Have List, Will Travel

Christmas Ornaments From Around the World

The red sphere is from Las Vegas

The embroidered fish

from China

A few years ago I did a post about my Christmas ornaments.  Whenever we travel I purchase at least one Christmas ornament from each destination.  Those are my favorite souvenirs.  I only see them once a year when the tree is up.  But when we are putting them on the tree I remember where I bought it and I remember the trip.  I originally wrote the article in 2012.  Since then we have traveled to many more places and I have added to the decorations.  I have to say that my tree is running out of room for many more.  It is a 10 1/2 ft. tree, but it is getting very full.  The decorations are not all from my travels.  Over the years friends have given me ornaments and I have some that I made.  I also put glass balls on the tree because they reflect the light and fill in spaces.  But my favorite decorations are always from places I have visited.

Below is the posting I did in 2011.  Then below that is a new posting from this year with pictures of some of the ornaments I have collected since then. 

Christmas ornaments are one of the best ways to express the cheer and meaning of the holidays in one of the simplest ways. The different themes and feelings can be conveyed merely through Christmas ornaments. A history of love and connections spoken in ornaments, hanging upon the boughs of pine-scented greenery.

Capiz Shell Angel from the PI

In a recent posting I talked about buying souvenirs.  I always tell myself I will not buy more stuff on my next trip, and inevitably I end up buying something.  My biggest weakness is Christmas ornaments, which I have collected for years, from every place I have ever visited.  It started in the Philippines when we lived there in 1979.  Up until that time my tree always just had lights and the standard balls hanging on the tree.  Then I discovered the capiz shell and hand-embroidered ornaments of the Philippines.  They were beautiful.  And my collection started.

Since then I have added to my collection.  I have a very eclectic assortment of ornaments.  I never buy something that says where it is from.  I don’t want a tree that screams tourist shop.  Even though the ornament doesn’t say anywhere on it where it is from, I can tell you where each came from.  It is part of my memories of my trip.

Silk Elephant from Thailand
The Celtic horn is from Ireland

It has sometimes been difficult to find an ornament to bring home.  Quite often we travel during the summer months, and most places do not have Christmas ornaments out in the middle of summer.  And then there are the countries where Christmas is not really celebrated.  For instance, I had a hard time finding a Christmas ornament in Thailand.  But I did find some small silk elephants in a shop, and they hang on the tree quite nicely.

Camel from Turkey
The feather ornament is a Dream Catcher from Alaska

In Turkey, last year, I was looking
for an ornament, and ended up buying a small camel which has an opening on his back, which can be a small compartment to hold something.  It is metal, and fairly heavy.  It does not have a hangar, but I was able to rig a ribbon through the magnetic opening on the back.

Nutcracker from
Germany

When we were in the Canary Islands in September 2003, I kept looking for an ornament.  The last week we were there I found a small frog with lights wrapped around him.  It also doesn’t have a hangar, but I wire him onto the branches. 

Quite a few of my ornaments are from our trip to the Christmas Markets of Germany, Austria, Hungary and The Czech Republic.  We did a cruise down the Danube, stopping at different Christmas Markets along the way.  I bought ornaments at every stop. 

Some of my favorite ornaments that I put on the tree each year are:

My angel from Rome, Italy

The pewter wreath from Athens, Greece

Straw Angel from Hong Kong

Straw angels from Hong Kong
Victorian girl on an old fashioned bicycle
     from London
The Cloisonné heart from Beijing, China
The fur clad bear paddling a canoe from Alaska
The alligator from New Orleans
Red glass bauble from Las Vegas
     (it's Las Vegas gaudy)
My pickle from Germany – it is a tradition
      in Germany that whoever finds the pickle
     on the tree first, gets to open a
     special present.

As I have said, my tree is very eclectic.  I also have glass balls, and lots of lights, and I have had friends give me ornaments over the years, so those are mixed in as well. 



Mozart Bear from Salzburg

Panda from China

The goat is from Slovenia

Frog from the Canary Islands, Pewter Wreath from Greece
Reindeer is from PI

In the 4 years since I wrote this article we have traveled many places.  And even though my tree is getting very full, I am still buying ornaments.  They are the best souvenirs of my trips.  Some places have been easy to find Christmas ornaments, others not so easy.  We were in Africa in April 2013.  We were on safari and not in any big cities, so I wasn't sure I would find anything. Then while visiting a village in the Masai Mara I found 2 very different ornaments for sell.  Here are those ornaments.

The ball is hand carved with animals.  The other is beads on wire. They were both made as Christmas decorations.

Gulah
Australia

We visited Australia and New Zealand and had no problem finding decorations there.  I had to have a koala, since I was actually able to hold one while there.  And the bird is a galah bird which we saw many of while in Australia.  In New Zealand I had to have a Pukeko, which is a blue flightless bird, which we also saw many of.

In Costa Rica we saw so many butterflies that I decided my ornament had to have a butterfly on it.

And a few other places we visited in the past few years,  From Portugal - the seahorse, Barcelona - the mosaic lizard, Paris - at the Opera House I got the Mouse King and from Amsterdam, a small windmill.  

Next year we have trips planned to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Italy, so I am sure I will be adding to my collection in those places.  Merry Christmas, Happy Travels to everyone in 2017!