What trinkets did you bring back from your latest holiday? And before you answer “none” we should point out, almost without exception, tourists return home with mementos of their trip.
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One dear old lady used to purloin pieces of famous sites until the tourist authorities put most of the locations off limits.
But by that time she had a huge collection - a piece of stone from Egypt’s Great Pyramid; pebbles from Brighton Beach, England; water from Iguazu Falls, South America; rock from the ancient stadium at Delphi, Greece; and sand from Waikiki, Hawaii (unaware the sand had actually been imported from Stockton, north of Newcastle).
This correspondent is no exception. Friends have noted Chez Andrews is like a mini-museum with artefacts (bought, not stolen) from around the world; not to mention hundreds of fridge magnets.
Pride of place goes to a couple of souvenirs bought near the Souk Sekajine on the Rue de la Kasba in Tunis, back in the days when it was safe for travellers to visit that North African city.
The hookah pipe, for smoking tobacco, was from a local resident puffing away in a small laneway. We instantly offered to buy it from him for $40 US dollars. Bargain?
Moments later we bought a couple of Coca-Cola bottles, with necks artificially bent into weird shapes, for $10. They made it successfully home wrapped in dirty laundry in the middle of our suitcases. One’s laundry is always good for protecting glass objects that will be roughly handled by baggage carriers.
A couple of miniature pigs bought at the glass-blowing factory in Gibraltar were thus protected for the return to Port Macquarie. The factory is probably the only redeeming feature of the unattractive and smelly Rock of Gibraltar. There should be a warning to tourists to keep clear of the apes that live on the rocky outcrop in the Mediterranean Sea. You never know what they will throw at you!
There is a small rock from the beach at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, on the Andrews mantelpiece, which is a reminder of the sacrifices those brave soldiers made in 1914.
Be sure to label souvenirs so when you pass on the kids will know which of them has worth.
What is the weirdest souvenir you ever brought home? Contact: malcolma@ozemail.com.au.
