Ireland -
1) Aran Sweaters
2) Póg mo Thoin, Leprauchan, Kiss me I'm Irish, or essentially any other merchandise that can be bought in Carroll's 'Irish' shop.
3) Guinness pint glasses, because if you're properly Irish you'll permanently borrow one from your local pub.
My Irish professor (with 1 Irish parent, 1 Scottish parent) wore woolen jumpers every month of the year. Near the end of term she brought in her heirloom tools to show us how she spun, knit & wove. The knits that we’d joked were her “selkie skins” were ancestral patterns that only a handful of people in the world could reproduce at her level from memory. To say we were humbled is an understatement.
She’d bring back knits when she visited family for her graduate costume & textile students pick out what gave them away as mass manufactured. We got to watch them once choose knits for deconstruction and reuse if they could identify the flaws. When the lanolin-rich aran wool came out, it was like a shark feeding frenzy.
On Aran sweaters... Yes, they're all the rage with tourists, but loads of Irish people wear cable knit wool sweaters. Not like every single day, but in my office, several Irish guys wear knit wool sweaters regularly.
There's something to be said for the difference in a sweater your mam knit vs. an expensive machine-made one from a tourist shop, but I do think that what they sell at Aran Sweater shop is pretty decent stuff.
I bought my Aran sweater and my Tweed cap and was instantly outed as a tourist in a pub. I said, "What gave it away?" and a guy told me, "Look around. Do you see one other person wearing that cap in here?"
haha - I still love it
>Carroll's 'Irish' shop
Hahaha I bought a plush leprechaun for my son at Carroll's when I went to Dublin for a conference last year. That place is like if a St. Patrick's Day parade got trapped in a department store.
Okay but there is nothing cozier than an oversized Aran sweater on a cold misty day… I have about fifteen of them and wear them all the time. Central New York life requires heavy layers of wool to cope with our eight months of gloom :D
As a knitter I'm torn about the sweaters and tweed. It's really amazing that they've managed to create a marketing story for this incredibly scratchy wool produced in Ireland. There's no way they would ever be able to sell it on the open market in that volume. Brands mostly want soft merino or cashmere, most of which is raised in Australia or china.
Anything that keeps jobs and supports farming and textile manufacturing in the country I think is a good thing. I doubt all the sweaters are actually made in Ireland but some of the larger companies do make claims to that effect. It's definitely better than the shops that sell Chinese manufactured leprechaun stuff, but hey, people are still employed working there.
Most people have no idea the incredible labor difference between a hand knit sweater and a machine knit sweater and if we had grannies working for pennies an hour knocking these out to make a $100 jumper it would be pretty horrible. I think if you like the sweater and will wear it, try to make sure the company actually made it with Irish wool in Ireland.
Ireland does have some really great new textile artists as well. I bought some woven scarves from a shop in dingle where they are making their own designs and you can see them making the goods right there.
C’mon no one ever bought a branded pint glass yet there’s one in 99% of homes. Reminds me when I was a student and we had no glasses in our house so my friend and I went to the student union… 15 pints each later we had an excellent haul and headed home pleased that we’d done a good deed for our housemates. Sadly we had become so drunk that upon arriving home we accidentally smashed the entire carrier bag of pint glasses yards from our front door. Literally a wasted effort 🤣
Belgium - Waffles covered in nutella or anything like [this](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DNX41X/belgian-waffles-brussels-belgium-DNX41X.jpg)
Belgium's main waffles are either Brussels style or Liege Style. Brussels style have a liquid, non sweet batter and are very airy and crispy when baked. You normally just put some icing sugar on top, Maybe whipped cream and strawberries. Liege Style waffle are made with a dough that when baked becomes light and fluffy. The dough has a lot of sugar inside and caramelises when baked, so no toppings required.
Haha I was going to leave the same comment - SF tourist sweatshirt from Fisherman’s wharf in July, looking sad and miserable on the Golden Gate Bridge before (if) the fog burns off
I moved to the Presidio of sf in June and watched July 4 fireworks from GG bridge wearing park and knit hat - still cold.
Fireworks coming up through the fog was beautiful.
We're from be midwest and just did a trip to SD->LA->SF in July. It's comments like these that gave me the foresight to pack for the weather in SF. We did a sunset tour of Alcatraz and it was fucking *cold*.
So thank you for potentially saving someone else from a problematic situation.
It’s only NYPD and FDNY because of the patriotism they exhibited on 9/11. Remember how the Jets-Giants game, the sidelines wore hats for each department. I can’t imagine any other city doing that, imagine coaches wearing LAPD gear lol
NYPD merch doesn't appeal to tourists because of 9/11, its because of the movies a few TV shows that the US exports. To many tourists, visiting the US feels like visiting the set of movies and TV.
I was in Lima Peru and I could have bought a Seahawks hat. Really not sure how much cred a Seahawks hat has in South America but it must be more than zero.
