by Janis / 4 comments - Orginally published:21st December 2018

Little keepsakes we’ve collected along the way

I know some of you will think we are mad, but every year, when I decorate the Christmas tree and our fireplaces, so many of our travel memories come flooding back.

We’re not so obsessed that we pick up a Christmas memento from everywhere we travel. However, it does sometimes surprise me that you see Christmas decorations around in the height of the summer months.

Is this something that any of you relate to? do you find yourself picking up souvenirs of your travels, or is it just us?

To save your sanity from our trips to the German Christmas markets, I’ve narrowed that haul down.

The pin image of our post - 'Jogging the travel memories at Christmas'
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The Christmas Tree in our lounge full of christmas decorations from travels
The lounge Christmas tree
The Christmas Tree in our dinning room full of christmas decorations from travels
The dinning room Christmas tree
What I love about the annual unwrapping of the tree decorations is that a keepsake that we felt was slightly insignificant when we purchased it, transports you back to that location, and suddenly a memory comes flooding back that you experienced at the time.

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Windhoek, Namibia

A taste of Africa

One of the weirdest places we picked up a Christmas decoration was a little roadside street market in Windhoek, Namibia, in 2013.

I certainly wasn’t looking out for anything; we’d just parked up, went for a stroll and spotted a lady making and selling the decorations.

A simple wire christmas tree decoratoration with coloured beads from namibia
A Christmas tree from Namibia
The choice was to take or leave it; the only difference between them was which colour beads to choose from.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

A touch of Durch
Well, perhaps the clogs & windmill don’t look too festive, but either way, they are hanging on the tree. These little keepsakes remind me of my birthday trip to Amsterdam in 2011.
Two white and blue Dutch Clogs christmas decoration hanging in our christmas tree
The Dutch Clogs

Strasbourg, France

Capitale de Noël
We visited Strasbourg twice at Christmas, the first in 2008 and picked up a snow globe, then again in 2017 and bought a wooden Santa tree decoration; I just couldn’t resist him.
A round painted Santa christmas decoration from strasbourg hanging in our christmas tree
Our Strasbourg Santa
Our snowglobe, bought from strasbourg's christmas markets in front of our christmas tree
Our Strasbourg Snowglobe

Bruges, Belgium

More than Beer and Chocolates
In 2005, we headed to Bruges; this was one of our first visits to a Christmas Market outside of the UK (we hadn’t experienced the delights of Germany at that point).
Our Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas carousel, depicting a snowy festive scene, with four lit red candles, under the fan blades.
Our Christmas Pyramid, Kathe Wohlfarht
I couldn’t resist heading into the Käthe Wohlfahrt store. I know Käthe Wohlfahrt is German, but these little shops pop up everywhere.

Germany

The birthplace of a British Christmas
Then, in 2006, we visited Cologne at Christmas and haven’t looked back since.
Our traditional soldier nutcracker decoration purchased in Germany from a Käthe Wohlfahrt store.
Our Nutcracker from Käthe Wohlfahrt

Most of our festive German collection comes from Cologne at Christmas and boy, we have some wonderful memories from there.

Although, in recent years, we’ve added a few more German cities and towns to our list.

Our Cologne Christmas bauble; bright red with a glitter iced topping. Koln is written the traditional German way.
Our bauble from Cologne

One city that stands out for me is Nuremberg, and not just because it was freezing cold when we were there.

It’s a lovely historic city, and we picked up a couple of little keepsakes we had not seen elsewhere.

An imperfect angel and a Zwetschgenmannle’ - Prune Men to you and me.

A hanging christmas tree decoration from nuremberg of an angel smoking a cigarette
Our guardian angel decoration
Our prune man bought from Nuremberg. Actually, only his arms and feet are prunes; his body is made up of two dried figs, and his painted face on a walnut head, along with a false beard and hat.
The prune man
Of course, we are talking German Christmas Markets here; we’ve also picked up a few mugs.
A small sample of our German Christmas mugs from the markets we have collected on our travels
A selection of German Christmas mugs from the markets

Tallinn, Estonia

Mementos from Eastern Europe
Who would have thought that in early August 2008, we would buy a Christmas decoration in Tallinn?
An Estonian Russian Santa doll set on our mantelpiece at Christmas
Estonian Santa doll
Well, when I was a child, I used to have a set of Russian Dolls; this reminded me of them so much that they had to come home with me.

Orlando, USA

It has to be Disney

In the days when airlines didn’t seem to mind too much how much luggage you had, we brought some weird things back from the States.

