Buying Guide - Lili on the Loose

28 09, 2019

Buying Guide for Egyptian Papyrus Art

By Lili|September 28th, 2019|Categories: Buying Guide, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, bargaining, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Middle East, papyrus, papyrus museum, shopping, souvenir|2 Comments

Papyrus is the ancient symbol of Lower Egypt and you'll see it everywhere in Egypt. Touts will wave bookmarks and small art at you on the streets. Sellers at historical sites will have them displayed prominently. And you'll pass dozens of "Papyrus Museums" aka showrooms of the stuff. But you have to be very careful, as you could end up with cheap banana leave replicas, or artwork simply printed off a printer. Real papyrus (as any of the "Museums" will show you) no longer grows wild on the banks of the Nile, and are made from Cyperus papyrus stems. These stems

23 11, 2015

Travel Missteps: Bag full of Mugs

By Lili|November 23rd, 2015|Categories: Buying Guide, Drinks, Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2011, Christmas, Christmas in Germany 2011, Christmas Market, Cristkindlmarket, deposit, ein Pfand, Europe, Feuerzangebowle, Frankfurt, Germany, Glühwein, Heise Schokolade, hot chocolate, Kinderpunsch, Mead, mit Schuss, mug, mugs, Munich, Pfand, rum, Warmer Met, Weinahtsmarkt, wine|0 Comments

People Making Merry at the Frankfurt Christmas Market Staying Warm at the Market with the Best Christmas Drinks Christmas Markets are the perfect place to meet and socialize. Many stalls will have places to sit, or standing tables to gather around. But the trick to stay warm for this winter pastime? Drinking hot beverages! Here are the traditional drinks you may find: Glühwein is the most popular of the holiday drinks. It is made with mulled wine, usually red wine, but you might see versions that are made with white, rosè, or fruit wines. It is mixed and heated

14 11, 2015

The History of the Christmas Nutcracker

By Lili|November 14th, 2015|Categories: Buying Guide, History, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2011, Alexandre Dumas, Austria, buying guide, Christmas, Christmas in Germany 2011, Christmas Market, decoration, E.T.A Hoffman, Europe, Fuchtner, Germany, guide, history, Nutcracker, Salzburg, Steinbach, The Nutcracker, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Ulbricht|0 Comments

Nutcrackers at a German Christmas Market. Nutcrackers in some form have been around since ancient times. However, they were much different in design and from from what we consider the Christmas Nutcracker. Those didn’t appear until the mid 1700's when many Germany mines had shut down and the workers had to figure out other sources of income. They turned to the abundant forests and their woodworking skills to craft dolls, toys, Christmas Pyramids, angels, and nutcrackers. The first nutcrackers were made to look like authority figures such as kings or soldiers. These “nut cracking” officials symbolized the

5 04, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Shot Glasses

By Lili|April 5th, 2014|Categories: Buying Guide, History, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: buying, ceramic, collectable, collection, glass, history, jigger, legends, measurement, memento, memories, New York Times, pour, shopping, shot, shot glass, shot glasses, souvenir, standard, travel, whisky glass|0 Comments

A Brief Un-History of the Shot Glass Shot Glasses have become a common souvenir staple the world round. It surprised me to learn that there really isn’t any idea on who first created the shot glass and what their initial purpose was for. There are actually so many stories and legends on why they were created and how they got their name, ranging from the plausible to outright legends. What can be said is that in 1940’s the first use of the term “Shot Glass” was printed in the New York Times in reference to a standard measurement of alcohol.

25 01, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: A Buying Guide for Snow Globes

By Lili|January 25th, 2014|Categories: Buying Guide, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: buying, buying guide, collectable, collection, glass, glitter, guide, memento, memories, plastic, snow, snow dome, snow globe, snow globes, souvenir, travel|0 Comments

Last time we talked about the history of snow globes. Today I wanted to share some things to keep in mind when purchasing a snow globe as a souvenir: Glass or Plastic: This is really a personal preference but I find most of the plastic snow globes to appear very tacky, so I prefer glass snow globes. However, glass does pose the challenge of transporting a fragile object during the trip, as well as the flight home. It is a good idea is to ask if the merchant has the original packaging or has a way to wrap up the