Gift and/or souvenir ideas from Baltic please

[Misty1937]

Last year when we cruised the Greek Islands and Black Sea I got some wonderful ideas for unique gifts and souvenirs to bring back thanks to CC members. I have done a search on this forum for similar ideas from Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Peterburg and Copenhagen but cannot find anything:(. I felt it might help others as well as myself to start a thread as it is such a help to have an idea before leaving of what is available and where. My aim is to see as much of the cities as possible and I do not want to waste precious time shopping. By the same token I could not go home empty handed and disappoint my grandchildren who always get so much pleasure watching Nana unpack their goodies.

If I have overlooked a thread please forgive me and point me in the right direction:rolleyes:. Thanks again to all you wonderful people who so willingly give us your help and advise.

Cheers, Misty

[txladycruiser]

We were just on a Baltic cruise in July. I bought amber jewelry in Tallinn, nesting dolls in St. Petersburg and Father Frost figures carved out of wood and then hand painted. I bought some other smaller items but those were the biggies. We live in Houston or I would have probably bought some hand knit items.

 

Have fun!

 

 

Karen

[nationaltreasure79]

I was just in the baltics in July as well. Bought amber in Tallin and a nice egg in St. Petersburg.

[Sousaphone]

Russian Fairy Tale books, Matryoshka nesting dolls, wooden toys with moving parts (Bogorodskiye toys), from St. Petersburg.

 

Finnish booties and hand-made dolls from Market Square in Helsinki.

[paws10]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1181057

[TLCOhio]

I have done a search on this forum for similar ideas from Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Peterburg and Copenhagen but cannot find anything:(. I felt it might help others as well as myself to start a thread as it is such a help to have an idea before leaving of what is available and where. My aim is to see as much of the cities as possible and I do not want to waste precious time shopping. By the same token I could not go home empty handed and disappoint my grandchildren who always get so much pleasure watching Nana unpack their goodies. Cheers, Misty

 

Good question and thread, Misty! There are lots of great options for shopping in the Baltics, but, be prepared for "adjustments" on costs and the wide variations on quality. With the high rent/labor/living costs and VAT/value added tax in many of these countries, especially in Stockholm and Copenhagen, don't expect too many great "bargains" there. We found Tallinn to be one of the best places to shop. Not sure if you are going there.

 

On quality, including the items in Russia, you will see a wide, wide range of options. There is cheap stuff, but it tends to look it. There are shops in St. Petersburg that have some great quality items with lots of fine hand work, but they are priced accordingly. On amber, the items sold on our Crystal Symphony ship actually worked out to be a better value and quality than what we found in the cities. At the Hermitage, they have a gift shop area that has some decent values at a good quality level. There are some nice shops in the old city area of Stockholm. Some of the woolen items can be a good value to consider. Helsinki has a nice and scenic market area that is right in the heart of their key attractions.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

Shopping is great in Tallinn. Inside a nice linen shop:

 

 

 

Tallinn street shop vendor with various woolen items:

 

 

 

A view of the main market in Helsinki:

 

[Nallekarhu]

I'd save the amber purchases for Poland if you have a stop there, although I've never been to Gdansk, where the ships stop, so maybe the prices are a bit higher there for the tourists. Either way, when I inquire about the source of amber in other countries, I'm usually told it comes from Poland anyway.

In Helsinki, go to the Kauppatori (market square) and find some handmade wooden items or furs (if you're ok with that sort of thing).

Some of the local liquors can be nice as well. Akavit from Sweden perhaps, Vana Tallinn from Estonia, in Finland you can get various berry flavored liqueurs, or if you want to go very unusual, pick up some salmiakki koskenkorva, a salty licorice flavored liqueur.

[Bet & Peg]

The Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls come in ALL different prices - from the really expensive hand made ones to small inexpensive ($10) sets on the ship. For years I've loved them and have some very good sets that my grandchildren (boys 7 & 9) can only look at and also some very cheap sets that they get to play with. On our trip we bought them each their own set ($10) that they now love!

 

I wanted something little (size & price) for co-workers and got magnets that look like a Matryoshka Doll for about $1 in a really nice store in St. Pete - can't remember which one since we went to many to use the restrooms and enjoy a free vodka (the guys loved that!). In the same store I also bought some pins - black with flowers painted on them - that weren't too expensive. They also had Christmas decorations - dolls, angels, etc.

 

In Helsinki at the Market there were lots and lots of booths selling Viking "stuff" - all prices! Any amber jewelery - all prices.

 

Have a great trip!!

[pacmom]

Key chains make very nice Christmas ornaments--just remove the ring and add a hook. I have a small travel tree and when travelling out of season or in a place that doesn't celebrate Christmas, there are always keyring. The amber in Gdansk was unbelieveable--priced from US $10 on up. Sometimes the ships will have merchandise from the varoius countries available. I know Oceania did when we were in the Baltic. We also brought Vodka to a few friends. Just declare it and if you are under you limit, no duty charged. Pat

[dexddd]

In regards to nesting dolls, remember to check the set you are buying actually has all the dolls inside.

 

If your grandkids like hockey, St. P. has hockey jerseys from Russian teams in many places. Our son plays hockey and he picked one out in June.