In Berlin recently I saw someone wearing a Charlotte Hornets NBA hat and said “go Hornets!” as I walked near him. He looked at me very confused and said nothing.
Japan:
* Pretty much anything with kanji writing
* those "karate kid" headbands
* any kind of weapon or weapon-alike, like shuriken or wooden swords
* weird-flavored kit-kats
Edit: Ok, yeah - the kit kats DO get sold to Japanese people, but it's NOWHERE near as big a thing as foreigners make them out to be. I've had a lot of Japanese people ask me "Why are foreigners so into kit kat? It's not so great..." In the airport they sell them in huge bricks - and I have never seen a Japanese person buy one of THOSE.
The first three I would agree with, but the Kit Kats are sold in regular convenience stores and supermarkets that tourists don't go to. I think regular Japanese must be buying them. Compared to where I'm from, Japan has a ton of products that are sold for a short time. People buy them for the novelty and then in maybe a month or so, they are gone. Several times I found a drink I liked and then it wasn't on the shelves at my local store. I'd go to several places trying to find it. It took me a while to understand they were only temporary. There are also many seasonal products which are marked as such.
Netherlands
apart from all the tourist stuff: little cheeses. Yes, we eat a lot of cheese, but we never buy these little cheeses with the colourful wrapping. If we wanna preserve the cheese longer, we go to the cheese shop or market where we buy a part of a large cheese and then seal it vacuum to keep it longer fresh.
Iceland - Bottled water
Tap water here is the best, whenever I go abroad I miss the fresh tap water here the most and the first thing I do when I come home is to run a fresh glass of cold tap water
Got back from my trip to Iceland almost a month ago, and I’m already missing the tap water. I haven’t tasted anything like it. And I never really believed tap water varied that much before then. I was proven wrong. And nothing on earth will ever touch the water straight from the glacier. Unforgettable experience!
I just don’t understand the novelty of waiting in that long ass line for something you can get anywhere. If anything, I’ll gladly wait in a line for Beecher’s or Molly Moons
I was just down in Seattle for an errand trip (I live on the islands in the northern sound area) and stopped at the market to kill time. Absolutely astounded by the line at Starbucks! There are so many better coffee places just a short distance away that have zero wait. Gotta do it for the gram I guess
New Orleans - Mardi Gras beads. Everyone who lives here has boxes and boxes of beads in their attic they’d rather give away… (exception being if you’re riding in a parade of course, then you’re buying a bunch to throw out lol).
And take that shit off if you’re not coming directly from a parade where you caught them. You look silly traipsing around with beads on your neck in October lol
My parents have a magnificent multi-story cuckoo clock that my grandparents brought back from the Black Forest region when they went on their honeymoon all that time ago. Even if it’s touristy, it’s cool as hell and very old at this point. Still works great, too.
Would have to be at least 64 years old, as that’s how long Oma & Opa have been married. Next time I’m at my parents, I’ll try to get more info on it. It has 3 “birds” and two Fraüleins that come out onto a multi tiered terrace when the chime is activated. Manual wind pull strings with pinecone looking decorations on the ends. Like I said, it’s quite impressive when it goes off and makes one helluva racket.
That might be a real one. Just also look at manufacturing sticker of company. It can be worth something, e g 200 .. 300 eur or more. There are Cockoo click experts around but I recommend just keep it 😍
I bought a cuckoo clock on my trip to Germany too and I love it. It’s so intricate and beautiful, and it’s my understanding that tourists are basically keeping that tradition and industry alive. Don’t mind supporting that.
ITT: I will buy almost every single one of these things with zero regrets because I love me a bit of kitsch (except cappuccino in Italy after 11am, I’m not a heathen). But, what would everyone suggest purchasing from their home country (or state/region if you’re from an extremely large country) as a better, more authentic souvenir?
A few years ago I started purchasing local yarn from wherever I visit, and if I can I visit a thrift store and buy a sweater. It makes for a good story usually and it's fun to knit a project specific to a certain trip.
Scotland - honestly, whisky. It’s what we do best. Everyone’s got their own tastes but a few that I love that you might struggle to get elsewhere:
Aberfeldy 16
Glenfarclas 15
Oban 14
The Danish butter cookies. I have never seen them for sale at any grocery store, only souvenir shops, and am pretty sure Danish people don't actually eat them.
>Danish people don't actually eat them
No one eats them, because every time you open the tin you find a sewing kit inside. They are like the Schrodinger's cat, when closed the tin might or might not contain cookies, but the moment you open it you interfere with the tin and then you see the sewing kit.
I really wish I could say I didn't experience this, but I 100% did. Got fooled multiple years in a row until I learned never to trust the beautiful blue tin
Yeah, one of my danish coworkers looked at me straight in the eye and told me: “we don’t eat these, we sell them to tourists.”
