afterall

SeaUrchin,

Don't you know that you shouldn't collect shells from a beach?

goddesstogo

Thanks, noho -- I might give it a try next time.

annettetx

We have blue and white plates hanging in our kitchen, and one of my favorites is the blue and white plate with a Maltese cross in the center that we found in Gozo. Since that trip in 2001, my dad has brought me a blue and white plate with dragons on it from Hong Kong, and I've added a plate commemorating the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002.

I, too, committed the cardinal sin of not buying something when I first saw it! There ought to be a blue and white plate with a rooster design from Portugal hanging up there as well.

SeaUrchin

It was a little puny shell and this was years ago.....

goddesstogo

SeaUrchin,
I think you should go put it back, don't you?

SeaUrchin

Now, that is the best idea of all.

gracie04

I've started buying watercolor paintings when I'm in Europe. They are small, easy to pack, inexpensive, and always bring back great memories.

Johanna

o2bnfrance

On a recent trip to Omaha Beach, Normandie, France, I couldn't resist scooping up a container of beach sand into an empty water bottle. I'm surprised I made it through customs. This is a prized possession I now proudly display in a suitable clear container.

jill_h

My all-time favorite are two wood figurines from Oberammergau (sp?) for our 20th anniversary. I found them as we were passing a store window and they caught my eye because they resembled my children! The little girl clutching her favorite toy doll, and the boy holding tight to his teddy bear. When I saw them, they brought tears to my eyes. They were a little expensive, but my husband would not let me pass them up. I am so thankful. I've continued to collect them - mainly through ebay, but the figurine has to have a meaning or a resemblance. I won't just buy any one. The figures are made by Anri.

FamilyTravelPlanet

My children collect tiny buddas. My 9-year-old has red ones, gold ones and even a glow-in-the-dark budda I found for him in NYC. I have taught my children to choose souvenirs that have meaning. For instance, when we went to Walt Disney World, instead of coming home with a Mickey Mouse T-Shirt, we waited until we had dinner at EPCOT and learned how to juggle with sticks from "China." It took my determined 7-year-old 3 days to master the skill. The saleswoman was the most patient woman in Orlando - demostrating the juggling over and over. Too bad our new puppy chewed one of them. They are still here, as a reminder of our wonderful night in "China."
--Jennifer Michaels

traveler2005

When we went to Venice, we stayed in Mestre. One day, I wandered the area behind our hotel and happened upon a local perfume story. Perhaps I could have bought the perfume more cheaply at home, but it brings back memories of Venice whenever I wear it.

Like some buy ornaments when traveling, I buy cloisonne pins. I've framed a map and put the pins in the appropriate locations. I enjoy retracing our trips and having a visual reminder of the places that I've loved. (I think I've loved them all.)

One more story.

Last October, we celebrated our 30th anniversary on a cruise to Greece. The neatest part of the trip was that 11 of us went and 8 were celebrating 30th anniversaries. When we docked in Split, Croatia, several of us browsed the market.

On our first time through, I saw a bracelet that I really liked. Since it was 65 kuna and I only had 27 left, we kept going. On our second time through, I asked my friends how much they had left thinking I could buy their extra change and perhaps have enough for the bracelet. One only had about 7 kuna and some smaller coins and the other had less than that. I hardly thought that we could bargain the bracelet down that far, but it was worth a try. This really was all of our money, not a ruse, so it would be easy to walk away if she said no. I held out my hand and showed the woman how much I had. Offering 27 for a 65-kuna item was a long shot and she wouldn’t take it. Then my friends each held out all of their money. The woman counted the coins in each of our hands, smiled at me and shook her head yes! The bracelet is pretty and if you think of it as costing 65 kuna!!, it doesn’t sound cheap and shoddy at all. (A kuna was about 20 cents.)

marty

I was working with Russian teachers at Smolensk National about 8 hours from Russia. We stayed in a former KGB barracks (pretty creepy)on the shore of Lake Baklanovskoyes. We spoke no English; our Russian teacher friends spoke no English. We worked through interpretors.

All of the teachers had amazing artistic talents. One of them went at sunrise and did a painting of lake in watercolors for me. Another who was staying at home and walking in every day made a whistle shaped like a deer in her pottery kiln. One carved an apple from birch.

I have traveled many places and collected many souvenirs, but if I forget something or pass something by, I know I can return. This particular trip can never be taken again due to many circumstances, so I treasure the memories that they bring on sight.

MademoiselleFifi

Although I enjoy shopping and have bought many favorite items over the years, the thing which has brought back the most memories from my last trip is neither expensive nor unusual. It's a one pound coin that I kept forgetting to take out from my purse. Whenever I stumble across it while buying something here, it makes me smile.

