Like everyone else, I buy a souvenir on every trip. In the early days this was post cards, key rings and ornaments. Postcards went in a box and never seen nor heard from again. Key rings went the same way. Ornaments would gather dust.
So, a few years ago, I started to buy mugs as my souvenirs. As everyone knows, you can never have enough mugs, and every single one of mine are in daily use. They are a great memento of the places I have visited; and every cup of tea, coffee and hot chocolate becomes a trip down memory lane. Plus, it’s a great conversation starter with visitors.
Of course, the downsides of having mugs is that they break. (I buy only ceramic mugs). But, nothing is permanent and if one of them does break, well, I’ have to visit the place again and buy another one and I’m definitely up for that 😉
So here you go. This is my collection, linked to the blog posts (where I have one).
December 2017: Berlin, Germany. Blog post coming up.
December 2017: Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. Another slightly unusual one as the handle of this mug doubles up as a spout to drink from. All will be explained in an upcoming blog post.
November 2017: Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, China. Read about our Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 in Beijing, Day 4 and Day 5 in Xian, Day 6 and Day 7 in Shanghai.
September 2017: Tokyo, Japan. The writing on the mug reads “Asakusa, Tokyo”. Asakusa is the part of Tokyo where I bought the mug. Read about How to Spend Half-a-Day in Tokyo and 7 things that surprised me about Japan.
May 2017: Maldives. An exception to my “ceramic mugs only” rule as this one is made of wood from the Coconut tree, but quite appropriate for the Maldives where coconut trees are abundant. Read about our stay in the Maldives, my views on whether Maldives is worth the money and 4 questions to ask before you book a holiday in the Maldives.
March 2017: Dublin, Ireland. Read about our Day in Dublin
January 2017: Belfast, Ireland. Read about our Brief Stay in Belfast
December 2016: London, England
December 2016: Tallinn, Estonia. Read about our Tallinn City Tour
December 2016: Helsinki, Finland, Read about our Walking Tour of Helsinki
May/June 2016: Canadian Rockies (Read about the road trip, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 and Day 6). This is one of my favorite mugs to date – it changes colour when you fill it with a hot liquid.
May 2016: Juneau, Alaska, USA. (Read about our day in Juneau)
May 2016: Icy Strait Point Alaska. Read about our Icy Strait point Adventures.
May 2016: Ketchikan, Alaska. Read about our Misty Fjords Adventure in Ketchikan
May 2016: Vancouver, Canada. Read about our Visit to Vancouver and the Grouse Mountain
March 2016: Seville, Spain. Read about our 36 hours in Seville
March 2016: Granada, Spain, Read about our 36 hours in Granada and Visit to the Alhambra
December 2015: Prague, Czech Republic. Read about our pre-Christmas Visit to Prague
July 2015: Chicago, Illinois, USA. Read about my visit to Chicago
May 2015: Switzerland. Read about my 96 hours in Switzerland
March 2015: Land’s End, Cornwall, England. Read about our 24 hours in Cornwall
August 2014: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Grand Canyon. Read about my 10 days on the US West Coast
January 2014: Reykjavik, Iceland. Read about our 72 hours in Iceland
June 2013: Washington DC, USA
June 2013: Niagara Falls, USA and Canada
August 2012: London Olympics, England
May 2012: New Brunswick, Canada
May 2012: New York, USA
March 2011: Cambridge & Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Diary of a Tourist 