To those of you who have been to Madrid, Budapest, Bavaria, Istanbul....what are the souveniers you feel best capture the local flavor, that you've been most glad you purchased after you got back home? I'm always regretting buying some things and NOT buying others after I get home...

I love all the ceramics in Istanbul - especially the unique blue of the Iznik pottery. Of course - you can always buy a rug!!!!

We had thanksgiving with a couple of avid world travellers and saw a lonely cobblestone displayed on their coffee table. They told me that it is their favorite souvenir because it was a gift from a poor young child in Jugoslavia.

Hi

In Madrid I bought a bullfighting poster for about $2. Really touristy I know but it was a large one and when I returned home I had it professionaly framed. It dominates one of our walls and really brings back memories of lovely Spain. And when in Istanbul one souvenir I regret NOT buying was a Nadhine - beautiful pipe, large and made of embossed metal. It would of looked great in our lounge with the pillow slips we bought there.

Pillow slips?

It wasn't Madrid, but it was Spain and a few areas had these beautiful hand colored etchings. We bought one of the tower in Seville and the Al Hambra when we were in Seville and one of the bridge in Ronda when in Ronda. I framed them and put them in my kitchen with some photos from our trip as well and it looks spectacular!

I think art is always good to bring home because it will be unique and remind you of fun times.

Err OK I mean cushion covers. I'm not into homeware - that's my wife's department

I pick up pen and ink drawings and frame them when I get home. I have a "wall of travel" in my home that is full of memories.

Fridge magnets.

OK, I'll be serious. Besides fridge magnets, we also usually get an ink drawing (antique if affordable) or print of a famous site in the city we are visiting and frame it when we get home.

Anything of art form that I have in my house & floor to remind me of my travels-my turkish rug-my isnik plates-the greek plates on my wall of a harbor,the mosiac I got at the Vatican,the icon from Cyprus,the print of a piece of art I couldn't afford in Santorini,the evil eye from Greece. My house swirls around me of all my travels-these are memories that can't be taken away from me and when I am old I can just look at them & say I was there. Chris

Once a year I treat myself to a memory of France...a Louis Vuitton handbag. I also collect prints from all the places I have visited.

Wonderful responses, I'm saving up so that when we take our trip in March 08 I can afford to pick up some good items. I love love love the idea of artwork to frame. I'm wondering about a cuckoo clock when we're in s. Germany.

We bought a lovely mantle clock when we visited Lucerne many years ago. I thought about a cuckoo clock but decided I'd get really tired of that cuckooing all the time. If you don't think that would bother you, then you should certainly get one.

About ten years ago I purchased two pillow covers in needlepoint in a fabric store in Montmartre, Paris. I bought them without pillow forms so they would not take up any room. They anchor my couch now. I have seen many, many similar designs (rooster and rabbit)since then, but never quite the same. Everytime I walk into my living room I think of Paris in the spring. I even took the covers along when choosing granite for my home.

oops...didn't read carefully---My Spain souvenir that I love are small rectangle pottery tapa dishes and bowls with olives painted on the side. Colorful and practical.

If you can find weather houses, I still love mine several years later If the weather is nice, a woman comes out, if bad, a man comes out.

faina, that sounds very intriguing, where might I find them?
Ooooh, I'm just getting so excited about this trip!

I love to bring art home as a wonderful reminder of our travels. I also figure when the kids put us in "the home" they'll let us take the art with us. LOL!

fsufan1: I think FainaAgain was referring to something like this:

http://www.blackforestgifts.com/weather_house.html

Beer coasters for me--cost nothing and easy to carry; some have great graphics. For my spouse: Art work (B&W etching or engraving prints usually) depicting the places we visit.