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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 29, 2009 22:09:05 GMT
Seeing the picture Jazz posted triggered a sudden, frenzied desire to visit Canada!
I got one of the best souvenirs ever at an airport shop in Oklahoma City. I was distressed because I'd failed to pick up a fridge magnet for a friend who likes them. Looking for one at the airport shop, I came across just the thing. It was a little tornado generator -- sort of like a snow globe, but better. You had to agitate it with the correct wrist movement and you got a perfect little tornado. He was beyond delighted, and we had a lot of fun with it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2009 22:11:11 GMT
I want one of those.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 29, 2009 22:34:33 GMT
You would love it. The next time I see one, I promise to get it for you.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2009 1:30:10 GMT
Y'all are tooo cute. Looking at these photos of you both as little kids and chatting about toys! It's so endearing!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 30, 2009 2:09:05 GMT
Toys?! We're talking about art.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2009 2:15:33 GMT
Did I say toys? I meant ART,of course,yes,art
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Post by bjd on Jul 30, 2009 9:06:05 GMT
The only Canadian souvenir I have is a 3-D beaver fridge magnet.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 30, 2009 14:30:51 GMT
*envy*
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2013 6:37:52 GMT
I found a little box where I stored relics from all of the oceans of the world.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 31, 2013 15:56:00 GMT
That is very sweet.
As for kitsch, is there no more RATP boutique? They had all kinds of métro swag for your trainspotter friend.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2013 18:02:00 GMT
My favourite souvenir of all time, long gone, was an alabaster Tower of Pisa that was coated with a substance that changed colour with the weather. It was so tacky.
Now I collect souvenirs in thrift stores, etc., from places I've never been - Australian map tablecloths, lobster trays from the east coast, a thermometer from White Rose, Alberta.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2013 18:32:54 GMT
Yes, we had some barometer items (pink or blue depending on the weather), but they were Baccarat crystal.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 1, 2013 7:12:43 GMT
I have a serious question about souvenirs, especially since so many mentioned are things I believe to be banned now because of "security". Are those of us who travel with only carry-on luggage now to be deprived of all the ceramic delights available? What about pointy things (Eiffel towers) or snow globes?
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Post by bjd on Sept 1, 2013 8:33:35 GMT
Snow globes? Oh, you mean you would break the glass or plastic and then attack the pilot with it?
I don't think so actually. I should think a small Eiffel tower would get through as well, but I suppose it depends on where you are going through security. US airports are known to be really strict and unpleasant.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 11:43:15 GMT
Actually, from what I understand, snow globes larger than a tennis ball (?) are still banned from carry-on luggage, because they contain more than 3 ounces of liquid.
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Post by htmb on Sept 1, 2013 17:31:02 GMT
I'm sure you will all be drooling with envy over how lucky I am right now....
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2013 15:25:28 GMT
Before all the "security" restrictions about liquids and the like went into effect, i had become fond of procuring local honey and hot sauce (separately) to bring back with me. I was really irked when 3 or 4 tiny bottles of Cuban hot sauce were confiscated from me while leaving Miami a few years ago. There were umpteen local beekeepers in Northern Georgia when I visited recently and I so wanted to bring some back but nooooo.....GRRRRR!!!!
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Post by bjd on Sept 2, 2013 16:26:19 GMT
I bought a 500 ml tube of hot Hungarian paprika sauce in Budapest last year. It was confiscated at the airport.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 2, 2013 16:54:48 GMT
Here's what I don't understand: 1) it's often difficult to find out what exactly is prohibited, as in the tube of paprika sauce. 2) you can buy booze in big glass bottles, hand that over when you board the plane, then receive it at debarkation. But 3) anything they decide you can't have (tubes of paprika sauce, expensive makeup, Zatarain's mustard) is willy-nilly snatched away from you & tossed into a bin. (a bin I don't doubt the airport personnel rummage through at the end of the workday). WHY can't those items just be temporarily confiscated & given to you at your destination? I'm getting ready to take a tortuous trip to the US, where once again I'll be subjected to the indignities used to keep the land of hope & glory safe from its own law-abiding middle class citizens one pissed-off traveler at a time.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2013 17:03:41 GMT
I thought you could only bring alcohol that was bought at the duty-free, i.e. past security. I must be wrong about that. I'm dreading this wedding I have to go to in Florida. A quick flying trip to a small beach town. How am I supposed to pack all of the cosmetics I need to get ready for a wedding into a tiny plastic bag? No time to shop there. I'm going to look like crap.
