A Wooden Delight from Germany

It was a pleasant day in Rüdesheim am Rhein, the air a crispy autumn.  Hills covered with vineyards.  Streets full of quintessential quaintness.  Ornate buildings with wooden decorations, vines, narrow alleys, restaurants and shops.  There's an airway tram that leads to the top of a hill where you can view the Rhine River from above, ships slipping out of sight.

There's a Christmas shop, which are always a treat to visit while in Germany.  Large and full of warmth.  The window display overflowing with ornate nutcrackers.  

In a back room was a cupboard.  Inside was a delightful array of wooden figurines and displays.  Hand painted dolls and sets.  Some were Christmas themed.  Some represented the seasons.  I wanted one of the spring fairies holding flowers.  If I had a few hundred dollars I wouldn't have hesitated.  They were pretty and sweet.  Detailed.  There were notes everywhere written in English and other languages forbidding picture taking.  So I attempted to take a mental image, which, after nearly two years, the image is fading to a blur.  Emotion and wonder remains.

While heading back to the river I went into a little gift shop tailored for tourist.  After some exploring I found a small cupboard with tiny wooden figurines just as delightful as what I saw in the previous store, but at a price I could splurge.  I found a little girl wearing a winter coat and holding a star.  She was quickly purchased and has had a treasured spot on my dresser ever since. 

She's apart of the Hubrig Winter Kids collection named, "Star, Give Us Light."  I've been searching online for this figure since the trip in October of 2018, just to find more of the like, and other wooden German styled Christmas decorations, which are hard to find here in the States.  After much time I found Erzgebirge Palace, which has many fun things to see.  Germany really has some fun Christmas decorations, figures, displays, and ornaments.

Duffy & Friends and Those Dang Cute Plush Badges at the Tokyo DisneySea/Disneyland Parks

 (April, 2019)  If there was one Disney Japan souvenir I wish the American Disney parks would sale it would be the plush badges.  They're mini stuffed animals that have both a key chain option and a safety pin that can attach easily to anything.  They're so cute! So well made!  And we don't have anything like them in the States.

Every season there are new Plush Badges to fit the current season/holiday/celebration.  Pictured in this post are the Spring 2019 items.  TDRExplorer is an excellent blog featuring the Asian parks, mainly Tokyo, and they already have the Spring 2020 items posted.  Once again, super cute.

Tokyo Disneyland always has the cutest merchandise.

Some of my favorite Tokyo Disney merchandise is Duffy, the Disney bear, with his friends ShellieMay (a girl bear), Gelatoni (an artistic cat), StellaLou (a ballerina bunny), and the brand new character who's new this year CookieAnn (a dog who loves baking).  There's a show in the American Waterfront in Tokyo DisneySea, Duffy's home.  The food is very reasonably priced, especially compared to the U.S.A Disney parks.

 (A lot of these were gifts.  Aren't they adorable?)

 (Don't know who this Disney bear character is, and didn't buy one, but once again they're super cute, but then Japan is so good at making cute things.  These were in the Disney Store outside of the park in the mall.)

Handmade in Budapest

 My Dad recently got back from a trip to Budapest, and naturally I asked him to bring me back a souvenir that represented the culture. He brought me back postcards, and brought my Mom a tablecloth and a doll from Judit's Exclusive Handmade Embroidery and Souvenir Shop.  My Dad made a joke that I'll eventually inherit everything my Mom has anyway.

Needless to say my Dad decided to give me the tablecloth, and I'm very glad.  This will become an heirloom item, and it's only appropriate that it sits on the cedar chest holding family treasures I've collected from Grandparents and Great-grandparents.  The cedar chest itself used to be in my Grandpa's guest room in Ventura, and after the move I claimed it.  It's a reminder of all those trips that I so miss.

This tablecloth is entirely handmade, as is the embroidery, and it's exquisite.  I cross-stitch, and have done a little embroidery back in the day, so I really appreciate the artistry and the time involved.

Heh, and now whenever I see this tablecloth I'll think of the song Budapest by George Ezra.  It's a catchy tune.

 

 The handout written in Hungarian, English, and Japanese.

The postcards he brought back for me.  My Dad wanted to send me one in the mail, but didn't know how to get postage.  What's pretty funny is a week before he left I sent a postcard through Postcrossing to Budapest, and it arrived while he was there.

Sometimes I wish I can travel where my postcards go.  Hop in the mailbox and be whisked away, and all for $1.15.  Sometimes I get jealous of those pieces of paper, traveling to places I can only visit in my dreams.  Someday.