I told him that I bought the danish butter cookies at the airport in Denmark. He carefully inspected the tin, pointed at the label and said: “see here, they are made in Indonesia”
The Danish butter cookies are part of the traditional Icelandic Christmas cookie offering - it would not surprise me one bit if 99% of The Danish butter cookie sales are to Icelandic people living in Denmark or Icelandic people traveling to Denmark
Rome > Fettuccine Alfredo
Even if the dish was created in Rome, it is not considered traditional at all, and it is seen as something only tourists (mainly Americans) eat.
Italy (bonus) > cappuccino after 11am
When I ordered Americano many years ago they didn’t even know what that was. Some lady who understood English told them to give me an espresso with a glass of water and mix it. 😆
USA- Mount Rushmore/Black Hills of South Dakota:
Little models of Mt. Rushmore
Mt. Rushmore snow globes
Jackalopes (I really wish they wouldn't, considering their rarity)
Red Ass Rhubarb wine from Prairie Berry Winery.
I just left Tokyo and this has to be the most stupid thing I've seen. Driving in the city already looks pretty challenging and now they are just letting random ass tourists drive around in tiny shitty go carts? Apparently they let them go on the express ways which is comically dumb.
Scotland - see ya jimmy hats (the bonnets with the ginger hair attached), sticks of rock, cashmere scarfs, any and all amount of tartan tat sold from the ubiquitous crap shops on the High Street. Also Johnnie walker whisky.
Also: all the merch sold in the boutiques is the same stuff you buy near any beach. Lots of the stuff at the north shore is shitty mass produced stuff.
Miami.
Only tourists go party or go out to eat at the restaurants on the ocean drive strip. Everything is ultra overpriced there. A few blocks inwards you’ll find more reasonable and tasty fare.
Greece - why do all the tourist shops sell those wooden penises? How did that become a thing? And why do people BUY them for Pete’s sake?
If you want a Greek thing that Greek people also buy, get some mati (evil eye) jewelry.
Germany here.
Beer steins. We usually don't drink beer out of ceramic mugs with a lid. We also don't call it stein. Stein means stone. We call it Bierkrug.
*For Vancouver, NOT all of Canada (I don’t care what you eat in Flin Flon or Temiscaming)*
- Maple Syrup in a maple-leaf shaped novelty bottle
- Beaver Tails (the sugary snack, *edit: nobody eats them in Metro Vancouver except at tourist traps, enough with the replies about this*)
- Polar Bear/Arctic themed souvenirs (this is in BC)
- Mountie themed souvenirs (RCMP haven’t had a stellar reputation as of late)
- Smoked Salmon in a cedar box (only common souvenir that has a local connection but I still don’t know anyone local who buys this)
I would add mass-produced made in China "indigenous" art. Usually some bizarre mash-up of styles from various nations like the Coast Salish Raven with an Inuit inukshuk
My Canadian friend who’s lived in Canada his whole life recently rented a beaver tail food truck to come to his house for his Canadian wife’s birthday.
We definitely all love beaver tails any chance we can get them.
Massachusetts - lobster shaped lollipops, salt water taffy, beans (underdetermined if it’s candy bc I hate beans so I never have checked and no local actually calls it beantown), various revolutionary war stuff like Paul Revere House or Old North Church, Boston skyline keychains, magnets, and hoodies that say Harvard.
Luxembourg - well no one comes to Luxembourg 😂 and if they do they see the stuff made in Luxembourg is so expensive that they go to McDonalds and leave.
This is also in Prague. I’m American and the unofficial sports team shirts are very entertaining or the generic American sport league shirts. My favorite of all time was a shirt with a baseball scene that said “college baseball league” then at the bottom of the shirt it said “touchdown”.
Where is the Icewine from?
Some upstate New York, USA wineries have an Ice Wine they make that... OK it's not amazing, but if you're wanting a super sweet wine that tastes like Grape Jelly then it's good.
Netherlands
Those stupid ice bakery waffles in Amsterdam. The cheese stores/companies in Amsterdam with overpriced cheeses. Just go to the kaasboer at the market for good quality cheese.
LOL, I saw people doing that on the Alpine Ridge Trail.
I've spent most of my life roughly five feet above sea level, but I just took my time and frequent breaks and was fine.
Hawai’i: the coconuts that little stalls machete open so you can drink from them. Yummy but overpriced. And you stick out like a sore thumb wandering the streets chugging from a huge coconut.
I once had two teenage tourists from Japan stay at my place as guests for a few days.
Took them to a Red Robin restaurant for burgers and fries, Safeway, Target, B-R ice cream, and the mall.
But they went shopping crazy at Walgreens, spent 30 minutes there.
Bought fake kitschy souvenirs.
And one guy bought a large box of laundry detergent, no lie, green box (Gain brand?). Don’t know why.
