Home
Getting Here
Places to Visit
Things to Do
Ski the Rockies
Ice Walk
Scenic Drives
Spas
Hot Springs
Easy Hikes
Family Fun
Places to Stay
Campgrounds
Wildlife
Canada
Canadian Money
FAQ
Info Guide
Yup-with SBI
Submit a Link
Travel Destinations
Search & Site Map
Contact Us
Learn English
Artists of the Rockies
Whistler BC
Great Tours
Share YOUR Story
The Rockies
Banff's Pretty  Peaks
Banff
Banff Gondola

XML RSS
What is this?
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Add to Google
 

Cool Souvenirs


I am on a mission to find cool souvenirs. I know... most souvenirs are soooooo un-cool, but this just makes me even more ambitious. Like our six year-old daughter says, "I like a good challenge!"

So, let's brainstorm for a minute - what does the average traveller want in a souvenir...

  • light-weight
  • easy to pack (or have shipped)
  • represent the area it comes from
  • different (but in a good way)
  • interesting/unique
  • within the budget (!!)
  • BONUS: it can actually DO something

Okay, we have to try to get away from those tacky t-shirts and think more in the direction of fun. Here are some ideas:

  • Canadian Pacific Vintage Art:

    Canadian Pacific Train

    Vintage art has a way of pulling you back into a simpler time and place, and these do just that. Canadian Pacific Vintage peices are simple yet elegant, and the bold colours are striking. No wonder you see them in the best hotels. You can buy the posters framed or put them in a tube and have them sent. This particular image is of the Canadian Pacific with its scenic dome as it passes through the Canadian Rockies. A very popular way to travel through the mountains in the last century! You may even choose this mode of transportation today for a trip that isn't so much about the destination - but rather the journey!


  • Jewel of Nature:



    It has been called the rainbow captured in a glacier, Glacier Pearles, with their aqua-green pearly iridescence and sheen of various pinks, yellows and blues, have fascinated people from all over the world. Although this treasure does not come from a glacier at all, but rather the abolone shell, its colour will remind you of the glacial ice you left behind. And better yet, you can wear it without it melting!



  • Symbol of the North:

    The inukshuk or inuksuk (pl. Inuksuit) has served as a marker or landmark for the Inuit in a land beautifully barren and white.


    Frosted-Glass Inukshuk

    It has now become a symbol of the Inuit culture and is very popular in Canada. So popular in fact that it is part of the 2010 Winter Olympics logo to welcome the world to Vancouver and Canada... or is it? Actually, although the word inukshuk means person substitute, it is the inunnguaq that really resembles a person standing on two separate legs, whereas the inukshuk stands on a single base. Unfortunatley, the inukshuk is the only known term in the average souvenir shop and so, if you would like to take home this unique-looking treasure, you will have to ask for an inukshuk - which, incidently, is no longer only made out of rock! I have seen chocolate, glacier pearle, slate and frosted-glass versions! It also often adorns all sorts of jewelry and trinkets. I have even managed to find a "Build Your Own" Inuksuk kit. Something the kids will love!



Visit this page again to see what my next cool thing will be...


Google
 

Return from Cool Souvenirs
to Things to Do


footer for Cool Souvenirs page