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Post by htmb on Sept 2, 2013 17:19:06 GMT
Lizzy, at Bed Bath and Beyond I purchase a quart sized zipper bag with tiny little containers inside. It comes as a set. I put little bits of all my liquid cosmetics in those little jars when I travel and have plenty for two week trips to Paris. I also have room for my little bottles of mouthwash (bourbon) that I drink before take-off. I've used those containers for several years of traveling. I don't put the mascara and eyeliner in the little bag if there's not enough room and I've never had anyone say anything.
BTW...the tiny little beach town does have plenty of modern shops and caters to an up-scale clientele.
I cannot purchase liquid duty free when I'm traveling from Europe through Altanta or Charlotte and connect to a regional airport. My friend was specifically given that infomation at CDG when she tried to purchase Chanel perfume. The clerks refused to sell it to her with the explanation that it would be confiscated in Atlanta because she was continuing on to Florida.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 2, 2013 17:22:01 GMT
That's true, Lizzyfaire -- it's only from duty-free, but still big glass bottles with liquid sloshing around inside. If we pass through security with our dangerous five-ounce bottle of hand lotion, couldn't they just hold that for us as well?
(for the record, the bags for toiletries can be quart-sized & you can use more than one)
Here's my present dilemma, which does in fact fit into the Souvenir thread:
I want a particular all-in-one computer which is not available in Mexico. If I could figure out how to get it into some kind of carry on bag, I'd still be stymied. That's because one of my flights will be in an American Eagle dinkoid jet, where they snatch away your carryon luggage in order to abuse it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2013 17:27:29 GMT
If you have a connecting flight, you absolutely cannot buy liquids on the way -- they will be confiscated at your connection.
One thing that I found "amusing" on one trip was that I had a tiny bit of sunblock left in a squeeze bottle which I tried to take on a trip. It was confiscated (I didn't care) not because of the few drops left inside but because of the size of the container.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 2, 2013 17:28:04 GMT
Besides the odd decent-looking fridge magnet ( is there such a thing?) I post ALL of my collection of TShirts for the grandchildren, flower and vegetable seed packets, the odd kitchen towel and so forth. At least I know at the airport i don't have to fling out anything for being over the limit. At home suitcases can be weighed before leaving ones house but when on holiday you land up at the airport overweight....what the heck do you do with the surplus?
Admittedly I must have paid a kings ransom in postage but I got every single souvenir not matter how prohibited the contents!
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Post by tod2 on Sept 2, 2013 17:29:55 GMT
Oh Htmb , I just love that mouthwash!!! ;D
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Post by htmb on Sept 2, 2013 17:33:38 GMT
I had a half a bottle of wine left from lunch - the kind you buy in the deli-type food courts at CDG - and I went through security at Atlanta a few years ago without anyone saying a thing. I'd forgotten about it. I guess one of the scanners was dozing on the job that day.
It is my understanding that you are only allowed one quart bag of liquids in your carry-on on US flights.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 2, 2013 17:56:47 GMT
I think you're right about the one quart bag of liquids, Htmb, but you can have a separate bag for other toiletries. I'm sure Lizzy knows this, but the bag for liquids must be zip-lock style. The liquids have to be separated from other toiletries, which I found out the hard way.
Hmm. Are your sure about the connecting flight thing on liquor, Kerouac? The only time I've bought booze to take on a flight was in the Oaxaca airport, so that I could bring a local brand of mezcal. I've never been able to get where I was going in the US without a connecting flight(s), so it must have been allowed. (this was post-2001)
Great idea about mailing stuff, Tod, although it doesn't help me with the computer problem.
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Post by htmb on Sept 2, 2013 18:02:28 GMT
The little BBB bag I used has a zipper closure, though its cheap. It has always passed inspection, but I usually keep an extra quart ziplock bag just in case the first one breaks. I mainly buy it for the tiny little containers inside.
Lizzy, plan on it being hot on your little island visit. Unfortunately, September is usually a pretty warm month.
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Post by bjd on Sept 2, 2013 18:57:26 GMT
In fact, I could have brought my paprika paste if it had been in 100ml tubes. It was considered to be a gel or liquid (like toothpaste, I guess), so it was confiscated because it was too big, not because of the contents. My friend and I both both one and both had the tubes confiscated.
We were so pissed off afterwards that we thought we should have unscrewed the cap, squeezed 400ml into the big garbage can beside the security desk, and taken the rest home -- in a zip-lock bag.
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Post by htmb on Sept 2, 2013 19:03:15 GMT
I would have squeezed it all out into the trash.
It's the size of the container that counts, not how much "liquid, gel, or aerosal" is left inside.
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