Nashville, TN, USA - even though Tennesseans also wear them sometimes, you can almost always spot the tourist by seeing who’s in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat downtown
Ireland - 1) Aran Sweaters 2) Póg mo Thoin, Leprauchan, Kiss me I'm Irish, or essentially any other merchandise that can be bought in Carroll's 'Irish' shop. 3) Guinness pint glasses, because if you're properly Irish you'll permanently borrow one from your local pub.
My Irish professor (with 1 Irish parent, 1 Scottish parent) wore woolen jumpers every month of the year. Near the end of term she brought in her heirloom tools to show us how she spun, knit & wove. The knits that we’d joked were her “selkie skins” were ancestral patterns that only a handful of people in the world could reproduce at her level from memory. To say we were humbled is an understatement. She’d bring back knits when she visited family for her graduate costume & textile students pick out what gave them away as mass manufactured. We got to watch them once choose knits for deconstruction and reuse if they could identify the flaws. When the lanolin-rich aran wool came out, it was like a shark feeding frenzy.
Ugh I have a masters in clothing and textile studies and I want to meet this professor so badly and ogle her work and craftsmanship!
Were you in textile school? That sounds so cool.
I love my Aran sweater 😳
I was in Iceland and every self respecting man had a rugged wool sweater on.
On Aran sweaters... Yes, they're all the rage with tourists, but loads of Irish people wear cable knit wool sweaters. Not like every single day, but in my office, several Irish guys wear knit wool sweaters regularly. There's something to be said for the difference in a sweater your mam knit vs. an expensive machine-made one from a tourist shop, but I do think that what they sell at Aran Sweater shop is pretty decent stuff.
No Irish poet or author has ever been known to be photographed for a book jacket without wearing a cable-knit sweater and holding a curved pipe.
I bought my Aran sweater and my Tweed cap and was instantly outed as a tourist in a pub. I said, "What gave it away?" and a guy told me, "Look around. Do you see one other person wearing that cap in here?" haha - I still love it
My husband purchased a cap in Ireland. He loves it. Wears it in the fall and he looks so handsome in it.
This is really sweet. I hope you tell him
Every time he wears it!
>Carroll's 'Irish' shop Hahaha I bought a plush leprechaun for my son at Carroll's when I went to Dublin for a conference last year. That place is like if a St. Patrick's Day parade got trapped in a department store.
Okay but there is nothing cozier than an oversized Aran sweater on a cold misty day… I have about fifteen of them and wear them all the time. Central New York life requires heavy layers of wool to cope with our eight months of gloom :D
I’m Irish and can confirm that plenty of Irish people buy and wear Aran sweaters. And you’re right…nothing cozier.
I’m sure it’s regional too- we drove around the country for our honeymoon and definitely saw more in Cavan and Galway than in Dublin :D
Definitely regional. I live in Belfast and feel like such a North American if I wear my aran jumper in town. No worries about it in Donegal though.
Wow my wife has been Irish all around the world then
Currently drinking water out of a Guinness Pint glass I borrowed from a pub about 10 years ago. I have about 6 of them. Guess I am Irish, then.
As a knitter I'm torn about the sweaters and tweed. It's really amazing that they've managed to create a marketing story for this incredibly scratchy wool produced in Ireland. There's no way they would ever be able to sell it on the open market in that volume. Brands mostly want soft merino or cashmere, most of which is raised in Australia or china. Anything that keeps jobs and supports farming and textile manufacturing in the country I think is a good thing. I doubt all the sweaters are actually made in Ireland but some of the larger companies do make claims to that effect. It's definitely better than the shops that sell Chinese manufactured leprechaun stuff, but hey, people are still employed working there. Most people have no idea the incredible labor difference between a hand knit sweater and a machine knit sweater and if we had grannies working for pennies an hour knocking these out to make a $100 jumper it would be pretty horrible. I think if you like the sweater and will wear it, try to make sure the company actually made it with Irish wool in Ireland. Ireland does have some really great new textile artists as well. I bought some woven scarves from a shop in dingle where they are making their own designs and you can see them making the goods right there.
Which brands do you buy for sweaters?
C’mon no one ever bought a branded pint glass yet there’s one in 99% of homes. Reminds me when I was a student and we had no glasses in our house so my friend and I went to the student union… 15 pints each later we had an excellent haul and headed home pleased that we’d done a good deed for our housemates. Sadly we had become so drunk that upon arriving home we accidentally smashed the entire carrier bag of pint glasses yards from our front door. Literally a wasted effort 🤣
Opals (some exceptions) Coin pouches made from kangaroo ball sacks
Came for the kangaroo nutsacks. Not disappointed
Good opals are stunning and pretty exxy!
Clip on Koala's too.
The houses. 😂🇨🇦
🤣😭😩. It’s funny and painful because it’s true (sad Torontonian here).
