Souvenir, souvenir
When we were in Lyon, we stumbled upon a gorgeous new and used bookstore called Librairie Diogène.
Outside they had several bins of used comic books, with the promise of even more inside.
These are our kinds of souvenirs
More after the jump
This last trip I really tried to embrace a pack-light, carry-on only approach to packing. I did okay with this goal, but it did not leave a lot of room for extra purchases, like souvenirs. Fortunately, I did anticipate some of the necessary acquisitions of travel.
Like, for instance, the Legos bought by the kilogram at Legoland.
At Legoland the bricks are not cheaper than those sold in stores, but the buyer can customize their assortment. Both Myles and Brigid focused on translucent blocks. Once at home, Myles built Lego sunglasses with his; Brigid made a stained-glass window.
Usually, though, our choice in souvenirs were very packable. In train stations, we were often able to buy these magazines with Lego, My Little Pony, or Playmobil toys attached. I am sure for many European parents, these are an annoyance, the ubiquitous stands of cheap periodicals and cheaper toys. For us travelers, though, they were awesome.
During our trip, a new Asterix album was released. Myles saw the advertisements and displays everywhere.
He ended up buying it in Italian. A woman in a shop in Gorizia heard us speaking English and saw Myles carrying around Asterix e il Papiro di Cesare. She asked him in English if he could read Italian. Myles admitted he couldn't, but the humor in Asterix was pretty obvious.
Later, in Lyon, at Librairie Diogène, both Myles and Brigid would browse the racks of Asterix, Tintin, and even Quick & Flupke. Myles (finally!) picked up the French L'Ille Negra for his multi-lingual collection of Tintin. Brigid, working on her own international library with a Quick & Flupke, Jeux Interdits.
For Christmas, they would get English versions of the new Asterix (called Asterix and the Missing Scroll) and the Quick & Flupke (called Forbidden Games--and that is one FUN title to google). Brigid knew that Quick & Flupke were out of print in English, so she was unbelievably surprised. "Where ever did you find it?"
I lucked out buying it online before Christmas; right now on Amazon that book in English is $1600!
Also in Lyon, Brigid got a Guignol finger puppet and a companion. After the man in the shop volunteered so much history for our benefit, I felt it was only right. They had full-size puppets, too, but the littler ones fit in Brigid's backpack.
One thing that Brigid set her heart on, sometime during our days in Italy, was a cape. I guess she must have seen a lot of Italian women and girls wearing fashionable capes. Even before we got to France she she was already insisting on wearing her Wanderjacke around her shoulders, like a cape.
I was hoping just to get her something at like H&M or Zara, someplace relatively inexpensive. In Bordeaux she found one in a shop for a local French brand. It was little pricier than H&M, but it was so much better than what we would have bought there. Brigid was over the moon with this cape.
In Köln, we spent a day at the Römisch-Germanisches Museum, and the kids picked out those classic toys of Ancient Rome. It's not every rubber duck that doubles as a history lesson.
Then in the Frankfurt airport, we found we still had room in our carry-on allowance for one last thing for each of the kids, Lego Advent calendars.
I was surprised that these were already sold at reduced prices, but even full price these were a reasonable, like around 20 Euros. Only after I started posting pictures of them on facebook and twitter, and one of my friends made a comment about how much they cost, did I look them up on Amazon to see what they were selling for there. Wowza!
For myself, the past few trips I have focused on Christmas ornaments. They are generally small enough to fit in my bag, and they would be worth passing along to the kids some time later in life. This time in Lyon I fell in love with this locally carved white wood nativity scene.
Outside they had several bins of used comic books, with the promise of even more inside.
These are our kinds of souvenirs
More after the jump
This last trip I really tried to embrace a pack-light, carry-on only approach to packing. I did okay with this goal, but it did not leave a lot of room for extra purchases, like souvenirs. Fortunately, I did anticipate some of the necessary acquisitions of travel.
Like, for instance, the Legos bought by the kilogram at Legoland.
At Legoland the bricks are not cheaper than those sold in stores, but the buyer can customize their assortment. Both Myles and Brigid focused on translucent blocks. Once at home, Myles built Lego sunglasses with his; Brigid made a stained-glass window.
Usually, though, our choice in souvenirs were very packable. In train stations, we were often able to buy these magazines with Lego, My Little Pony, or Playmobil toys attached. I am sure for many European parents, these are an annoyance, the ubiquitous stands of cheap periodicals and cheaper toys. For us travelers, though, they were awesome.
During our trip, a new Asterix album was released. Myles saw the advertisements and displays everywhere.
He ended up buying it in Italian. A woman in a shop in Gorizia heard us speaking English and saw Myles carrying around Asterix e il Papiro di Cesare. She asked him in English if he could read Italian. Myles admitted he couldn't, but the humor in Asterix was pretty obvious.
Later, in Lyon, at Librairie Diogène, both Myles and Brigid would browse the racks of Asterix, Tintin, and even Quick & Flupke. Myles (finally!) picked up the French L'Ille Negra for his multi-lingual collection of Tintin. Brigid, working on her own international library with a Quick & Flupke, Jeux Interdits.
For Christmas, they would get English versions of the new Asterix (called Asterix and the Missing Scroll) and the Quick & Flupke (called Forbidden Games--and that is one FUN title to google). Brigid knew that Quick & Flupke were out of print in English, so she was unbelievably surprised. "Where ever did you find it?"
I lucked out buying it online before Christmas; right now on Amazon that book in English is $1600!
Also in Lyon, Brigid got a Guignol finger puppet and a companion. After the man in the shop volunteered so much history for our benefit, I felt it was only right. They had full-size puppets, too, but the littler ones fit in Brigid's backpack.
One thing that Brigid set her heart on, sometime during our days in Italy, was a cape. I guess she must have seen a lot of Italian women and girls wearing fashionable capes. Even before we got to France she she was already insisting on wearing her Wanderjacke around her shoulders, like a cape.
I was hoping just to get her something at like H&M or Zara, someplace relatively inexpensive. In Bordeaux she found one in a shop for a local French brand. It was little pricier than H&M, but it was so much better than what we would have bought there. Brigid was over the moon with this cape.
In Köln, we spent a day at the Römisch-Germanisches Museum, and the kids picked out those classic toys of Ancient Rome. It's not every rubber duck that doubles as a history lesson.
Then in the Frankfurt airport, we found we still had room in our carry-on allowance for one last thing for each of the kids, Lego Advent calendars.
I was surprised that these were already sold at reduced prices, but even full price these were a reasonable, like around 20 Euros. Only after I started posting pictures of them on facebook and twitter, and one of my friends made a comment about how much they cost, did I look them up on Amazon to see what they were selling for there. Wowza!
For myself, the past few trips I have focused on Christmas ornaments. They are generally small enough to fit in my bag, and they would be worth passing along to the kids some time later in life. This time in Lyon I fell in love with this locally carved white wood nativity scene.
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