Susan

I will be visiting some distant relatives in Northern Italy in a couple of weeks and would like to take them a couple of small gifts. Can anyone make a unique suggestion. Coffee or wine would obviously be a poor choice but I am having trouble coming up with any thing right now except for maybe scented lotions for the ladies.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Merilee

Usually sports team and college logo items such as tee shirts and sweatshirts are welcome items especially for the kids and teens.

cm

Not sure where you're from but....it always seem to work well when you bring a gift that is indicative of the area where you live (e.g. New England - maple syrup, Charleston- shecrab soup -that sort of thing).

maria

items from your hometown. i took some
pittsburgh pirate tees and baseball hats for the boys, and they loved them.
my relatives requested pictures of the
world trade center; i took the pictures along with the silver rounds which have the picture of the world trade center.
american silver dollars, proof sets,
and if you know them well they love
american sheets and towels. i took a couple of pretty tablecloths (they do
have beautiful ones there but very expensive)and hand towels and the ladies
loved them.

Carol

We brought gifts to our relatives in southern Italy last year, and I think they truly enjoyed everything. As mentioned above, local gifts are great as well as anything that is made or representative of the USA. We had a wide range of ages so our list is sort of electic.

NY Yankee hats and shirts
Photo album of relatives in US
Cranberry glass
Pewter serving dish
Disney stuffed dolls
Yankee Candles
NY and New England photo books
Maple syrup
Russell Stover candies & jelly bellies
Jack Daniels & Wild Turkey

Cristina

While towels and tableclothes are great ideas if you know them well, sheets are not a good idea at all since the beds in Italy are different sizes tahn the ones in the US so they will never fit properly.

I have to agree on the hometown gifts. They are the most appreciated by far.

Ana

Topping-
I am from the NYC area and will be meeting someone from Sicily that I have been corresponding with.

t

ttt

joe

Forget the Russell Stover products. They are poor quality by European standards. I would not take any food or liquid.

Sorcha

I wouldn't take chocolate or wine, but why rule out all food/liquid? A small amount of some local product is at least a novelty - e.g., maple syrup, maple sugar candy, salt water taffy, good (bottled) cranberry jam or relish, pralines, jalapeno jam, cactus candy, hot sauce, salsa, pancake mix, sassafras tea, etc.

For people you don't know personally at all, some useful object with a picture of or reference to your home city or area can work well, if it's tasteful - a tray or a framed photograph or even good-quality dishtowels.

Ron

a couple of other suggestions:

Calanders representing your home state.
Cookbooks from your city's Junior League (assuming they can read English)
Oakland Raiders T-shirts (for the boys)
Jazz cd's
Good bourbon
Harley Davidson paraphanalia
A bottle of good California wine would not be an obvious bad choice
American cigarettes.

gifts

Maple syrup is expensive in Europe.

maria

Ana,
We had some people visiting here from Sicily on their honeymoon last September, and some of the things they went for were:
- Timberland items for men
- Clinque makeup for the ladies
- they loved anything that had NY written on it. Calendars, snow globes, key chains, etc.
- Levi's
- Tiffany's heart bracelet
- picture frames that you could record a message on when you press the button.
- stuff from bath and body
- stuff from Washington, DC - like the state quarters.

If I think of more, I'll let you know.

claire

An exchange student brought us some nice quality (with felt backing) coasters with scenes from her home country. We loved them and I would think that item would work as a gift for your Italian relatives as well, especially if you don't really know them.

Mary Fran

When my son lived in London, he brought along a case of "spray cheese" to share with friends, and it was a huge, hysterical hit. Only in America.

kay

My sister lives in London and she always wants a variety of sizes of ziploc bags!

Alice Twain

Actually both Timberland and Clinique area available in Italy. Check out if the relatives are really interested in these items (Timberland in particular used to be very trendy some twenty years ago but now they are quite out of fashion) and whether they are actually cheaper in the Usa (Timberland should be cheaper, while I am not so sure about Clinique.

xxx

Have visited family in Italy many times. They do not know what to do with maple syrup! Their cuisine does not lend itself to "sweets"

Souvenir type momentos would be more appropriate. Chocolate, coffee, wine is much better in Italy!!!!

maria

Our visitors told us that Timberland and Clinque were less expensive in the USA than in SICILY. Maybe you could get it less expensive in main Italy than in Sicily - I do not know. Timberland was very much in in SICILY but too expensive for them to afford. Northern Italy seems to have a different fashion sense. What they really enjoyed about Clinque were also their little bonus packages that they give out when you purchase a certain amount - in the little travel bags.

italoamerican

Northern Italians are far more cosmopolitan than those from the south. They are trendier and set their own styles...not follow the "americanos" Don't bother bringing the free little Clinique bottles-- they can afford the full size bottles themselves!!