My husband refuses to let me buy a cuckoo clock on our Germany vacation next week! I am not so into the looks of them but more the novelty and enjoying them as a child--and thought it would be fun for our future kids.

SO besides the Kinder Eggs we are obligated to bring back for his relatives....what can I look for of interest and would be reasonably sized to fit in my large suitcase or extra duffle bag?

I don't think we need anymore alcoholic beverages and I am good to go on Henckels knives....

He got me a German Smokemen thing for Xmas that I don't know quite what to do with...

I don't mind spending up to say $250 bucks on something that is display quality....I know with the current exchange rate it won't get me far...

Sorry he feels that way. He has not learned yet that what is special to his wife should be important to him. In forty years of marriage I don't recall ever REFUSING to let my wife get something that was important to her.

Let me get this straight...he won't let you get a cuckoo clock but doesn't mind shopping for his relatives...
Alise I just have one thing to say...
Buy a cuckoo clock anyway....
You should be more of a priority then other relatives. If they want trinkets from abroad let them go get it...
Seriously...I think it would be great to get something that you could pass down to your children..what a wonderful idea...now as for your husband...shame on him! ok I am off my soapbox..

When vacationing in Portugal 2 years ago, I was at a manor house. I kept hearing all these cukoo clocks go off all the time and kept thinking the Count of the manor home had his clocks all off set. It turns out there are REAL cukoo birds in Portuagal! How about that!!!!

I inherited two wonderful Bavarian carved pieces -- one is a remarkable cuckoo clock, the other a beautiful music box. It plays two songs waltzes: An deer schonen, blauen Donau Walzer and Ballsirenen Walzer. (I think those are known here as the Blue Danube and the Skaters' Waltz). Anyway, my sister and I used to dance and twirl to the songs in my grandmother's living room...my daughter did the same when visiting my parents...and someday I hope to have at least one little ballerina spinning around my house, too. Easier to pack, and less annoying than the clock (which sounds out every quarterhour if you let it run....) I'd look for a music box. It should provide generations of entertainment (and fit easily into any decor...)

Sorry about your husband's "refusal." A couple of alternatives would be a nice wooden creche--they do such lovely ones in Germany. Or nutcrackers. I visited a nutcacker factory somewhere near Vilsac about ten years ago and got a whole set of small ones. They look so nice marching across the mantel at Christmas!

I promise he isn't that bad...and I usually get what I want within reason
;-)

BUT it would probably clash with the Grandfather clock we plan to get in the next year and it definitely doesn't match any of our decor!

I swear his mother has a standing order for Kinder Eggs, we almost lied and told them last time that customs confiscated them!!! I think she gets them for a co-worker and his mother doesn't understand the word NO. I am newly married into the family so I will have to start being the evil daughter in law!

$10 worth of eggs or $400 clocks???

Perhaps I can guilt him into those diamond earrings in lieu of the clock?!

I do like the idea of the music box. My father bought me the most beautiful music box from Italy's Isle of Capri when I was in high school and it still holds my "jewels"...and it would be nice to have something to pass on someday.

I can tell that MelJ does not have cats.
If we tried to line up nutcracker soldiers on the mantle, we would be looking for toothmarked things under the couch.
Our mantle is used more like a sketeboard park.

LOL, ici. I know what you mean. When our Siamese, Saki, was still alive she literally climbed the walls, even as an older cat. Have no idea how she did it, but up, over and down she went. Thanks for the memory....

But, Icky I DID have cats! Two at once! They were just extremely well behaved and civilized--never jumped on a table or kitchen counter. At least that's what I told people, nose in the air, when they'd talk about the cat hair they found in the butter.

But then came the day I took down the kitchen curtains over the sink to wash them and discovered all the cat hair clinging to them! Like children, only behaving when we were around!

After that (don't read further my cat-loving friend) it was only Shih Tzus in my house--they don't shed

They make great small cuckoo clocks. One grandfather had one in the kitchen. That's where you should put yours so it won't clash with your grandfather's clock. If he still says no, then he's coo-coo.

Alise - why is it an option that he "let you"??? Don't ask - if you want it and can afford it then buy it. Period.

Melissa

As a husband, I follow the old Chinese proverb:

He who does not let wife buy wacky German clock is cuckoo.

Actually, speaking of Kinder Eggs and customs and getting confiscated, some time ago I read about some kind of "Kinder Egg Mafia" that was brining in Kinder Eggs from Canada into the US, and Americans were buying them for an arm nad a leg. I wonder if that's still going on!

I liked the ideas of the music box and Nutcracker. If you get the really really nice ones, they can go down generation after generation.

Now that Canada is planning on relaxing marijuana laws, you might find quite a surprise in your Kinder Eggs ;-)

Hi Alise,

Yur cuckoo clock will not "clash" with the grandfather's clock (that you might or might not ever get) if you set them to chime 1 minute apart.

I suggest you let the big clock go off on the hour and the little clock go off a bit later, so that it can respond "cuckoo, cuckoo".

I am getting such a wonderful laugh out of this!!!

Canada relaxing the weed laws eh?!
SPEAKING of certain illegal drugs
We have been discussing at work since I have 2 days in Amsterdam--

if you partake in the wacky weed where it is "LEGAL" but then return home to your job and get randomly drug tested---

Can they fire you????

and on a side note....and I can't believe you MEN wouldn't want to agree with me on this---but I feel like some battles just aren't worth trying to win.
Most of the time we agree/compromise on things that are shared and/or major purchases. I trust him to not go out and spend wildly and vice versa. That relationship and trust we have is very important. And it is nice to not fight about $ unlike a lot of couples I know.

alise: it generally depends on what kind of drug policy your company. If your contract doesn't say anything about possible drug testing, then they can't fire you. Even if you do test positive, the company has to prove that your alleged drug use affects your job performance before they can legally fire you. The laws where you live may also have something to say about the whole thing.

About decriminalizing of marijuana in Canada: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/28/in...as/28CANA.html

We spent 5 months in Germany over the winter...a few suggestions
Silit brand cookware--very high quality and extremely difficult to find outside Germany/Austria
Blue and white/grey Black Forest pottery (vases, steins, etc.)
Other carved wooden items, especially from the Black Forest. There were/are many outstanding wood craftsmen from that region
What parts of Germany will you be visiting?