Little gifts to bring that Italians might like?

A DVD set of a Jersey Shore season? :)

Are there any chocolates that are made in your area? Other ideas: soaps, little calendars, key chains.

I always think the best gifts are ones that have a connection to where you're from. Unfortunately, you can't fit a Giordano's deep dish in your carry on. :-) Also, stay away from any sports team related trinket. Most Italians have no idea what baseball is.

Something edible, if you must. They won't have much if any use for a "trinket". But seriously, they won't be expecting anything. Italians don't seem to be much into gift-giving like that. The best gift you could give them would be a positive review on tripadvisor.com or venere.com after you leave.

They may really enjoy Hand towels or kitchen hot pads w/ Chicago logos on them . easily purchased at airports and do n't weigh or take alot of space.

Last year I brought some little books (like 4" x 4") with scenes of Oregon, and bookmarks with Oregon scenes as well, which I gave to some B&B owners that were particularly wonderful. They seemed quite touched by the gifts, and in the case of the bookmarks, they went to two children of a B&B owner. They were thrilled. The gifts were lightweight and transportable.

As already posted, a good review on Trip Advisor or here on the Rick Steves website, is one of the best gifts you can give a business who has given you outstanding service. They would much rather have that then a key chain.

Most of the Italians I work with really like Cali wines, especially Mondavi (white or red).

believe it or not, I brought my hotel owners..Starbucks Instant Coffee packets!! What a hit. They loved them! also brought small calendars from Seattle. Another ideas...we have a Hard Rock Cafe here in Seattle. Brought some pins to trade with the waiters in Rome and Venice. You would have thought we were movie stars. All the waiters were fighting to get our pins!!

Jackie has a good point about gifts for young Italians (teens and twenties). Pretty much anything with English on it is considered cool. T-shirts, for example, with lots of English on them would probably be worth their weight in gold. The bigger the words, the better. And the quirkier, the better. (Some local Chicago company rather than McDonalds, for example.)

Maybe go to one of the real touristy souvenir shops on Michigan Ave or Navy Pier, and see what the European tourists are buying.

Where I live in southern CA, I will usually bring some See's Candy and/or a tee shirt with Hollywood logo on it...everyone in the world knows Hollywood. Maybe you can bring something that is popular in Illinois. The airports gift shops usually have cups, plates, tee shirts, etc., whatever is popular for that area of the country.

I thought of something else. Why don't you pack a few cd's of some good Chicago blues-Buddy Guy, or make your own selection. Make sure it includes "Sweet Home Chicago." You don't need to give that out to everyone, but if you discuss music and Chicago with anyone, you could share some good music.

I think a book of Chicago pictures would be great. They always love to see where we come from. I'm from Seattle, so we can bring salmon. What is the big thing from Chicago?

Hard to believe but I was asked to bring Aunt Jamima pancake mix to some Italian friends. They were crazy for it. They also love our sports teams. A baseball cap, tee shirt or anything else with an American logo.