I also want to bring gifts. I am from Chicago and in Italy they think of Chicago as a mobster town. I hope I don't give up and bring a Michael Jordan shirt. The maple syrup is a great idea, made locally in the midwest. I also bought the hostess small turquoise & silver earrings.

When we travel to see our relatives in Italy and France every year we always bring them Godiva Chocolates. They absolutely go crazy over these fine chocolates. We also bring them jeans, and anything with american logo's, which they love to wear.

Godiva is Belgian, M&Ms can be bought in Europe. There IS such a thing as bad chocolate (but Sees does not qualify as "bad").<BR><BR>How about some state quarters? Jelly beans are tough to find in Europe. VHS tapes are good, as long as their VCR plays US versions too (CDs and VHS tapes are much more expensive in Europe than in the US).<BR><BR>

take them a bunch of levis jeans. they are a lot more expensive over there than they are here. if you are buying for teens or twenty year olds they will love it.<BR><BR>didn't know that pancakes and syrup were all that over there tho. good to know

I'm going through the same thought process over what to bring a friend when I visit him in Paris this summer. I hesitate to bring American cookbooks only because of the difference in measurements and oven temperatures.<BR><BR>What I think I will do is find something made by local or regional artists (candle and candle holder, for example).

From my experiences in taking over "American" gifts to friends in Europe, it wasn't so much the quality as the fact that it was American and different from anything else that they could get. For some reason my English friends adore Hersheys Kisses - even though I think Cadbury is a better chocolate. Our friends from Italy love that we bring them California/Oregon (you pick the US State) wines since they are so expensive for them to purchase locally. I'm sure that they will be quite gracious and will appreciate anything you give them.

My US friends always bring gifts, which is really nice and considerate. I believe the thought is the most important, not the actual gift. <BR><BR>Tastes are very personal, but I can tell which gifts I have genuinely liked: Wine from some small vineyard near them. A coffee table book of Indian culture with very good pictures. And when my husband first time became a father they brought a big beach towel with embroidery "Big Daddy". He liked it a lot, not because of the towel – towel is a towel is a towel – but because of the embroidery. He still uses it years later although it is really faded and worn now.<BR><BR>And my number one favourite (see Jane´s suggestion above!) is a pair of wooden candleholders made by some local artesan.<BR><BR>Not quite so good choice was a Christmas tablecloth. Nothing wrong with that, but too glittery for my taste. Somebody else would have loved that, too. And T-shirts with rowdy logos and pictures.

By the way, I like the maple syrup idea. I once watched a TV-program where they were "running" the liquid from maples, and it looked really exotic. I don´t think they dfo that anywhere else. So, the gift would be perfect if you could find a book with pictures that tell how maple syrup is done and give that with the syrup bottle.

Chocoalte should survive the flight, though it might not look so nice if it goes through too much temperature variation. I don't think the chocolate is an especially good idea, unless you have reason to think that they have a special interest in trying and comparing good chocolates from various parts of the world, in which case it sounds like a very nice idea. Obviously good chocolate is readily available in Italy--either Italian chocolate or imports from Begium and other fine European chocolate producers. I think it's great to take something American though, and I made a point to give very very American things to cousins whom I met in Italy. But I'd lean toward calendars with photos of your region of the USA, picture books, maybe good quality local American crafts if you have fine artisans in your area, maybe American Indian items if you think the recipients might be interested. I'd also consider sticking a mini US flag in whatever I'm giving, but I realize some people might find that tacky. (What some seemed to like best is a big bundle of postcards of varied scenes of my state, including some bucolic and semi-wilderness and seashore scenes that they didn't associate with a place so near NYC and Phila.) If you really want to add an American food item, how about something based on cranberrries or peanuts?

i am taking the better bottle of<BR>either jack daniels or jim beam for<BR>a relative and some american coins!

Chris is very mistaken. Godiva Chocolates are American made fine chocolates, not from Belgium. Godiva is owned by the Campbell Corporation, which is also American. Godiva Chocolates are exquisite and cost around $40.00 per pound.

Jack Daniels and Jim Beam both are available here (in Italy). As are Godiva chocolates, maple syrup and Bisquik. <BR><BR>Products specific to your home state are great ideas. Picture books are also great., I have given people the Above San Francisco book and they loved it. Other gifts from San Francisco are Ghiradelli (an Italian who made it big in America) chocolates in a Cable Car model or Golden Gate model.

re: AMY<BR><BR>http://www.godiva.com/about/faq.asp

Thanks for the back-up Cristina!<BR><BR>Currently, Godiva distributed in the US is made in the US. Figured I'd add that before someone else jumps in with how "mistaken" I am. <BR><BR>

Godiva is still Belgian chocolate, made to a Belgian recipe from Belgian chocolate, even if some is actually made in the US, it does not make it US chocolate - there is no comparison! As usual Americans lay claim to make/own/invent everything.