Souvenirs with a Story: What’s the Coolest Thing You’ve Brought Home?

We took a WW 1&2 tour in France and Belgium in 2017. On a couple of stops we had the opportunity to wander along the edge of a farmer’s plowed field and search for weapon/war fragments from WW1. We brought home some rum jar fragments, bullet casings, and small lead balls from shrapnel. Not your typical souvenirs , but memories from a poignant tour.

On one of my many trips to Vietnam, I took a cooking class in a small village an hour outside Hanoi. The chef was a young woman who lived with her parents on a beautiful piece of property. Despite the language barrier, I formed a connection with the family. When I left, they invited me back (with my husband so that we could teach them American BBQ) and gave me a home-crafted clay bead bracelet and necklace along with some wonderful fruit from their property. Needless to say, I couldn't bring the fruit home to the states (ate it on my last few days in Vietnam). I still wear the jewelry today as a reminder of this lovely Vietnamese family.

A scene in the Gérard Depardieu version of Cyrano has him holding his tongue while being verbally assaulted until he can hold it no more.

He finally roars "Assez!" and shows the combatant truly rapier-like ridicule.

I was outside the Metro station by the Tour Eiffel and the usual street hawkers were annoying the tourists who foolishly wait in that line with sales patter for their pot-metal trinkets. No one was defending themselves, so I put on my best Cyrano/Depardieu stage voice and yelled "Assez!" at the vendors, and it actually quieted them down for a moment. One looked at me wide-eyed, aghast, and I gave him 75 cents or a euro in change and chose a keychain Tower from his tray.
That one sits in a dish on my kitchen table.

tbh, I had been looking for an excuse to do a Gérard Depardieu "Assez!"

We took a month long trip for our 50th anniversary. When we were in Dublin we bought new silver Claddagh rings which we now wear as our wedding rings.

In Maine I purchased a lobster measuring ‘tool’. It’s a piece of brass which hooks onto the ‘neck joint’ of the lobster and measures to the tail. I think it is obsolete now because I read that they were changing to legal size of lobsters.

On a practical side, in Europe I buy the reuseable grocery bags and use them all the time since groceries in Colorado charge for bags these days.

Background: I travel with a buckeye in my pack from the family farm my dad was raised on. (I'm in my mid 60s).

I was in Durnstein Austria and love the town and area. One of my favorites. While there, I looked down and saw a huge buckeye at my feet next to a vineyard. I picked it up and tossed it in my pack with the one from the family farm. These years later I still travel with the 2 buckeyes in my backpack.

From the Alaskan bush, I brought home a caribou jaw with the teeth intact, that we stumbled upon.

In Iceland I was given old horseshoes from a place we rode. It was up in the Westfjords and remote, so no signing waivers, etc and it was just the two of us. I had commented to the guide that I loved how they used old horseshoes around the property, and at the end she asked if we wanted a couple. She found the best ones and we brought them home, cleaned them up and mounted them on small boards. Then my husband hung them over two doorways, which is supposed to bring good luck.

On our first visit to Normandy, we had a private driver and we went to a beach at low tide. The kids found some shells, and they each picked one to bring home. We flew home the next day, but by the time we got home and opened the ziplock bag, omg the smell!!! One of the shells still had the creature inside. No more shells, from an anywhere, after that.

Wouldn’t say cool but practical.

From my first trip to Europe in 1972 I have a soap dish that I got in Paris. Between then and now that soap dish has been used in Washington, Nebraska, and California kitchens. Can barely see the Arch de Triomphe, one corner has been chipped but still holds a bar of hand soap.

I like having a Rememberance Day poppy from my November sojourns to London. Have 2. Always grab one to take with me if I’m going to be in London on November 11.

Have the London Transport Oyster card with a picture Kate and William on it. It was issued after their engagement.

Lastly, I still use the small leather coin purse I purchased in Milan nearly 20 years ago.

Many years ago I made a trip to New Zealand to visit my aunt. While there we visited a small clothing museum that was run by a friend of hers. Before leaving, the friend gifted me with a large piece of Kaori gum, larger than the palm of my hand. Koari gum is the sap of the tree, and it used to be used in the making of furniture varnish. The trees were logged almost to extinction, and are now a protected species. The gum is similar to amber in colour, a translucent orange. Very pretty. Probably could never have found it in a store.

My first trip to Europe on a People-to-People tour in 1969 included Russia, Leningrad, Kiev and Moscow. I bought two matryoshka dolls, a small one from a street vendor (maybe in Kiev?) and a larger one in a Beryozka shop in Moscow. I still display them on a bookshelf.

At the Dublin Horse Show in 1992, I bought a pair of rolled leather dressage stop reins. Actually, I ordered them and picked them up in Kildare a week later. They're in my tack box since changing tack from hunter brown to dressage black.

Besides those souvenirs, I have a lot of Christmas ornaments bought on multiple trips. (Jean has a great post about "travel trees".)

Not unique but most used. The Turkish Tea cup and saucers I bought at a local Turkish store in Kadikoy. I still use it and paid about 5 dollars for the cups, saucers and tiny spoons.

