Souvenir shopping

Souvenir shops have always been a somewhat fascinating part of a trip. All the mugs, key rings, and fridge magnets are crammed in the densest possible way into a tiny little store for me to shop from.

In no way could I ever be a good shopper. My patience and attention span is too limited to shop from the sea of options and choices. However, for souvenir, my feeling is different. I remember I always have been happy scouring through the endless heap of mugs, key rings and fridge magnets, for the unique and pretty looking thing. I know that very likely no matter what I buy, it is probably mass produced and a near perfect duplicate could be found in another similar store just down the road. I still want to shop a bit though, maybe the reason is that one-or-two-buck little cute magnet that can help me establish some connections with the place I visit (no matter how superficial it is), or even more magically, it opens a tunnel through time and let the future me peek back in time, and recall the memory for me. Genuinely, it sounds like a really good deal, and I am happy to take it.

In the worst case of no good-looking magnets could be found, I can still take a couple of photos, fully loaded with mugs, key rings, and fridge magnets, and pretend they are all mine.

Taken in Florence.