|
| |
Stationery
Travel diaries, handcrafted marbelized paper, and other
gift stationery items are fine gifts. Sealing-wax kits, complete standard or custom metal
stamps, will please recipients with a taste for the traditional. (Look for stamps with
Venetian themes, such as the Lion of St. Mark or a sun with a human face.)
Venice has many handsome little shops that specialize in
paper goods, bookbinding, and stamps. All are used to dealing with tourists, so don't be
shy about venturing in and asking, "Uh...parla inglese?"
See captioned
photo:
Il Pavone
Food
Candy, vacuum-packed bags of Italian coffee, cookies,
and other common food items are fun to give away or save for a special occasion.
Torrone, a boxed almond confection, and Perugina chocolate kisses in
ornament-shaped plastic balls are popular at Christmas. Also check the
wines and packaged gourmet foods at I Tre Mercanti,
which offers 97 different types of pasta sauces alone.
Avoid the
temptation to carry a salami or a bag of tangerines home with you, since perishable foods
(other than baked goods) can't be imported legally into the U.S. and many other countries.
See
illustrated article: I Tre Mercanti
Everyday household items
Purchases that you take for granted at home can be
wonderful souvenirs when purchased abroad. Years ago, my wife and I bought travel
flashlights in a Lisbon hardware store. These became our "Portuguese
flashlights," even though they were imported from England. In Denmark, we bought
plastic cups for our bathroom--and seven years later, those bright Danish red cups still
remind us of our three trips to Denmark. From Italy, we brought a collection of miniature Star
Trek spaceships home to our 9-year-old Trekker son. The fact that the toys bore an
American brand name and were made in Asia didn't change the fact that, for our son, they
were Italian additions to his starship collection--if only because the labels were in
Italian.
A while back, Brad Ball of Silversea Cruises
told me about his favorite souvenir item: refrigerator magnets. Such magnets are
inexpensive, easy to carry home, and more useful than most other travel
mementoes.
See captioned
photo: Ratti
Tips:
- If you're a serious shopper, the one book you need
to buy is Born to Shop: Italy, by
the inimitable Suzy Gershman. This
easy-to-carry, readable, and entertaining paperback won't steer you toward Star Trek toys or plastic cups for
your bathroom, but it's loaded with practical tips on shops and shopping in Italy, and it
has a detailed chapter on Venice.
Back to:
Introduction - page 1
| |
|
Durant
& Cheryl
Imboden's