In 1995, we decided to bring back two Disney stocking holders; the boxes were huge, but at the time, we didn’t really think it was a problem.

Our winnie the pooh and tigger disney stocking holder, with a stocking attached placed on our mantlepiece over our fireplace
Tigger & Pooh Stocking holder
Our mickey mouse and pluto disney stocking holder, with a stocking attached placed on our mantlepiece over our fireplace
Mickey & Pluto stocking holders
Every year, these are placed on the fireplace.

West Coast, USA

Viva Las Vegas
Then, to carry on the ‘size doesn’t matter’ theme, we even brought a large wooden advent calendar back from Las Vegas during a West Coast of America trip in 2002.
Our wooden advent calendar from las vegas with its decorated closed doors in place on the centre of our mantelpiece at Christmas
The closed Advent calendar
This West Coast trip was epic; the memories we have of driving around in a Hummer through Monument Valley, Bryce and Zion were fantastic.
The door to our wooden advent calendar from las vegas completed up to the 16th of december, with just over a week left to christmas
The open Advent calendar

East Coast of USA

New England, Traditional Christmas
We remember this trip so well; we flew into Boston not long after September 11th, 2001, and couldn’t believe how many Americans commented that they were surprised we made the trip.
A painted clam shell christmas decoration from Kennybunkport hanging in our christmas tree
Kennybunkport Christmas 2001 memento
A nautical based santa christmas decoration from newport rhode island in the USA, hanging in our christmas tree
Newport Rhode Island decoration
These little decorations that we picked up from Newport, Rhode Island and Kennebunkport, Maine, bring back fantastic memories of that 2-week adventure.

Texas, USA

A Tex-Mex Christmas
So, we were in Stockyards, Fort Worth, Texas and not only had I treated myself to a pair of cowboy boots, I thought, I know what the Christmas tree is missing! Yep, I bought a cowboy boot decoration for the tree.
A cowboy boot Christmas decoration from Texas hanging on our Christmas tree
The Texan boot decoration
On this trip in 2011, we did not only tour Texas but also threw in New Mexico. There’s nothing quite like a road trip.

Ottawa, Canada

A native American Christmas memento

These little boots once again may not be too festive, but they certainly bring back memories of our 2010 Canadian road trip.

It was a bit of a whistle-stop tour of the East of Canada, visiting Toronto, Niagara Falls, Kingston, Ottawa & Montreal.

two native american winter boot christmas decoration from ottowa hanging in our christmas tree
Ottawa Boots decoration
However, it’s given us a taster to want to see more.

Coata Rica

A Pura Vida Christmas
In 2007, we piggybacked a business trip Gary was on to Costa Rica and extended the visit by an extra two weeks.
A carved wooded christmas bauble from Costa Rica hanging in our christmas tree
Something from Costa Rica

What an incredible trip that was, sloths, rainforests, volcanoes & zip lines.

However, there was a slightly limited choice of Christmas decorations.

Hong Kong

Christmas from the Far East
We visited Hong Kong and China in 1997, an unforgettable trip, and I brought back some awful decorations; really, these should never see the light of day again.
A very simple christmas decoration from hong kong hanging in our christmas tree
Something from Hong Kong

Not just Christmas time

Everyday Mementos
Although it isn’t Christmassy, something Gary and I enjoy doing is picking up cards and tickets for our kitchen memory board. So many times, we stand there and look through it and reminisce.
A board in our kitchen containing business cards, beer mats, postcards, menus and other mementoes from our travels
The Kitchen Memory Board

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  1. Reply

    Those are wonderful! So many great ornaments and decorations from your travels. The Christmas Markets sound like the perfect place to build the collection. We also love to collect items like this. We’re always looking for an authentic ornament when we travel around New Year’s or Christmas. We bought a set of Yule Lads after visiting Iceland a couple years ago and we put them on display every December. Great post! Merry Christmas! -Adam

    1. Reply

      Thanks Adam, it’s amazing how many ornaments you collect over the years. Some are very traditional, and some are quite quirky, but they all bring back great memories.It does seem a little odd at times buying a Christmas ornament in the middle of Summer.Best wishes for the New Year to the two of you.

  2. Reply

    The Christmas Markets sound like the perfect place to build the collection. We also love to collect items like this. We’re always looking for an authentic ornament when we travel around New Year’s or Christmas. Wish you all the best . Hope we get a new article very soon.

    1. Author
      Reply

      Yes, I love collecting them, they bring back wonderful memories every Christmas.

      Happy Travels

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