africatravel

Saw this interesting looking status of a cat (something like this http://www.provet.co.uk/cats/Egyptia...20900%20BC.JPG) with a crocodile on its back and turtle under it in a hotel gift show in Luxor, Egypt. It was suppose to be 2000 years old, but the gift shop person was willing to give me a certificate that said it was only 99 years old as you cannot take stuff older than 99 years out of Egypt.

Also, I am against smuggling stuff out of countries, I was in complete awe of the statue. The guy said he'd sell it to be for $800. That was a LOT of money for me back then. Also, what if the status was made the previous day in the workshop in the back of the store? Our tour guide did say that the gift shop was one of the few shops around Cairo-Luxor that sold antiques, but... $800 was a lot.

So we walked away... and now I totally regret it! I should have paid up and purchased it. I have never seen anything like that before.

Giovanna

I think we did a similar thread a few years ago and then I sighed and typed "a Byzantine ring" when we were in Greece. If you've heard this before I apologize, but I'm still just as sorry about it as I was on the previous thread. Another sigh!

jbass

An exquisite sterling and <b><font color="gold">Amber</font></b> ring in San Jose del Cabo.

Although the jewelry store has an email address; apparently they don't respond.

Poohgirl

Nativity set in Oberammergau.

CDs of Roma music in Hungary.

Irish music CDs in Ireland. I bought 5 or 6 but still wish I had bought more.

Encantadora

Now that I know I am not alone, I am starting to feel a wee bit better...though I will probably continue to obsess about my &quot;Vive aqui...&quot;Spanish tile. Thank you Grcxx3 for your comment &gt;&quot;It took us a few trips - but we finally realized that the best philosophy was &quot;If you see it and you like it....BUY IT!&quot;&lt; I think I will get a T-shirt made up with that philosophy and wear it on our next trip!

LoveItaly

It sure doesn't matter anymore but the very first day I was in Italy, Milan, back in the 70's I saw the most gorgeous Italian silk dress. I was going to buy it my husband suggested since we were going to be in Italy for two months it would be smart to wait as no doubt I would see many dresses I would love just as much.

Well I didn't! And for years I regretted I didn't buy that absolutely perfect dress, sigh. When I was back in Milan two months later the dress was no longer available of course. I hope the woman that purchased it loved it as much as I did.

JJ5

None I can think of to tell you the truth.

I do have two I totally regret buying and bringing home. One I tossed this last Easter, and one I just gave away. They both were way too much money and I really never used them or they didn't mesh within decore.

The first one was the clock I bought in Bavaria in 1984 (grandkids killed the bird and more at Easter in an accident and I hated the thing right after I bought it, so secretly I was glad) and the other was a large book of art prints that I shouldn't have bought and never use.

I have bought boots and jackets (leather) in Italy that I absolutely and totally love/loved. I tried to get the boots resewn (zipper wore out) and couldn't and they were my favorite boots of all time.

Florida1

Leather jacket in Florence.
More silk pillowcases and tote bags from the markets in Cambodia. Oh well, that just means I'll have to go back!

After regretting that jacket for years, I am much better about just buying things when I'm traveling and see something I want.

I have never gotten home and said &quot;gee, I wish I had that money&quot; but I have gotten home and said &quot;I sure wish I had bought that whatever it is.&quot;

JJ5

Now see, I have gotten home and said to myself &quot;gee I wish I had that money.&quot; Now often, but I sure have.

tomassocroccante

I like to get things I LIKE, rather than feel compelled to buy for their souvenir value.

The handknit woole scarf if Rome reminds me of Rome, the cashmere sweater (from Scotland) that I got in Vienna reminded me of Vienna!

Things we see in souvenir shops we will probably find elsewhere (by the dozens) but things we see elsewhere may be hard to duplicate.

steelygirl

About 8 or 9 years ago,a beautiful pair of boots in Valencia, Spain; I was on vacation with my Dad, and I simply thought I would find them at the end of our trip in Barcelona but I searched and searched and found nothing like them! They made quite an impression since I still remember them.

SeaUrchin

&quot;Wait here, I will be back in a bit, I just want to run down to that store and get those shoes.&quot;

Walk to the store.

&quot;What, what? No, no way!! Oh no&quot;

The above is the reason I did not buy those beautiful handmade shoes in Rome. There was a sign on the door saying they will be closed for a week. The sample shoes were still in the window looking at me forlornly. I still think of those shoes....

and much worse

the house we didn't buy in Furore, Italy. Such a bargain, so what if it didn't have a roof over the kitchen! Or that there were about 1000 steps to reach it. The views were spectacular. I coulda fixed it up.....

ncounty

seaurchin- LOL!

I do remember being in Europe in 92 or 94, whenever the Lillehammer Olympics were and looking at real estate ads in Italy and France. It was SOOO cheap; really unbelievable. Wistful regret now.

SusanSDG

Thank you all for the therapy. In Mexico, I bought two little prints framed in silver and every single day I look at them and mourn the third I didn't buy.
And every day I'm happy I bought both the print and the copperplate in Alaska, after standing in front of them and trying to decide which..I've learned that the farther you are from home the faster you should buy what you love.

Weekender

Paris: Cartier Tank Francaise-$1,500. As I sit looking at my $50 Swatch.

whoknew

Venice 1999. After agonizing and debating and going back to the shop twice, I bought one wristwatch with a millefiore band around the perimeter of the crystal. There was a second watch I admired that I thought my mom would like but I was at the beginning of my trip and I was sure I'd find more of the same watches throughout Italy. I didn't have a lot of money and also concerned the watch might break carrying it around. I traveled throughout Italy for a month and not once found those watches again.

When I got home my Mom loved my watch. I regretted not purchasing that watch, but I managed to make it back 4 years later and brought her back one.

Celiaanne

Same thing -- passed it up twice -- just last month and last October because I though it was a bit silly, but........ I liked it! Would have been a pain to lug home, but now I wish I had.

At the Petit Palais gift shop a doormat that says &quot;Mon Petit Palais.&quot;

StCirq

In Ravenna in the late 1980s - a massive, mosaic coffee table, selling for about $2,000. It was so stunning I just walked around it and stared and it and touched it for an hour or so. But I couldn't wrap my brain around how to ship it home, and frankly the $2000 seemed like a fortune to me to spend on a table. Plus it would have looked positively absurd anywhere in my home then.

I think it was memories of not buying that table that made me oh so incredibly impulsively buy a house in the Dordogne in the early 1990s. I'd learned my lesson! And I have never regretted that decision for a second.

LoveItaly

Oh St.Cirq, I sure understand.

We were in Rome and went into a furniture store. There was the most fabulous marble dining room table. My husband really wanted to buy it but as much as I loved it I talked him out of it. Why? I don't know. The price was not horrible at that time (1983 I think) but for some reason I was hesitant. I always felt bad afterwards as he so loved that marble table.

You were smart to buy the property in France. If we had only done so in Italy when prices were so low, sigh.

Encantadora

Reading these responses, I am thinking that somebody should start a business tracking down &quot;The Souvenir That Got Away!&quot;