Let’s face it, no trip is complete without some sort of souvenir. It doesn’t have to be much. I’ve met backpackers who bring home (or mail home) postcards, but it’s something to keep as a reminder of where you’ve been.
I have a few favorites. l like to seek out useful things, usually for my kitchen, or small pieces of art to decorate my home. Italy is a treasure trove of perfect shopping for those items. I knew I’d find pieces I loved as soon as we started walking along the shop-filled streets in the towns on the Amalfi Coast.
The area is known for limoncello, but also for beautiful, colorful pottery.
The shops were open and inviting and filled to the brim with choices. I found a few small pieces (after all I had to pack them to get them home), but continued to browse simply because everything was so gosh-darned pretty.
In Ravenna and in San Marino, we marveled at the work of local artists and picked up a couple pieces to add to a collection on a wall. In San Gimignano, a little shop showcasing watercolors caught our eye and we picked up a third piece of art there.
We had known before the trip that we planned to pick up some of the delicious wines, oils and balsamic vinegars Tuscany is known for. We even brought a special suitcase with us to get the bottled “souvenirs” home safely. We filled it with treats AND ordered wine to be shipped to us after we returned to Arizona.
But it’s not just the souvenirs that makes Italy a fun place to shop. We visited the local market where Greg perused the racks for a new shirt to wear out to dinner one night.
We took a night off of restaurant eating and visited a local supermarket for the makings of a fun and easy picnic in our room for an evening in.
We even found a superstore that shared its name with my next door neighbor. I snapped a pic to share with her because “Pam” isn’t one of those names you usually find on stores and the novelty of it was too good to pass up.
We had packed for the trip in two small suitcases, and, of course, I managed to pick up a few too many things, so we ended up buying a nice bag to get all my treasures home. Note to self: you know you’re gonna buy souvenirs, take a bigger bag! But to be fair, it’s the kind of bag Greg and I have been thinking about getting for months.
There’s a whole world out there just waiting to be explored. Have a little fun picking up a few souvenirs to remember your adventure.
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