarah

Thanks for the incoming advice - I can't wait to get there and see everything! <BR> <BR>Christina - That would be great if you could tell me the name of the craft store in Prague. It sounds just like the type of place I'd be interested in. Thanks!