Shopping at Eastern Med.

[PBtravel1]

I'd appreciate recommendations on what are the good buys (unique, good selection and quality, reasonably priced) at the different ports.

 

I'm taking E. Med cruise and don't want to spend a lot of time shopping,;) but it's part of overall experience. I'm particulary interested in Greek isles: Corfu, Katakolan, Mykonos, Santorini and Rhodes.

 

Thank you!

[nlt46]

There are several posts that list souvenirs. I would do a search with the word souvenirs listed. I remember reading it before we went. On some cruises one just doesn't have much shopping time. It has never been a favorite activity of mine. Nancy

[tomko2]

My BIL is Greek so I talked to my sister before the cruise and she said to look for the cat eye bracelets in Mykonos and some olive oil soap.

I purchased cat eye bracelets in Mykonos which are suppose to bring you good luck.

In Rhodes I bought a 6 glass votive holders -- so pretty -- blue and clear bubbly glass. There is some lovely glass items in Rhodes. I wanted these to use as palate cleanser plates for dinner parties. Just perfect!

In Athens, I bought a lovely copper pepper grinder (my sister has a copper coffee grinder from Athens as well).

Doing my research now for our Med. cruise this summer. It is nice to have an idea of what you may wish to buy before you go; I find it keeps me from buying too much. :o

Kathy

[ab0si]

I still do a lot of traveling and used to do way to much work-related travel. We (my wife and I) decided long ago (this applies to whether I am traveling by myself or we are going together) how to handle buying stuff:

 

1) No souvenirs type stuff. She and a friend of hers make a game of it instead. If I am in, say, Indonesia, they go out looking for Indonesia "stuff" and buy my souvenirs for me. Saves lugging them around.

 

2) The two exceptions to this are:

a) museum catalogues (we do check if they are available by mail, through the 'net, etc. though). She loves these -- both for places I go without her an for places she visits. A key here is that unlike 99% of souvenir type things, you can not get the same thing at home. We often mail these home to ourselves as carrying books around .....

b) Something truly ugly. This has become a wonderful game -- friends have joined in. The object is to find the most hideous and kitschy piece of tourist junk.

 

With the internet, you can find almost anything from X from the comfort of you easy chair .. why schlep the stuff around?

[Bowie MeMe]

I like to buy the smallest example of what the area is known for. Examples a small woven Navajo basket, a bell from Messina china factory , a small coaster of Belgian lace. Originally it was because that was all I could afford -- now it is because my "travel shelves" are far too full. Each time I dust or move these tiny souveniers my mind flies back to the place it was purchased and the fun we had. We too make it a game to find and determine what will represent the country we are in. Spoon collection is fun also but nowdays the quality is so poor or the price so high -- we have 4 spoon racks full and no room for #5. Posters of the main site is also a challenge to find. We drymount on foam core and they are all over our family room. Sitting here can see Sagrada Familia (Barcelona), Crater Lake NP, Machu Pichu (Peru), Stockholm, Tahiti, Zanzibar, The Olgas (Ayers Rock Australian Outback)and Hong Kong. Saying good-bye to a poster is sad but it means we have a wonderful new memory of that area of the world to hang up and enjoy.

[PBtravel1]

Thank you everyone for the good advise. Everywhere I go I but a magnet (or 2) preferaly not the ones made in China. That's make an excellent momento.

 

Otherwise, I don't spend much time or money shopping while traveling as I agree that you can find everything you want here.

Said that, I've occasionally bought a small things I use daily that remind me of the good times (e.g. olive wood salt spoon that I've bought in Nice, necklace from Eze, bokmarks from Toledo, etc.). ;)