memorable souvenirs?

Olive oil! Even though we can find some of the same brands here in the US, if the label says that it is packed somewhere other than the country it was grown in, chances are it is cut with some other oil. I always bring back oil from Italy, as well as spices, coffee (Levazza), and hot chocolate mix.

Food is a great way to take me right back to that vacation spot. :)

Several trips to Paris ago, we bought a large container of individual packets of sugar at the Monoprix. They were unique to us because they were long and slim - very different shape from ours here. The design on them was also unique, very pretty with bright colors. When we have friends over for dinner we put them on the table when we have coffee. They are a fun conversation starter and remind us of Paris :)

Not from Europe but Coban coffee from Guatemala. It is not my utmost favorite and I have to find a specail importer to get it fresh. (Unless of course I could fly to Guatelmala every few weeks! Anyone got an idea on how I could do that?)

I brought a small jar of Pesto from a Cinque Terre village in Liguria, Italy. I brought it to a photographic slide show on Italy, in a town in the U.S.A. I let people there smell the aroma from the Pesto. They liked it ! Looking at photographs, people do not smell the aromas, or scents of a country. That Pesto from the Cinque Terre has pine nuts in it. /// If a person wants to give inexpensive gifts, acquired at Scotland or England, to persons in the country that he is a resident in (U.S.A., ...), I like to give a small round box of oat "biscuits" (sweet crackers) made in Scotland. The exterior of the round box is a red color. I forget the brand name. Those oat "biscuits" were put on the breakfast table in a B & B in Edinburgh.

I purchased a painting and some other artwork that are on my walls in my living room. I get enjoy them daily! Pam

I still buy embroidered patches from where ever I go. I started in 1989 on a six-week bike trip. I've sewn them onto bike panniers and packs over the years. Right now I've been on a four month trip where I've accumulated about 30 from places I've been. All it takes is a glance at my bags in the closet and I'm reminded of all the places I've been.

Steven

Because I'm a professional musician, I love my 12 inch porcelain Mozart doll I bought in Salzburg. I sure had to be careful flying home with it!

One of my favorites is my plague doctor's mask from Venice. My first trip there I fell in love with the masks but didn't buy one so I was determined to get one on my 2nd visit. I love the story behind this particular mask and bought a beautiful one. However, Venice was my first stop and I had to had to carry the thing all the way to Rome with numerous stops in between..by train.. and then home on the plane. It made it in perfect condition and is displayed in my living room.

I love picking up Christmas decorations or ornaments wherever I go. That way I get to pull them out every year and remember where I got them, and they'll also stay in good shape so I can pass them down. I have my mother's old beautiful carved nativity from Oberammergau.

On a side note, I bought a lead crystal vase in Paris on my first trip to Europe and was HORRIFIED to see the same one in Kmart 6 months later. My dear husband reminded me that mine still came from Paris.

I have some beautiful expensive items (wood carving from Austria, vases from Murano, etc) but some of my favorite souvenirs are simple useful things I use regularly that remind me of my trips. For example, I bought a bandana with edelweiss on it in Wengen. I use it hiking and biking and it brings back great memories. In Chamonix, I bought an iron sculpture of a boot with 2 hooks at a hardware store. I hung it up in my garage and we hang our hiking poles on it. In Melk, I needed a little mirror. Went into a discount store there and bought a travel mirror. I use it on all my trips and it brings back such delightful memories. Why these are things that do not scream "I've been to Europe", they always remind me of good memories...and I think that is what a great souvenir does.

PS I also have bought some cute key chains. When we get home, we take them apart and make Christmas ornaments from them. A cute sandal that says Assisi, hiking boots from Wengen, etc. They are pretty cute on the tree.

Gifts from friends are the most precious, and of course photos. But of the things I've bought for myself that I've enjoyed: an amber ring from Gdansk; some Polish magazines from the 50's similar to "Life" magazine that I traded for, and some graphic art posters from Krakow. Usually I'm on a pretty tight budget so I treasure little odds and ends like ticket stubs and such. And despite what Rick says about local coins and currency being an expensive souvenir, I still like to keep some of it:)

jewelry, art, textiles, dishware from numerous places. wear the jewelry all the time. display the other in my home. love the reminders of the trip when i see it everyday.

We always send ourselves a postcard - I keep them in a Shadow Box on my kitchen wall. I look at them several times a day - and think of where we will go next! :)

Pewter beverage containers ! Tho a bit pricey,, they often come with wrap-around handwrought "scenes" of local life,, the ones i got in Bavaria and Bohemia are very lifelike. When i get the urge to have a beer or wine using one of my pewter,, it just transports me back to Europe !!

I like the post card idea. Love the necklace and jewelry I bought in Venice but I have seen vases made in Murano show up in Home Goods/TJ Maxx. Biggest splurge was an oil painting bought in Paris in the Monmarte but it was love at first sight and we had to have it and we have never regretted the purchase. Waterford bought back in the day when the factory was up and running is something we enjoy.

stroopwafels from Amsterdam ... lanolin cream from Auckland ... glass beads from a small 'seconds' store in a tiny Murano alleyway

I bought my father a small brass weather predictor in Greenwich. He's very hard to buy for, but loves this little $5 souvenir! He gets up every morning and checks his little weather dial every day now. (it is surprisingly accurate). I also have a scarf from the Louvre that I love.

