tom

Two souvenirs standout in my mind. 1. Bought a nice Raymond Weil watch on the Ponte Vechio in Florence.2. Bought a six pack of Budvar at the Prague airport. Not sure which meant the most to me, although I still have the watch!

tom

Forgot to mention in previous post...my wife always buys a coffeee cup in each city we visit. When we've returned home, until our next trip, she then decides each morning which city she wants to remember by having a cup of coffee in the appropriate cup. Says it's a great way to go back over and over and relive the trip.

Sue

I love to visit art galleries, and I have framed a number of posters from exhibitions I particularly enjoyed. In my office I have one from the Turner exhibition at the National Gallery in 1995. Looking at it today brings back instant memories of the exhibition, my hotel (wonderful), where I had lunch that day,and so much more and all for a few dollars and the inconvenience of carrying a cardboard tube on the plane!

Diane

Great question -- brought back lots of memories. I collect postcards, matches and kitchen magnets. My favorites, though, are my photos -- some of which are matted and framed in my home and office. Purchases include gold earrings in the Greek key design from Greece, a Venetian mask from Venice, antique lace from Brugge which is matted and framed in a shadow box along with a photo of a woman in costume making lace, a porcelain plate from Hong Kong, a tiny glass Bambi which I watched being made on Murano, and Gault miniature houses from Antibes <BR>

robin

My favorite souvenirs are bookmarks. They are inexpensive, travel easily. I then make a note on the back of them of my favorite memory from that area. Then, when I'm reading, I flip it over and get carried back. Usually, I'll pick up two or three of them and give them as small gifts. Many of them are leather, brass, bronze, etc. and look nice next to a coffee table book or some such. I've even framed a collection of nice leather ones that hang in our home office. They are very decrotive and have the name of the city or country visited.

Mike Miller

Try keeping a dairy of your trip. We did that on our last big tour of the UK and now we can remember the little things that happened every day of the trip.

Cheryl Z.

<BR>I seem to do what most of you do - I like to bring things home that are unique to the country, unusual, usable, lots of chocolate! and I go thru phases too. Used to bring home Christmas tree decs, now it's unusual magnets from each country. Also as a Saint Bernard fancier, I look for memorabilia and collectibles from each country- ceramics etc. of the breed. We have a chandelier (sp?) from Venice, sweaters from Norway, ceramics from Italy, cuckoo clock from Swtizerland (with little wooden Saint Bernards!), wine from a friend's vineyard in Switzerland. And always lots of pictures, postcards, brochures and tickets etc. of various activities and adventures. I love looking at all my loot and remembering where, when, why and how (and I admit over the years too, sometimes it's "WHY in the heck did I buy THAT?, and "HOW in the heck did I ever get THAT home?") <BR>

s.fowler

I have to laugh! My spouse's suitcase is always like the magician's hat and the rabbits. I've watched him pull 2 blown glass ornaments, 2 medieval beer glasses [LARGE] and 4 cut glass cognac snifters out of his suitcase [all intact] that was full to bursting when he LEFT. Me? I pack one teensy little ceramic vase... and my suitcase bulges at the sides! I guess it's like chocolate. I look at the stuff and... <BR>AND I am *always* [well ALMOST always] glad I lugged the stuff home. <BR>A related anecdote: A friend of the family got through US customs with more than she should have because her form listed "1 door and 1 pig" [The "door" was one of those beaded ones and the pig was quite stuffed] and the customs inspector couldn't stop laughing so he waved her through!

Barbara

<BR>Shopping has never been a primary focus of our Italy travel, photographs being our most precious treasures, but two other things come to mind. I began collecting Italian ceramics in 1990 and we use the sets of dinnerware on a daily basis. As I set a table or entertain guests using these pieces, a kind of Italian ambience seems to settle around us and I get a very good feeling about that, since I'm "homesick" for Italy anytime I'm not there. The second was an impulse purchase. My husband and I were strolling with friends in Venice and I stopped to look into a jewelry store window, primarily because the building was so interesting. I admire beautiful jewelry, but have never been the kind of woman who hungered for it. However, on this day my eye was immediately drawn to a very unusual diamond ring. My friends goaded me into inquiring about the price. I came out of the shop saying, "No, no, troppo caro!" My husband looked at me and said, "We've been married for 32 years and you've never had a diamond -- I think we should get it." I'm not an impulse shopper, so I shook the whole time the ring was being fitted and the certificate filled out. The ring is always on my finger, and I feel a little piece of Venice is with me every time I look at it. It has become my most sentimental posession.

Diane

Photos are number one souvenirs -- I scan them into slideshows to use as screensavers on my office computer. I like to keep little everyday things -- There's a used Paris metro ticket in the pocket of my raincoat. I don't even have to look at it to know what it is, but its just nice to think about where ever I am when I stick my hand in the pocket. <BR>I also started to keep the cardboard coasters used in sidewalk cafes in Paris, advertising different European bieres. But those are just the personal reminders. Instead of a t-shirt, we brought our teenage son a bikers' shirt - complete with all the sponsor logos, from a bicycle shop on Boulevard Richard Lenoir.

