My favourite souvenir? this month? this year?
Considering I have never not brought back a souvenir, this question poses all kinds of difficulties for me. I have many, many OCD tendencies: I don’t approve of clutter, I organise every part of our home, I love clean open spaces, but when it comes to souvenirs…. I am a person who needs to be grouped in the category labelled ‘hoarder’. From the tacky tat to the expensive handmade pieces, I absolutely adore bringing back momentos from places I visit.
Yes, I am one of those who has had to buy an extra holdall in Marrakech just to carry a ginormous hand embroidered blanket we bought in a market.
One of those who has hand carried a clay mosque from Turkey and nearly broke my back saving it from cracking when I slipped boarding the plane.
The type who sees a weird floor cushion contraption in Bangkok that resembles one I had growing up and has to use those cling wrapping machines in the airport to make sure it’s safe to check in.
Honestly, this list could go on for some time!
I also love it when friends and family gift us with presents from their adventures, a piece to tell their own travel tales or sometimes it’s something which has reminded them of us (sometimes a good thing.. other times not so much).
Our friends know anything feline is usually a hit with me, such as the lucky cat from China (although this gift happens to be unlucky for Mo as its waving hand makes a metronome-style clicking noise that drives him round the bend). I have a tendency to jokingly ask for a lion whenever anyone is headed to Africa, so I loved it when our friend actually brought me back a hand carved one from Malawi.
Here’s a gallery of some of my various treasures from around the globe, each piece with it’s own special story:
I wrote a few months back about how I was inspired by Madame Jeanne Augier’s Hotel Negresco in Nice to fill my home with items from all over the world. Going at the rate we’re going, it won’t be long before we start to run out of wall space!
My favourite (?)
Ok, so if I had to pick my favourite. Like reeeeeeally had to pick just one, it would be our latest purchase. This very large, very bright, very AMAZING painting from the Sunday market in Rio:
We both fell completely in love with it and on purchasing, learnt a few valuable lessons: Number one, when buying a painting outdoors it always looks a LOT smaller than it actually is. Number two, any painting over a metre wide will not fit into a suitcase. Well not mine anyway.
Luckily I always have Mo on hand to help carry the usually quite awkward shaped goodies we find 🙂
What are husbands for, right?