My favorites are common items...clothes, shoes, etc...anything that I'll use all the time. It makes me so happy all day knowing I'm wearing a sweater from my trip to Paris...or wearing some heels from London. It's a fun way to keep my travels with (on!) me all day long.

We've also bought artwork and jewelry on many of our travels....I appreciate these items (no matter how small or inexpensive) because I get to see them so often!

On a rainy day in Brussels we bought an umbrella, a blue one with a pattern of circles of gold stars emblematic of the European Union. This morning I used the umbrella here in Montreal and it reminded me vividly of the musty, dusty shop where we bought it and the old man who sold it to us.

At the market in Arles, a french cookbook "La Cuisine de Nanette" published in 1930. I love it!

I love getting leather bookmarks from places I visit. I read a lot so I use the bookmarks everday and enjoy them.

My 1 Euro shopping bag from the Casino Supermarket in Perpignan, France. Every time I go grocery shopping here, I remember shopping there. And so far, no one else at my local supermarket has one!

My wife loves her "Murano" glass beads bracelets that we bought in stalls in Venice. They are most probably not really made in Murano, but she likes them, her friends she has given them to enjoy them, and they cost about 3 or so euros each. It is mostly the memory of the trip they elicit, and they are pretty too.

My favorite souvenirs are mostly things that I use or wear. A scarf I bought at the British Library store (not cheap, but lovely and treasured), shoes bought at the Clarks' store in London, an inexpensive sweatshirt jacket from M&S in London, sweaters from Cuzco, tea towels from just about anywhere, a couple of gold and jade charms from Thailand. And those cheap everyday reusable shopping bags; I love my "Woolworth's" bag from Australia and my M&S food shop bag from London. They're mixed in with my local grocers' bags and I just enjoy seeing and using them, and remembering my trips if only momentarily.

I've learned that I should have kept my money and passed up on "bargain" jewelry pieces in marketplaces, because I rarely wear them later and they just clutter up my jewelry box. With me, the jewelry situation is that it's best to buy one really nice thing that I like a lot, or nothing at all. I bought a gorgeous large silver bead necklace a few years ago in Taos at a decent price but not a cheap one, and I love wearing that thing. I'm so glad I bought it instead of trying to "stretch" my money by buying a handful of cheaper things.

Murano glass light shade bought directly from the artisan for 1/4 of what the other shops were charging. We also bought wine pitcher and glasses set from him as well. His glass was so different from everyone else's and we loved purchasing from the artist himself.

Also a painting from a Venetian man who studied at the Academia. It was very inexpensive, but it's stunning and will have a very special place in our home once it's framed!

Love my many scarves that I have collected during my world travels, for example, one 'Starry Night' by Van Gogh, from the Louvre , another from Versailles and one beautiful butterfly/hummingbird one that I bought from a small shop in the Metro.

I also collect frig magnets from around the world, and they make me smile every time I open my frig door. I also collect special pieces of jewelry, for example, a Celtic cross necklace from Ireland, earrings from the Tower of London shop and a beautiful Murano glass bracelet purchased from the maker in Venice. I also buy artistic crosses from various cathedrals - I have one from St. Mark's, Venice decorated with mille fleurs. I also have a labyrinth necklace that reminds of the day when I walked the Chartres cathedral labyrinth twice.

I collect special objects that I am unable to get elsewhere, I have a mask on my wall from the mask maker's shop in Venice, perfume from the perfume factory in Eze France, unique pieces of pottery such as an egg cup with an escargot painted on it from a vineyard in Burgundy France and flowers from Portugal and even a special pink heart-shaped rock from the river under the Pont du Gard in France.

what a GREAT thread! i'm getting so many great ideas--i especially like the suggestions of practical items. thanks for the thread!

oh--and as for my favorite souvenirs? i have to be old fashioned and say 'photographs'--they are free and provide entertainment whilst taking them and upon returning home. we have one from our honeymoon where my husband is 'posing' with a stuffed polar bear outside of a tourist shop. i put 'posing' in quotes because it is a very inappropriate pose (use your imagination) we framed it and it is displayed proudly in our family room. most people don't even realize what it is, but it makes us smile.

We like to buy small watercolors of particular places we enjoyed visiting. I love my Celtic cross purchased in St. Malo, Brittany, France, and I love my Byzantine cross purchased in Santorini, Greece. We also like to get a Christmas ornament from each place we visit. I love my Delft ornaments from Amsterdam and my Goebbel angel from Cologne, Germany (purchased in 1986 with a sticker on the bottom saying "West Germany"). I loved buying lace in Belgium....and Belgian chocolate of course, even though it was a short-lived souvenir!!

