dro

Does anyone have suggestions for what to buy on our trip to Venice, Florence, and Rome? I always like to buy at least one nice item each place we visit. I bought Baccarat in Paris, Delft in Netherlands, Wedgewood in London, a swiss watch in Switzerland, etc.

TDudette

Glass in Venice

Leather or paper in Florence

Rome? A book about Bernini?

basingstoke2

For Venice, we went to Murano to pick out a traditional chandelier to ship home and hang over our dining room table. It is a memory of Italy that we enjoy every time we sit down for dinner. Other possibilities for Venice in addition to glass are ceramics or one of the more ornate masks. There are specialty studios that make very beautiful ones. I am not speaking of the masks of the tourist shops. Here is a link to some photos I took at our favorite ceramic and mask shop in Venice. The ceramics are pieces we shipped home. www.tinyurl.com/3gymn2n

kayd

I love Italian ceramics and found a wide variety in Florence, never ran across a good selection in Rome.

jujubean

In Venice, I bought a small glass center bookmark. In Florence, I bought yarn and made a beautiful scarf from it at home. In Rome (well Vatican City), I bought a rosary. All small, cheap and easy to pack!

nytraveler

What do you need?

There are wonderful leather goods - but with the dollar so low things probably won;t cost any less than at home. (Gone are the days of cute shoes for $50 a pair versus $150, or beautiful butter soft gloves for $15 a pair, or gold jewelry at huge discounts. I got a replica Etruscan ring for only about $80 that I still get compliments on - but that was in 198 something.)

If you like peasant type pottery (I use colorful serving dishes with my casual white dinnerware) there are a lot of cute things available. I have one fish serving plate (shaped like a fish and beautifully decorated) that I paid only about $25 for - when it was almost $100 at Bloomies - but again - in 198x.

If you find a unique style that you can;t find at home it may be worth it - but make sure you are getting best quality for your euros.

el13207

Venice: beautiful jewelry (I found Genninger Studio, owned by an American ex-pat where I bought a beautiful bracelet of Murano glass beads)- I wasn't into the typical Murano glass pieces like candy dishes, etc. Silk scarves for cheap.
Florence: leather journals and other small leather pieces like wallets, beautiful paper products, scarves in the San Lorenzo market (shop carefully for leather bags, jackets, etc. as quality varies hugely)
Rome: go to the Campo Fiori for great dried herb blends to bring home (and just to hang out and enjoy a great market)
Throughout Italy: ceramics if all kinds, great olive oils, balsamic vinegars (in Sorrento I bought BEAUTIFUL heavy table linen napkins, runners, etc.)Artwork from museum shops or street vendors (looks cheesy there, but great once you get it home and framed!)
One note: we shipped a box from Florence last year using Mail Boxes Etc. who wrapped beautifully and shipped a medium size box for @ $75 (yes,they have MBE in Europe! However, we just shipped a similar sized but somewhat heavier box home from Spain a couple of weeks ago using MBE and that one cost- gulp- @ $200! It was worth not having to schlep stuff around, however.
As for the poor dollar/euro ratio: unless you go to Italy often you won't get another chance to bring back souvenirs and memories...I say go for it.

dro

Thank you. All good suggestions. I definetly will buy a glass piece since I try to buy one on each trip.

Here is a good suggestion to avoid deciding what to buy. My parents traveled extensivelly. They always brought home a small bell (murano glass, limoges, delfta, wedgewood, kosta/boda, or local craft) from each place. This gave them a focus on deciding on a souvenir. Other ideas are cups and saucers or boxes.

I have my mother's bell collection in my home now and I treasure it.