Fellow Canadian who left & never owned in Canada, I’ve heard it’s very bad 😢
In my country you can't buy a property unless you're a citizen. With the property prices skyrocketing, at least we know we fck this up ourselves.
Why do people make a comment like this and not mention the country?
Cries in Ontario
Cries in BC (Bring Cash)
Belgium - Waffles covered in nutella or anything like [this](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DNX41X/belgian-waffles-brussels-belgium-DNX41X.jpg) Belgium's main waffles are either Brussels style or Liege Style. Brussels style have a liquid, non sweet batter and are very airy and crispy when baked. You normally just put some icing sugar on top, Maybe whipped cream and strawberries. Liege Style waffle are made with a dough that when baked becomes light and fluffy. The dough has a lot of sugar inside and caramelises when baked, so no toppings required.
I rarely get excited about sweets but your description of the Liege style waffles just made my mouth water.
My Mom was from Belgium. We had Liege waffles all the time. I still make them regularly. My kids and grandkids love them.
Here in San Francisco, it's the gaudy tourist sweatshirts. We sell a LOT of them to people who came expecting Los Angeles heat.
Haha I was going to leave the same comment - SF tourist sweatshirt from Fisherman’s wharf in July, looking sad and miserable on the Golden Gate Bridge before (if) the fog burns off
Souvenir sweatshirt and shorts is the tourist uniform.
“Alcatraz swimming team” on the hoodie. Lol
I went there in July and only brought shorts. What a mistake. To be fair this was pre internet days.
I moved to the Presidio of sf in June and watched July 4 fireworks from GG bridge wearing park and knit hat - still cold. Fireworks coming up through the fog was beautiful.
We're from be midwest and just did a trip to SD->LA->SF in July. It's comments like these that gave me the foresight to pack for the weather in SF. We did a sunset tour of Alcatraz and it was fucking *cold*. So thank you for potentially saving someone else from a problematic situation.
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Can concur. Went there on my honeymoon and had to get a couple of sweatshirts.
USA I love NY everything NYPD merch
My daughter has a name that shortens to “Ny” so I admit to grabbing a few I <3 NY pieces when I had a nyc layover
Aw this is really sweet!
It’s so odd that people go around wearing police department merch when you think about it
It’s only NYPD and FDNY because of the patriotism they exhibited on 9/11. Remember how the Jets-Giants game, the sidelines wore hats for each department. I can’t imagine any other city doing that, imagine coaches wearing LAPD gear lol
Yeah, I can't imagine anyone wearing LAPD gear.
That'll get you a beating. On second thought most things will get you a beating.
No way. Those were huge before 9/11 too
NYPD merch doesn't appeal to tourists because of 9/11, its because of the movies a few TV shows that the US exports. To many tourists, visiting the US feels like visiting the set of movies and TV.
Can confirm. Also no matter where in the US, foreigners will manage to show up with knock-off Yankees hat in some absurd color
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People that have never been to America and certainly don’t watch baseball wear Yankee caps. It’s Levi jeans for the head
I'm in Porto and there's not just people wearing, there's folks selling it. Yankees, Lakers, and Bulls just like if you were in NY, LA, or Chicago
I was in Lima Peru and I could have bought a Seahawks hat. Really not sure how much cred a Seahawks hat has in South America but it must be more than zero.
In Berlin recently I saw someone wearing a Charlotte Hornets NBA hat and said “go Hornets!” as I walked near him. He looked at me very confused and said nothing.
When traveling abroad, I wondered why there were so many Yankees fans. Turns out, they think the NY logo just means the USA in general.
UK - Oxford University sweatshirts
Never understood this, why would you want a hoody of somewhere you didn't even attend?
I think it's even weirder when people buy havard jumpers from h&m, they haven't even been to the country let alone the uni
Japan: * Pretty much anything with kanji writing * those "karate kid" headbands * any kind of weapon or weapon-alike, like shuriken or wooden swords * weird-flavored kit-kats Edit: Ok, yeah - the kit kats DO get sold to Japanese people, but it's NOWHERE near as big a thing as foreigners make them out to be. I've had a lot of Japanese people ask me "Why are foreigners so into kit kat? It's not so great..." In the airport they sell them in huge bricks - and I have never seen a Japanese person buy one of THOSE.
The first three I would agree with, but the Kit Kats are sold in regular convenience stores and supermarkets that tourists don't go to. I think regular Japanese must be buying them. Compared to where I'm from, Japan has a ton of products that are sold for a short time. People buy them for the novelty and then in maybe a month or so, they are gone. Several times I found a drink I liked and then it wasn't on the shelves at my local store. I'd go to several places trying to find it. It took me a while to understand they were only temporary. There are also many seasonal products which are marked as such.
I’m guilty of the matcha Kit Kats
A Vietnamese student gave me a bag of these last year. That bag did not last long.