I also like to buy things that will be used. I've bought small wooden and straw Christmas ornaments, ski clothes (I love Austrian and Swiss clothing), food, small kitchen gadgets. Every time you use them, you are reminded of your wonderful holidays.

Food is a fun thing to bring home, but doesn't last long. Mustard from Germany and chocolates from Belgium are my favs. I collect fridge magnets from places I visit, they don't necessarily have to have the destination name on them, but just something cool that caught my eye.

I bought a couple nutcrackers in Rothenburg and love to look at them. As well as this cute black hippo I bought in a craft bazaar. Or the cool artistic cat little statue I got in Belgium. Some necklaces and earrings I bought in Paris and Prague can be weekly reminders of my travels.

While my wife and daughter were trying on clothes at one of the big Paris department stores, I was feeling left out of the souvenir buying spree. Then I noticed the gleaming, chrome-plated brass traveling shaving brush in the display case. It was expensive, but now it's a prized travel partner. Trouble is, more than one TSA agent has asked me what the "metal cylinder" in my carry-on is...

Also: canned duck from camping-a-la-ferme in the Dordogne valley, spiral-bound maps from the countries we visited, a Swiss music box, pressed leaves from the countries we visited, lavendar from Provence, a cuckoo clock from St. Goar,...and all the indelible memories that go along with them.

I love the ring I bought at the Tower of London 12 years ago and wear it all the time. I have a child's wooden toy Pinocchio doll bought in Tivoli and a wooden duck pull toy bought in Brussels. The toys look really cute on my office shelf. Like another person who posted, I collected interesting sugar packets. I also picked up interesting match-books in pubs in London. My favorite souvenir is a beautiful silk scarf I picked up in Paris (expensive, but worth it as I use it all the time).

The joy of a souvenir is thinking about the trip after you get home!

My wife and I always purchase mementos on all of our trips that remind us of where we have been. But a couple special treasures are actually gifts we received from people in Ireland in 2001. One is the tie clip given to me by the husband of the B&B owner. It was from his Garda (police)uniform and yes his name was Patrick. It is decorated with a lot of very small Celtic knots as well as some Gaelic inscriptions.

The other gift was 2 souvenir cigarette lighters (neither of us smoke) from the owner of a small pub that we stopped at on 9/11, just to see what had happened back in the states. It was the owner's birthday and we had to be part of the celebration. Lots of food, champagne and of course a "pint".

Very special memories.

My favorite souvenir is a 6 oz. coke bottle that I got in St.Marks square in 1996.I paid $10.00 for it along with the privledge of listening to the music while being seated. I use it every summer as a rose vase.I also take home empty wine bottles for the same use from special places.

Jewelery- and I agree, fewer pieces, better quality. Christmas ornaments- everything from lace, blown glass, carved wood, to what was supposed to be a bauble for a chandelier! Scarves. And the ubiquitious fridge magnets. I like to find unusually things to bring back for friends, family and work collegues too- like tiny handcarved mice, blown glass "snowball" ornaments, etc. They are unique, and take up little space.

Probably the ones that stand out are a wallaby skin and didgeredoo from Australia and antique teapots from various European destinations.

We still have a brass day bed I picked up on my first trip to Korea.

My car has the safety vest I had to purchase for my leased car in Austria.

Left to my own devices, I'm most likely to buy art or musical instruments (tin whistle in Ireland, recorder in Japan, chanter in Scotland).

I have some pretty neat (to me) free souvenirs too: A chunk of dried peat from Killarney; A stone chip from Salisbury Cathedral (a stone mason was chipping out old stone to replace it); A wad of raw wool from the sheep that wander on the Hill of Tara; coasters from various pubs.

Christmas ornaments and even it is kitchy- miniatures like the eiffel tower, tower of london, etc. are fun when you gather them in your curio. For the past years, I have started to collect interesting picks or stirrers like the kind they put on your drink and I place them in a vase bought in France. If we hit a beach resort, been collecting towels with names of the place visited. Magnets of place visited that I now place in a big magnetic board bought at Walmart instead of the usual ref. I like looking at them while cooking.

My most favorite purchase to date is a gorgeous Venetian mask completely adorned in Swarovski crystals that I found during my second trip to Venice. The moment I saw it, I knew I could not leave the shop without it.

I bought a great vintage "feria de abril" poster at a unique little shop in Sevilla. I got it framed when I came home and now it hangs in my office, directly across from my desk. People might think I'm concentrating really hard at work, but sometimes I'm just staring at my poster because it brings back so many wonderful memories!

Great post! I like to bring home a couple of touristy things that I use regularly. I have a pencil from Scotland with a little bagpiper on the top that I use all the time, and one for work from England with a Knight in Armour on the top. I had a little rubber coaster from Peggy's Cove that I used at work, but it got damaged in a flood. Now we are off to Paris, and I've already been preparing myself to find a replacement coaster with the Eiffel Tower. Not fancy, not expensive and probably not made in the countries of origin but fun reminders nonetheless.