There are two kinds of travellers in the world.

You’ve got the kind of travellers that are all set with just a backpack but then there’s me. It so happens that I absolutely LOVE travelling heavy. It’s like Rose from Titanic when she grew old, how she travelled across the world literally carrying her entire house with her, that right there is my spirit animal cause wherever I go, I travel with four trunks, three backpacks, two purses and two large empty bags.

Right, why not add an attic too, eh?

Our point of focus in this post is the two large empty bags as their purpose is to hold souvenirs on the way back. So, Imma deep dive into these not-so-empty bags and show ya what they hauled from the Mediterranean. The contents of these bags today come from the nations of Greece, Italy and Turkey.

Welcome to my unboxing post!

hehe.

This picture contains all the divine miracles one could ever want.

This haul from Athens has a replica of the Acropolis, a souvenir that defines a trip to Greece. On the right, there’s a small version of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus where Yanni recorded his album ‘Live at the Acropolis’ in 1993. The green trinket is the Arch of Hadrian and then, you’ve got the Gods showering Love and Thunder. From left to right, there’s Poseidon, Aphrodite, Zeus, Apollo and finally Athena who owns the city of Athens. That’s actually way more than Love and Thunder.

Hehe.

One cannot simply go to Greece and not buy an owl. I mean, that would offend Athena. So here we’ve got an owl with blue evil-eye beads for eyes and a curious collection of Greek helmets. So back when the ancients fought wars the helmets served as identifiers. Honestly, it’s a miracle how they spotted helmets in the midst of going all ‘THIS IS SPARTA!!!!’ considering the helmets look similar to me but the Greeks were made of divine stuff, what with half of them being demigods. So this would probably have been cakewalk.

This is actually Sparta tho;)

On the left, we’ve got a shot glass with an ‘evil eye’ symbol and a coin with Apollo on it. The barrel is a replica of the huge ones that were used to carry olive oil in the past and on top of it is a medal from the Olympic Stadium. I really like how compact the medal is and it’s also rather heavy.

Around the barrel is a wreath which was probably the Best Buy Ever as it made me feel like Athena herself when I wore it:) The wreath is one of the souvenirs everyone should buy in Greece as it does become a very delightful addition to any outfit. Beside it is a Bouzouki, a Greek instrument resembling a banjo. These instruments come in really pretty designs and it is really hard to choose just one.

Talking of owls, here’s my big Beanie Boo that came from Athens….

Honestly, I’ve never seen a Beanie Boo this big! It was the highlight of our Greek shopping.

The next haul is a boat ride away to the island of Santorini. On the left, you’ve got a donkey which is the national animal of Santorini and a tiny beer mug, a snow globe and three models of the blue domes and the windmill. The blue domes are the most common sights in Santorini, everywhere you look, there’s a stand of souvenirs depicting the domes. There’s blue dome shaped boxes, perfumes, calendars, snow globes and the list goes on. And the funny part is that when you finally make it to the island of Oia where these blue domes are located, it is an absolute maze to find these babies as they are literally visible from a cranny in the wall in a tiny lane that can be so easily overlooked. Nevertheless, buying Blue Dome themed souvenirs is an addiction as everything is so cute that one has to have it:)

On the right, there’s two bottles of Ouzo, a traditional Greek drink in quirky bottles. The transparent bottle is shaped like the map of Santorini while the other one has an animated scenery painted on it. I really love how the island is shaped like a crescent moon which is another popular emblem as you can see in the purple necklace which is made out of lava stone.

Santorini is a volcano hence lava merch is a big souvenir, right from jewellery to soaps, what with all the rejuvenating properties that come with the fact that they are so pretty.

The wired necklace is from Athens and the pendant is my name written in Greek done on the spot by an old man who sold these necklaces in a quiet spot under the trees. The pendant took a lot of effort to make with the wires but the man was really friendly and I had a nice chat with him as he made the necklace. In fact, he first made the pendant with my name in English by mistake but then, he made a fresh piece and actually gave the first one without charge. These encounters really restore my faith in humanity:) God Bless that old man.

#friendlypeoplerule

Lava Soap. In boxes so pretty that I have actually kept them as a souvenir in themselves.

From the Moon Island to the Fancy Boot, here’s presenting Roma!

Up first is a replica of the Colosseum and a centurion’s helmet followed by an Italian mosaic pendant and earring set.

The Colosseum is obviously a place with emotions of its own and I really like how the helmet has tiny carvings of centurions and legionnaires including horses which give major Gladiator vibes.

Italian mosaic jewellery has always caught my eye and I love the delicate work and the colours in each piece.

These are the toys from the Roman Empire ft. a tiny Swiss guard or a Guardia Svizzera and a masquerade mask and of course, Pinocchio who is a real boy after all.

No he isn’t, that’s a toy.

Is it though?

Toy Story just got real….

Here’s a riddle for you,

What is the similarity between Italic font and the Pisa tower?

They both lean.

Overlooking my extremely poor joke, Imma tell you that 90% of the souvenirs in Pisa lean. Here’s a city that loves it’s baby bell tower despite its flaws and in order to not make it feel left out, the people decided to join in the vibe.

I mean, they better join in the vibe cause it’s human activity that caused the lean in the first place. I mean, who builds a marble tower on sandy soil? The wise man clearly specified building houses on rocks. But sometimes, one needs to be a bit not wise to be cool….So here’s a leaning bottle of olive oil and a leaning shot glass followed by the Leaning Tower itself.

Leaning is cool.

That’s all we’re gonna say about it.

Destination Turkey!

Now, one of our main itineraries in Istanbul was to visit the Grand Bazaar and when we did, there was no stopping my mum.

So here, we’ve got a magic lamp, a Sufi dancer, a blue kitty, a pomegranate and a replica of the Blue Mosque.

What I loved about the art in Turkey is that the painting makes any object look beautiful and the artists get very creative while choosing stuff to paint on. Pomegranates for instance was a very unique thing to decorate. The cat reminds me of that episode in Oswald where Henry the penguin collects glass vases and Oswald and Daisy try to mend one of the broken ones.

 

The blue jelly fish-like trinket is a necklace that my mum bought from the Grand Bazaar. The purple bowl has abstract designs which adorn most of the crockery in Istanbul like the coaster on the right. There’s an evil eye ring that is quite a popular emblem in Turkey and the black sack is the packing for a Sultanahmet ring which is the tiny glowing orange jewel at the base of the small red vase.

The Sultanahmet ring was the most precious buy from Turkey and it looks like those ancient jewels that used to pass down from one generation of royalty to another.

Souvenirs in Istanbul have a touch of royalty which makes it very appealing and once bought, it feels as though an heirloom’s been acquired.

And that is the bottom of the bags.

Despite the provisions for the souvenirs, do we still pay for extra baggage?

Indubitably.

Hehe.

And that is a wrap,

Until next time!

Cheerio:)