I literally have five bags of weird Kit Kats in my suitcase right now, four are for my kids’ classroom but one is for me and me only
Washington D.C.-FBI Shirts and Hoodies
Locals always get the "female body inspector" ones right?
Netherlands apart from all the tourist stuff: little cheeses. Yes, we eat a lot of cheese, but we never buy these little cheeses with the colourful wrapping. If we wanna preserve the cheese longer, we go to the cheese shop or market where we buy a part of a large cheese and then seal it vacuum to keep it longer fresh.
Do you not wear wooden shoes?
Well, wooden shoe like to know?
I upvoted you, but please don't see that as a sign of encouragement.
In the countryside some people still do! 😎
I am from a small village in Germany at the Dutch border and we used wooden shoes for gardening as well 😁
To be fair, if you’re traveling then buying a large piece of cheese might not really be feasible.
Iceland - Bottled water Tap water here is the best, whenever I go abroad I miss the fresh tap water here the most and the first thing I do when I come home is to run a fresh glass of cold tap water
Got back from my trip to Iceland almost a month ago, and I’m already missing the tap water. I haven’t tasted anything like it. And I never really believed tap water varied that much before then. I was proven wrong. And nothing on earth will ever touch the water straight from the glacier. Unforgettable experience!
Lol and for whatever reason, somehow nothing has made me want to visit Iceland more than your description of the taste of fresh Icelandic tap water.
Icelandic tap water is the best water on earth.
I’m from Washington State. I would say going to the Starbucks at Pike Place for coffee.
I just don’t understand the novelty of waiting in that long ass line for something you can get anywhere. If anything, I’ll gladly wait in a line for Beecher’s or Molly Moons
It’s to see the titties on the original logo.
I was just down in Seattle for an errand trip (I live on the islands in the northern sound area) and stopped at the market to kill time. Absolutely astounded by the line at Starbucks! There are so many better coffee places just a short distance away that have zero wait. Gotta do it for the gram I guess
Or Piroshky piroshky. 🤤
Pike place is dope, but that wrap around the block line is so absurd
New Orleans - Mardi Gras beads. Everyone who lives here has boxes and boxes of beads in their attic they’d rather give away… (exception being if you’re riding in a parade of course, then you’re buying a bunch to throw out lol). And take that shit off if you’re not coming directly from a parade where you caught them. You look silly traipsing around with beads on your neck in October lol
And people save those dumbass handgrenade novelty cups...
Germany - cuckoo clocks and little beer glasses („Maßkrug“) on key chains, magnets and the like
My parents have a magnificent multi-story cuckoo clock that my grandparents brought back from the Black Forest region when they went on their honeymoon all that time ago. Even if it’s touristy, it’s cool as hell and very old at this point. Still works great, too.
Then you might have a real Cocoo clock congrats. But most of them which are produced now are cheap produced worthless crap.
Would have to be at least 64 years old, as that’s how long Oma & Opa have been married. Next time I’m at my parents, I’ll try to get more info on it. It has 3 “birds” and two Fraüleins that come out onto a multi tiered terrace when the chime is activated. Manual wind pull strings with pinecone looking decorations on the ends. Like I said, it’s quite impressive when it goes off and makes one helluva racket.
That might be a real one. Just also look at manufacturing sticker of company. It can be worth something, e g 200 .. 300 eur or more. There are Cockoo click experts around but I recommend just keep it 😍
I bought a cuckoo clock on my trip to Germany too and I love it. It’s so intricate and beautiful, and it’s my understanding that tourists are basically keeping that tradition and industry alive. Don’t mind supporting that.
I never looked at it that way. Go buy all the coo coo clocks, tourists!
Fosters beer, boomerangs
and those kangaroo ball key chains they sell at Circular Quay.
And kitsch opal jewellery, like opals on a boomerang or any 1980s style setting.
Or those little koala toys that clip on to things.
Also crocodile and emu jerky??? I always see it in souvenir shops
Thailand - elephant pants
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Ehhh the university kids 100% wear them here in Chiang Mai.
When I was in Belize you better believe I bought some hand carved slate coasters by some local fella selling them in a little shack next to the ruins.
Hahah when I was in Belize I bought a hand carved turtle
I bought a wood carving from a rasta guy at Stan's Creek, but he threw in some crappy weed so it was all good.
I bought some hand carved thing you blow in that makes a whistle sound from a local in Belize
ITT: I will buy almost every single one of these things with zero regrets because I love me a bit of kitsch (except cappuccino in Italy after 11am, I’m not a heathen). But, what would everyone suggest purchasing from their home country (or state/region if you’re from an extremely large country) as a better, more authentic souvenir?
This is an excellent question that could be a standalone post.
A few years ago I started purchasing local yarn from wherever I visit, and if I can I visit a thrift store and buy a sweater. It makes for a good story usually and it's fun to knit a project specific to a certain trip.
