Souvenirs & other fun travel things

Well, I was going through my drafts folder and came across this post I had written but apparently had forgotten to post! So here is some of the things I picked up while in England, France, and Germany!

In England, I picked up the Hogwarts crest mug and Hogwarts notebooks from the Harry Potter studio tour gift shop.

The mini phone booths and London mug came from a tourist shop in London. I wish I would have picked up more little souvenirs in London! Like a little tower bridge or something. I was worried about spending too much money because I thought we were going to be doing more shopping, but we ended up not doing much more and I missed out on some things!

While a lot of people will say to wait until the end of your trip to buy souvenirs, I think that is bad advice! One reason being that you might never come across those neat things again and then you will be mad at yourself for not getting them! Anyways, I guess that is one incentive to go back ;) 

The tin and mini Eiffel towers came from a neat tourist shop in the Monmartre neighborhood in Paris.

The bird mug came from a Monoprix in Lyon. And the Le Petit Prince came from a bookstore in Lyon.

The Alice in Wonderland book came from a used bookstore in Dinan.

And the little embroidered doily came from a gift shop in Heidelberg.

I bought a couple of kid books for a few different reasons. One, Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince is the English version.) is possibly one of the best childrens' books ever written. Seriously. If you've never read it, and even if you don't have kids you should read it. It's got such a great message and the story is pretty cute. And the movie is coming out this year!

Alice in Wonderland was one of my favorite movies as a kid, so it only made sense to buy the book! And it was only like €3, so I couldn't pass it up! 

 I like buying interesting postcards when I travel. I don't like to get the ones that are pictures that I could take myself, so I usually stick to ones that are vintage or artsy. I like the vintage style ones best, but you don't find them very often! I also found those two Eiffel tower posteres while we were walking around in Montmartre in Paris.

 Some great clothes I picked up in Lyon! While in Lyon, we came across a couple of great stores. One was Pimkie and the other was Promod. The two white shirts on the left are from Pimkie, and the other two shirts and skirt were from Promod. I really like Pimkie, and am disappointed they don't have any store in North America. They don't ship to the US either! I prefer more simple patterns, and it's hard to find interesting or unique pieces here.

I definitely think next time I travel to Europe, I'm going to bring less clothing so I can be able to buy more there! 

I was not about to leave Europe without some chocolate! You can find Cadbury bars in the US, but they aren't as good as the ones from England. And Chocolate with Oreo? Need I say more? And yes, they are as good as they sound! 

I actually still have one of the Milka Colors bars left, which I need to eat! I put it away and kind of forgot about it. Also, if you are ever in France, be sure to pick up some Madeleines. They are SO SO good! 

When I travel, I typically try to pick up some postcards, an interesting coffee mug, and some sort of fun decretive things. It's nice to find something to display around the house as a reminder of my travels!

Do you collect anything when you travel?