Joanne

My best souvenirs are usually artwork, rare books, or antiquities. The best souvenir is a 7th century B.C. child's drinking cup from the geometric period from Greece. It is actually against the Greek law to export antiquities - except that there are three shops in Athens (one in the Plaka) that are licensed to sell a certain limited number of antiquities. When you buy, you receive a letter of authenticity, and an export license for the item. At first I felt guilty, but then was made to understood that I was buying an item that was not of Greek museum quality, although rare in the US. Proceeds partly go toward archeology.

s.fowler

Well I don't know WHAT my next memorable travel souvenir, but I bet it will come from the Budapest Christmas Market! I'll let you know when we get back! <BR>

Neal Sanders

Wes, this is a truly wonderful thread and, reading through the postings above, I have a tear in my eye. Whether it's from laughing or finding that others can be so caring of their memories, I'm not sure. <BR> <BR>I lump our souvenirs into three categories. First are the Christmas ornaments. For example, we just brought back a pair of Sinter Klaases riding in a wooden shoe from the Netherlands. Taking those ornaments out once a year to decorate our tree always brings back a flood of "do you remember the time we..." stories. <BR> <BR>Second are the maps. Either during or following each trip, we scour the land for an antique map of the place we just visited. Our most recent additions are an 1832 map of Egypt and an 1840 map of the Peloponnese. Our living room walls are getting crowded, but we wouldn't have it any other way. <BR> <BR>Finally, there are the oddities. On a visit to France more than fifteen years ago, we were wandering around the basement of Galeries Lafayette and stumbled onto some bed sheets that seem to have been adapted from a Pointillist painting. We bought three sets. They're getting old, but they still come out for a few weeks each summer, and there's a little bit of France in our bedroom. We first visited Provence on that same trip and discovered Pierre Deux fabrics, which were then unknown in the US. We bought an entire bolt of drapery cloth, and for ten years, the curtains made from that bolt graced our den in Massachusetts. The customs inspector spent several minutes pondering what sort of people brought bed sheets and bolts of cloth with them as souvenirs!

stacie

We brought home a little hand painted picture from Amsterdam. A guy was standing there painting them. I love looking at it....it was the canal that our hotel was on the very first night we were there. Also, a strange thing. A clock that is shaped like a fish, umm...a blow up fish, i think. it's so cute!! And the menu from first class on our 8 hour trip home We got bumped up!!!

dan

I try to buy something very representative from each country. When in Germany, I get a beer stein from each city that visit. I picked up a crystal vase and three puppets in Prague - we are going to use the puppets in our daughter's room (will be born in four months). Wooden animals, vases, and ceramics from Mexico. A carved wooden figure from Brienz, Switzerland - expensive, but one of my favorites. Vases from China. A small Sumo from Japan. A doll from Budapest. My favorite items are the miniature houses and people that we bought in Paris - we spent an hour in the store picking out just the right ones to create our own little Paris street. Still, the best are the photos, postcards, metro tickets, etc. by the thousands that I have put into albums - I look through them often.

anne

Another great thread that brings alot of wonderful memories! <BR>Some of my favorite purchases are a tapestry of beautiful Chenonceaux in the Loire valley, which is placed near a picture of my husband and me in front of the same. Another is leather goods - especially a great purse, from Florence, which reminds me of our time there whenever I carry it! <BR>And as so many others have said - the best souvenirs are the photos!

Kay

I liked what Diane wrote (11/29) about how she keeps a Paris metro ticket in the pocket of her raincoat. Now I know I am not so strange. I have kept a gold-colored one-pound British coin in my billfold for three years. I love the coin's size, shape, look -- everything about it -- and it can sit in with my American coins yet not be mistaken for one. There are so many neat ways to make and keep memories of our wonderful European travels at hand. I don't think I am going to like the euro much...it will take some of the romance out of European travel. Oh, I suppose it will be more efficient, at least eventually, but still...

s.fowler

Whee! I'm not crazy <BR>I carry a shiny "loonie" [a Canadian dollar coin] in my change purse. I also seem to have forgotten to take out a 1,000 forint note since my *last* trip to Hungary! [There's a 10 denar note from Macedonia lurking in the back too ] <BR>It reminds me of the custom of throwing over a nickel from the ferry as you pass Bryant Light on your way back to the mainland. It is supposed to insure your return! Must work... I'll be in Budapest in 10 days <BR>

s.fowler

Bryant Light is in Nantucket, Sorry for the omission. <BR>

Carol

My most memorable travel souvenirs are those I see or use every day: wood and ceramic salad utensils from Assisi; a spanish piano shawl from Seville; little decorative plates from Ravello; wonderful touristy dishtowels from La Samaritaine in Paris; some small paintings and prints from various places; a kitchen timer and fridge magnets from Tours; handmade leather shoes and gloves, gloves, gloves from Florence. I could go on and on but you all know the drill. Before I began travelling, I wouldn't have thought that it would be the useful everyday items that I'd get the most pleasure from (except of course for those one or two gifts of really special jewellry)!