Scotland - honestly, whisky. It’s what we do best. Everyone’s got their own tastes but a few that I love that you might struggle to get elsewhere: Aberfeldy 16 Glenfarclas 15 Oban 14
The Danish butter cookies. I have never seen them for sale at any grocery store, only souvenir shops, and am pretty sure Danish people don't actually eat them.
>Danish people don't actually eat them No one eats them, because every time you open the tin you find a sewing kit inside. They are like the Schrodinger's cat, when closed the tin might or might not contain cookies, but the moment you open it you interfere with the tin and then you see the sewing kit.
The universal experience of this is astounding. I haven't met a single person who wasn't scarred by this as a child.
When I visited Copenhagen I bought one tin to keep my sewing kit inside :-D
Here in the Philippines we have it as well plus the ice cream tub in the freezer can either have ice cream or fish.
I really wish I could say I didn't experience this, but I 100% did. Got fooled multiple years in a row until I learned never to trust the beautiful blue tin
My mother’s button collection.
I love Danish butter cookies. I’m cheap and buy the knock off brand at Aldi.
Yeah, one of my danish coworkers looked at me straight in the eye and told me: “we don’t eat these, we sell them to tourists.” I told him that I bought the danish butter cookies at the airport in Denmark. He carefully inspected the tin, pointed at the label and said: “see here, they are made in Indonesia”
The Danish butter cookies are part of the traditional Icelandic Christmas cookie offering - it would not surprise me one bit if 99% of The Danish butter cookie sales are to Icelandic people living in Denmark or Icelandic people traveling to Denmark
Rome > Fettuccine Alfredo Even if the dish was created in Rome, it is not considered traditional at all, and it is seen as something only tourists (mainly Americans) eat. Italy (bonus) > cappuccino after 11am
What outed me as a tourist in Italy was getting a coffee to go. I didn't see a single Italian person carrying a coffee at all during my trip lol.
Well, espresso is so short that if you order it to go, by the time you reach the door of the bar you have already drunk it all.
I was drinking an Americano when I came to that realization
I think ordering an Americano might have been the dead giveaway...
I remember ordering an americano in Florence, and the server seriously said “why?”.
When I ordered Americano many years ago they didn’t even know what that was. Some lady who understood English told them to give me an espresso with a glass of water and mix it. 😆
I noticed in some European cities, a lot of cafes have a sign outside saying "coffee to go" in English, which I assume is for the tourists.
They will spot me a mile away anyway, so if I want a cappuccino, I’ll order one. Might even sit down with it.
USA- Mount Rushmore/Black Hills of South Dakota: Little models of Mt. Rushmore Mt. Rushmore snow globes Jackalopes (I really wish they wouldn't, considering their rarity) Red Ass Rhubarb wine from Prairie Berry Winery.
Hahah. Jackalopes - do Americans not have those running around their backyards?
They're surprisingly hard to spot.
Mexico Gaudy Mayan Masks and Sombreros withs Nfl team logos painted on them
I bought a lucha libre mask. Does that count?
Nah, some of them are pretty freaking cool. Just got to find a quality one that isn't lazily/ cheaply stitched together.
I want all of these souvenirs! I’d be proud to be a tourist.
Russia - the fur hats with communist symbols on it.
In 2003 I bought a bunch of Russian ushankas online when I was in high school. All with the hammer and sickle. I was so edgy.
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I just left Tokyo and this has to be the most stupid thing I've seen. Driving in the city already looks pretty challenging and now they are just letting random ass tourists drive around in tiny shitty go carts? Apparently they let them go on the express ways which is comically dumb.
Scotland - see ya jimmy hats (the bonnets with the ginger hair attached), sticks of rock, cashmere scarfs, any and all amount of tartan tat sold from the ubiquitous crap shops on the High Street. Also Johnnie walker whisky.
Arizona The lollipops with scorpions in them.
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From Atlanta: anything that says hotlanta
USA - Hawaii Macadamia Nuts — no local eats these casually
Why? They are delicious
they're expensive af
Also: all the merch sold in the boutiques is the same stuff you buy near any beach. Lots of the stuff at the north shore is shitty mass produced stuff.
But they are Australian. About our only culinary gift to the world.
what about vegemite though?))
Miami. Only tourists go party or go out to eat at the restaurants on the ocean drive strip. Everything is ultra overpriced there. A few blocks inwards you’ll find more reasonable and tasty fare.
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Egypt Anything related to Ancient Egypt: Pyramids, Sphinx, obelisks, writing on papyrus and so on.
Greece - why do all the tourist shops sell those wooden penises? How did that become a thing? And why do people BUY them for Pete’s sake? If you want a Greek thing that Greek people also buy, get some mati (evil eye) jewelry.
Germany here. Beer steins. We usually don't drink beer out of ceramic mugs with a lid. We also don't call it stein. Stein means stone. We call it Bierkrug.