[Misty1937]

Thank you so much TO EVERYONE for all the wonderful help and ideas. Paws, thanks for pointing out the thread which was most interesting, how dumb that I missed it:eek:. Terry thanks for the photos, the linen looks beautiful but unfortunately we do not go to Tallinn:mad:. Now to start yet another word page for gifts to go with all the port pages full of great ideas from CC.

Again I am most grateful for the ideas and hope other cruisers will benefit from the thread as well.

Cheers, Misty

[Sauer-kraut]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1181057

 

That thread might be helpful as well, its about 3 pages long. :)

[TLCOhio]

Thank you so much TO EVERYONE for all the wonderful help and ideas. Terry thanks for the photos, the linen looks beautiful but unfortunately we do not go to Tallinn:mad:. Now to start yet another word page for gifts to go with all the port pages full of great ideas from CC. Cheers, Misty

 

THANKS, Misty, for the nice comments on the pictures! Hopefully there will a chance for a later trip to see and enjoy Tallinn. Lots of great shopping ideas have been posted. Great thread here. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[Dayenu]

Our cruise ship to Norway came from the Baltics, and they pushed those souvenirs! So we got some. A huge hit with the male family members are round leather-type tubes that zip off the top, and inside are hidden vodka shotglasses.

 

Also they sold all kinds of laquered boxes and Faberge eggs.

[alcpa1]

In addition to the dolls and amber in St. Petersburg you will find many lovely hand knitted scarves or shawls. They call them goat hair but those of us who knit call them mohair. They are well priced and like everything in the markets (and many shops) you can negotiate. When you are looking for amber be aware that there is synthetic amber all over the place. The old adage - you get what you pay for is certainly true in the street market. I did see more green amber on this trip and far less "red" everywhere.

I have been to St. Petersburg several times and I always come home with books.

One of the most recognizable Helsinki brands is Marimeko. There is a wonderful shop quite close to the harbor. Marimeko is reflective of the high cost of goods in Finland but downstairs you will find linens and yard goods.

Stockholm has a particularly grand store. I'd call Nordiska Kompaniet's (N K) the Harrod's of Sweeden. More than likely you will confine your shopping to the Gamla Stan area. Every other store is a souvenir shop with the regular assortment of nonspecific souvenirs. I had to look long and hard to get our youngest a soccer jersey at an expected $40. Sweeden is the home of modern art glass but it too is very expensive. There were many Kosta Boda pieces for example, that we had seen or in the Caribbean for far less.

I will leave Copenhagen shopping to others. We were there for almost three days and really did not shop. I did purchase the book on the Christenborg Tapestries but that is the needlewoman in me wishing for hours in the hall.

One thing I did love were the men's and women's clothing. The quality was far superior to what we can find in the states, but the costs were also higher. We ducked into a few clothing stores in most of our ports except St. Petersburg. We never had much shopping time there, which was fine with me.

Baltic cruising doesn't leave a tremendous time for shopping. I hope when your cruise date arrives you have a wonderful trip.

[Misty1937]

Thank you again to all you wonderful people, I am getting so many ideas and most importantly it will reduce the shopping time for more cultural interests:cool:.

 

I hope this post has helped many others too which was one of my intentions.

 

Cheers and thanks, Misty (Judy):):)

[Sledgey]

There is a store in Helsinki called Stockman that has a really good selection of souvenirs, this is a department store and you need to be on the 6th floor (I think!) don't be put off if you get out of the lift and see beds, just keep walking and you will find the right section. We bought wooden moose (really cute), chocolates and hats but here is a good selection across the board.

The market in Helsinki is good too, especially for costume jewellery.

Have a great time!

[ollienbertsmum]

Apart from the dolls and faberge style eggs in St Pete, I got my best gifts in Helsinki. I think I bought my father some cosy liners for winter boots from the market, and I got candle holders in the Alvar Aalto design from Stockmanns (great shop). I got my stylish sister an ice cube tray in the same designer shape !! I wish I had bought one for myself.

 

Don't forget to take a bottle of water with you in Helsinki and after sampling the fried fish you can snack on some of their berries

[Giantfan13]

Many of the gifts that people buy are what is advertised. we did that also, but we always tried to find something unique in each port, so it will spur our memories, looking back at it. In some ports it was easy, in others a bit harder, as most stores seem to stock the same old, same old everywhere.

 

In Tallinn we found a small shop that sold candles. Yes there are candles and there are candles. we found a magnificent tall pyramid sort of thing, that had depictions of the walls of Tallinn it in a winter setting. My DW loved it.

 

In Helsinki we found a hand carved wooden match box. Not a very expensive thing, but it was not the average souvenir and we still use it all the time

 

In Stockholm, we again, went off on our own, searching for little shops and unique gifts. we found something. It is a special sort of Linen cloth calendar with pix of many of the things that make Stockholm so wonderful. Not the tourist sights, but the flowers, the signs etc. It was like a one of a kind type of thing, and again, we have it hanging in our dining room for all to see and admire.

 

as you can see, we like to browse and shop, but, to us, that was part of the experience of being in these wondeful cities, and the intermingling with the locals.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Ashland]

Got two of the most beautiful sweaters, ski hat and shawl from Tallin !! But the shopping I did post cruise London in Camden Town at the Markets..AMAZING !!! Shopping paradise for me !!! So much so we went back a second day !!! Lucky for us it was just a quick Tube ride from Kensington..