Jed

I get few souveniers, only those that really catch my fancy. My favorite is a statue of a person playing a guitar that I got in Santiago about 10 years ago. It is ~ 6 inches high, and made out of metal parts - nuts, bolts, springs, washers, etc. It cost the great sum of $8. I liked it because it showed cleverness and ability, although it may be more common than I know.

http://www.worldisround.com/articles/347209/photo1.html

Hpyft

Travelling within the states I look for the most unusual refrigerator magnet I can find. Yes, refrigerator magnet. My favorites are a jazz musician magnet from Chicago and a piece of wood with "Cody" burned into it next to a painted American flag from Wyoming. It's my favorite because I got soaked $5 for it and my friend thought I was crazy to pay $5 for a stick with a magnet glued to it.
Overseas, I collect paintings, drawings, some depiction of the places visited. My favorite was bought in a small shop in Venice that made paper. Photos are great, but these momentos are out there for me to see every day...

toedtoes

I read the article, and I don't really fit into any of those categories. I buy whatever strikes my fancy at the moment. Sometimes it's something unique to the area, sometimes it's something kitschy, sometimes expensive, sometimes cheap, and so on.

Some of my favorites:

Cast iron flying pig - OK, it isn't MY souvenir, but I bought it for a friend and she loves it as much as I love telling the story of how I got it.

CN Tower desk clock - when someone sees the photo of my feet on the glass floor of the tower at work, I grab my clock and point out where I was standing.

Music CDs - these are my forever souvenirs. Listening to them, I always relive my trips. I listen to them on my next trip and therefore double the memories.

My photographs - not only to they remind me of what I saw, but I have memories about getting the photos (like my Toronto skyline shot when I had to outrun werewolves, vampires, and psycho killers). I print them, frame them and hang them on my walls so they are just as visual as my frog box, photo frames, handpainted watch, artisan jewelry, clothing, etc.

My very favorite is my Canon Rebel XT. I bought it while on vacation when my prosumer camera broke midtrip. I ended up paying more than I would have at home, but it has been my most used and enjoyed souvenir yet. I remember the sinking feeling when my prosumer broke (just as I was about to take a photo of a deer), the drive back to town in a summer storm, the search for a repair place, the realization that it wouldn't be repaired before I went home, the decision to buy a new camera with less than an hour to get to the store, decide on and buy a camera before the store closed. The feeling as I spent the next day taking really lousy photos figuring out the camera.

ltr

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted a cuckoo clock. Four years ago we took our first trip to Germany and specifically planned to go to the Black Forest to pick out the clock. After much deliberation, we bought the clock of my dreams, (along with 5 others for gifts)and had them shipped home.

It took almost 6 weeks , but they finally arrived. I was so excited. Every hour the cuckoo came out, the deers jumped up and down, the water wheel would turn and the little dancers swirled around to the tune of Edelweiss. On the half hour, there was a little more music and few little hops from the deer. Every time I heard the cuckoo I would run into the room just to watch the little show. This last three days.....until the cleaning people knocked it off the wall, and smashed it to pieces!

The company did pay for a new one, which took another 2 months to get. It is the same exact one ordered from the same shop in Tribourg.

I know a cuckoo clock drives some people, well...cuckoo, but every night, my DH pulls the weights to wind it so I can stop to watch the show for another day.

arkay

My favorite souvenirs are two huge Condor feathers I brought home from Patagonia. We met a young man at the Estancia Rio Verde who was a Seahawks/NFL fan. We told him we'd send him some Seahawks stuff. (We sent him gloves, a cap and a shirt when we got home.) He was so excited at the prospect that he wanted to give us something from Patagonia and asked if we would like Condor feathers that he had gathered from the hilltops. We thought trading Seahawks and Condors was a fitting exchange. We have kept in touch with him thru email which has been fun.

Devra

Small oil painting from Paris and an Eiffel Tower on something or by itself on each visit to Paris; decorative pillow case from Rottenberg, same from Austria with 4 Austrian mugs; small earrings from Toledo; watercolors from various countries, which were very inexpensive but cost a lot to frame (oh well); tea cozy from England; dishes from Italy and Quimper and Alasace in France. I try to buy something useful that I don't have to dust (with the exception of the Eiffel Towers) that I enjoy using or looking at. Brings back great memories.

lukehead

Olives from Perini at the mercato in Florence.

Can't believe how good they are! We bought a large tub and carefully carried them home (this was before the restrictions on liquids in carry-on baggage).

Unfortunately consumable souvenirs don't last forever. However they may lead to a new adventure.

Initially we gladly shared them with friends. Way too soon we realized the supply was becoming limited. Then we cut down on the sharing (only three/person). Then we stopped sharing completely because we hadn't found a replacement. But we did find lots of quality olive sources in our search and eventually found a suitable substitute at a delightful tiny Italian specialty market not too far from home. Not sure we would have found this place without our "olive quest". Not only does it give us a tasty memory of a june in Florence but it has introduced us to a fine collection of other Italian grocery items in an atmosphere similar to Perini but ithout the airfare.