28 09, 2019

Buying Guide for Egyptian Papyrus Art

By |September 28th, 2019|Categories: Buying Guide, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |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

1 04, 2017

Souvenir Saturday: Suckered into Buying Papyrus

By |April 1st, 2017|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

One thing I didn't think I'd get in Egypt was Papyrus. I didn't think I'd find anything I'd want to display, and I had always seen cast-off papyrus at second-hand stores like Goodwill. But, when you are there in the moment you get caught up...and guilted. You see, our group stopped at a "Papyrus Museum" (aka showroom) on our way to Alexandria. They showed us how Papyrus is made, and then each one of us were allowed to look around. Except in Egypt, "looking around" means you get adopted by one of the many employees eager for a sell. An

8 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 4 – Papyrus Trap & Alexandria

By |March 8th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 4 – Papyrus Trap & Road to Alexandria We then headed to a "Papyrus Museum", or a store that has been licensed in making real authentic papyrus (fake/cheaper ones are made with banana leaves). The store showed us how the papyrus is cut, left to age in the water, and then how to make it by alternating layers in different directions and pounding out all the water. She showed how it

4 01, 2016

Travel Missteps: Like a Turtle

By |January 4th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Saying goodbyes to the friends you’ve made while traveling is one of the hardest things to do. In 2004 I was part of the Sister Cities exchange program and stayed in Chino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. I made great friends and had a great time. But getting up early to say our goodbyes before heading out on a 37 hour travel day was hard. There were lots of hugs, tears, and photos. And then...there were a lot of times I just keeled over. Farewell to Kana, note the 3 bags on my person and the 4 bags on the ground.

7 02, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Sukiyaki

By |February 7th, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Sometimes the best part of the souvenir is the memory about buying it. In high school I was studying Japanese and our teacher assigned us a project to go to a local university's Asian culture week. I was obsessed with all things Japan, and so had a great time. One of the panel sessions that I went to was on the history of the song Sukiyaki. In 1963 this song reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and is the only Japanese language song to do so. It is also one of the best selling singles

5 04, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Shot Glasses

By |April 5th, 2014|Categories: Buying Guide, History, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |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.

22 03, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Daily Reminder

By |March 22nd, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

When purchasing a souvenir an important part of the buying process is what you are going to do with it once you get it back home. Is it just for your collection? A gift for someone else? Are you going to display it? Or is it something you plan on using day to day? In 2004 when I purchased an expensive silk kimono I planned on using it as a display piece, probably hang it on a wall. But I was a poor college student and couldn’t afford to frame it yet, so it sat in a box in my

17 03, 2014

Travel Missteps: Left Over Right

By |March 17th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

In 2004, I was spending a few weeks in Japan as a cultural ambassador with my town's Sister Cities delegation of two chaperones and 9 other students. Beyond experiencing the sites of Tokyo for a few days, we all wanted to get some souvenir shopping done before we headed to the smaller, non-touristy town which was our sister city. I had read in a guide book that a store in Tokyo called "Oriental Bazaar" had a great selection of many typical Japanese souvenirs at cheaper prices. So I guided the group there. It was perfect, they had so many great

8 03, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Its Smaller on the Outside

By |March 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

I was on my last afternoon in Ireland, and had a lot of euro coins left over. Knowing that my bank won't exchange coins, was buying random souvenirs as gifts. One of the last items I bought was a small county flag of Dublin, Ireland. I had seen them around while traveling and they reminded me of the flags of the different contrade of Siena. But when I returned home and open the package, I found that this 7 euro flag, was not a small flag.  But it was actually the size of a traditional flag (about the size of a

22 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Volcano Snow Globe

By |February 22nd, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |2 Comments

My latest snow globe souvenir is a unique find. While on my last full day in Costa Rica, my group asked our tour leader Randy where the best place to buy souvenirs was. He knew that we would be getting into San Jose really late and since most of us had an early flight the next day would not be able to get anything. So on the way back Randy had the van stop at a large and fancy store. He said it was usually frequented by the all-inclusive hotels and so would have the best selection of souvenirs, however