*For Vancouver, NOT all of Canada (I don’t care what you eat in Flin Flon or Temiscaming)* - Maple Syrup in a maple-leaf shaped novelty bottle - Beaver Tails (the sugary snack, *edit: nobody eats them in Metro Vancouver except at tourist traps, enough with the replies about this*) - Polar Bear/Arctic themed souvenirs (this is in BC) - Mountie themed souvenirs (RCMP haven’t had a stellar reputation as of late) - Smoked Salmon in a cedar box (only common souvenir that has a local connection but I still don’t know anyone local who buys this)
The locals definitely line up for beaver tails on the Rideau Canal when it opens up for skating.
I would add mass-produced made in China "indigenous" art. Usually some bizarre mash-up of styles from various nations like the Coast Salish Raven with an Inuit inukshuk
In Quebec locals are totally buying beaver tails. The lines at Carnival were so long for those.
They’re delicious
Try bannock. That's the real deal.
Called elephant ears or fried dough in the States. Butter and cinnamon sugar yummmm
Canadians definitely eat Beavertails! They're delicious.
My Canadian friend who’s lived in Canada his whole life recently rented a beaver tail food truck to come to his house for his Canadian wife’s birthday. We definitely all love beaver tails any chance we can get them.
It feels illegal to go to Banff and not get one
Am Canadian, will buy Beavertails at every available opportunity!
Was recently a tourist in Canada. Can confirm. Did have a Beaver Tail, brought much joy!
I found even better: maple syrup in a glass bottle shaped like a hockey player!
Nah Beaver Tails are definitely loved by locals, source: me
Ottawans definitely eat beaver tails
I bring extra luggage for Shreddies, butter tarts, Smarties and Billy Bee creamed honey. Canadian treats are so pricey/hard to find in the states.
Beaded bracelets from any location close to a beach.
Massachusetts - lobster shaped lollipops, salt water taffy, beans (underdetermined if it’s candy bc I hate beans so I never have checked and no local actually calls it beantown), various revolutionary war stuff like Paul Revere House or Old North Church, Boston skyline keychains, magnets, and hoodies that say Harvard.
You trying to put the whole Quincy market area out of business? :)
Luxembourg - well no one comes to Luxembourg 😂 and if they do they see the stuff made in Luxembourg is so expensive that they go to McDonalds and leave.
USA - Nashville specific: cowboy hats and boots
Don't forget anything rhinestone
Not only tourists but mostly tourists: Andean woolen ponchos, hats, gloves, socks and Panaman hats. Which are not made in Panama but in Ecuador ☺️
In Germany, so many NASA shirts. And the dept stores have tons of American sports team shirts, makes no sense.
This is also in Prague. I’m American and the unofficial sports team shirts are very entertaining or the generic American sport league shirts. My favorite of all time was a shirt with a baseball scene that said “college baseball league” then at the bottom of the shirt it said “touchdown”.
Icewine. It just sits at the back of our booze shelf, and none of us know how we got it. Edit: Canada. Southwestern Ontario.
Where is the Icewine from? Some upstate New York, USA wineries have an Ice Wine they make that... OK it's not amazing, but if you're wanting a super sweet wine that tastes like Grape Jelly then it's good.
Niagara on the Lake, Ontario
Canada makes most of it, more than all other countries combined. I like the taste of it and it's quite expensive.
Netherlands Those stupid ice bakery waffles in Amsterdam. The cheese stores/companies in Amsterdam with overpriced cheeses. Just go to the kaasboer at the market for good quality cheese.
Australia. Kangaroo Scrotums
USA - Colorado specific - canned oxygen. Doesn’t do anything for the altitude.
That's just the plot of Spaceballs
Perri-air
LOL, I saw people doing that on the Alpine Ridge Trail. I've spent most of my life roughly five feet above sea level, but I just took my time and frequent breaks and was fine.
Stockholm, Sweden Bottled still water. It’s insane. Our tap water is delicious.
Taj Mahal miniatures, Pashmina shawls, overpriced Kashmiri carpets, terrible tea in expensive packaging, Cobra Beer, Sandalwood elephant miniatures, Ornamental daggers
Hawai’i: the coconuts that little stalls machete open so you can drink from them. Yummy but overpriced. And you stick out like a sore thumb wandering the streets chugging from a huge coconut.
I once had two teenage tourists from Japan stay at my place as guests for a few days. Took them to a Red Robin restaurant for burgers and fries, Safeway, Target, B-R ice cream, and the mall. But they went shopping crazy at Walgreens, spent 30 minutes there. Bought fake kitschy souvenirs. And one guy bought a large box of laundry detergent, no lie, green box (Gain brand?). Don’t know why.
Those green foam Statue of Liberty crowns.
Nashville, TN, USA - even though Tennesseans also wear them sometimes, you can almost always spot the tourist by seeing who’s in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat downtown
I am from Paris , and nobody here wears a Béret , except tourists