My Ampelmann light/nightlight and keychain from Berlin. Just a cut light and conversation piece plus the right brightness for a nightlight. It’s always the first thing people ask about at my house.

The most expensive "souvenir" from my Best of Paris trip last year during Christmas week was... a cane!

I had painful knee issues starting on Day 1 and the next day, I started using a borrowed cane provided by tour guide Rolinka. On my last full day, I visited a pharmacy and bought a foldable cane to use on my last day since I had to return the borrowed cane. I don't know if the price was fair or not, I just needed one, and hobblers can't be choosers! I remember that each time I visited a pharmacy, whether for Voltarin knee gel (didn't work; the issue was with my knee bone although it would be a couple of weeks before I knew that), cold medication, or the cane, the staff was unfailingly polite and helpful.

I haven't needed to use the cane after returning home, but if I ever do need a cane, I'll have one from a city I long to return to.

In Chamonix I came upon a tiny fabric and yarn store, and was charmed by the wares as well as the staff. I ended up buying a length of very French-looking fabric, to make an apron when I went home. Now, finding a fabric store and making a souvenir I wear frequently, is a favorite way to remember a place.

Many years ago we were on a driving trip visiting WWI and WWII battle sites in France and Belgium, when we spent several hours at the Canadian Vimy Ridge Memorial. My great uncle's name is one of the many inscribed there, and I was able to do a rubbing of it. It now resides in the family Memory book.

On a cruise through Polynesia I bought 2 pareus that were batik printed by a local woman. Once home I made them into a sundress that I still wear in warm weather.

”My first trip to Europe on a People-to-People tour in 1969 included Russia, Leningrad, Kiev and Moscow. I bought two matryoshka dolls, a small one from a street vendor (maybe in Kiev?) and a larger one in a Beryozka shop in Moscow. I still display them on a bookshelf.”

Horsewoofie, did you receive a Delft plate at the end of your trip? I was on the 1975 People-to-People Ambassador program, and they gave us custom Delft plates with the P-t-P written out on the rim & our name in the center. I have mine displayed on a side table in my home office/travel planning room. My mom encouraged me to participate in it, so it also reminds me of how I’ve paid it forward and taken both daughters to Europe now. I do have a carved bear from Moscow from that trip that’s on a shelf, too.

I visited the Tower of London in 2018--I go there every trip as I am a huge fan (some would say obsessed, even) of the ravens, usually my first stop as soon as I've dropped off my bags at the hotel. I was in the lower section where their cages are, observing them happily, and as usual, had scanned the immediate area for any feathers. Didn't see any. I then heard a cronk and looked up to see one of them perched on the wall, observing me. When I looked back down, there was a beautiful black raven's feather! It goes nicely with a white stork feather from the storks I love to visit on Margit sziget in Budapest.

@Horsewoofie - My father did People-to-people golf trips. He was even on the board with Palmer, Nicholas and others. Of course they never had a board meeting, but somewhere I have a letterhead with his name and theirs. On most trips he was the best golfer and usually played with the most important person. In Denmark it was a baron who was so impressed with dad’s golfing that he gave him a ceramic polar bear that I now have.

Just a little info about the People-to-People Ambassador program that Horsewoofie & I participated in years ago. We stayed in locals’ homes in several countries & spent focused time learning from each other vs. “tourist activities”, although there was some of that, too. I wish it was still running. It was such an excellent, growing experience. It definitely influenced how I travel so many years later.

“The People-to-People Program was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 11, 1956 to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures. President Eisenhower felt that creating understanding between people was essential to building the road to enduring peace.

“If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments -- if necessary to evade governments -- to work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other." -- President Eisenhower's remarks at the People-to-People Conference, September 11, 1956

Wonderful sentiment by Ike, Jean.

Some years ago, my wife bought a hiking stick (cane) at an airshow. A nice souvenir for us now is the metal medallion from a place we like. A half hour ago, I tacked two medallions on her cane, one from Mt Rigi, and one from Mt. Stanserhorn in Switzerland. Flea markets have lots of these, usually.

Biggest thing we have taken home was a Davos snow sled from the big flea market in Geneva. I went to Jumbo and bought a big screwdriver to take it apart. It sits in our living room now. The screwdriver is in my workshop.

Very interesting thread. I will need to give this some thought.

Piggy-backing on Jean's post about People to People. Has anyone here traveled with Friendship Force? It was introduced by Jimmy Carter while in the White House. My mother traveled the world with the organization: usually a week sightseeing in a country and then a week staying with a local family.

We were in Salisbury touring the cathedral in 2002. Apparently our tour group were all on the same tour bus and they all had to leave. We were staying in town, so it was just us and Den the tour guide. We met several times outside the cathedral and had a very enriching experience with him and his wife (like bell ringing). The take home gift was a chunk of sandstone that used to be on the cathedral but was one of several chunks in his yard. Now on our mantel.

Lots of things.
Most unusual is a walking stick, carved by a man whose booth I bought it from, on top of Mount Uludag in Bursa, Turkey.