Jaunted - Tag: Souvenirs

Helsinki: Angry Birds in an Airplane! Kinda Sorta.

jetflyboy — 2012-02-09T11:40:02-05:00

We're not going to lie, but Angry Birds might still be our favorite game to play on a plane. It can be played when in airplane mode (ahem, Alec Baldwin) and is the only game that makes us occasionally laugh aloud, all while flinging birds towards mean little pigs. Well, the creators of the game have already announced opening up theme parks designed around the game, but there's more (of course).

If you're huge fan and you've already got Angry Birds flip flops, hoodies, keychains and all those little tchotchkes, our recommendation for your next layover in Helskini is to stop pulling the slingshot and hit the new shop for your favorite characters. The Finnish masterminds behind the game have opened up a little plane-shaped Angry Birds kiosk-shop in the middle of Helsinki International Airport.

Paris: Paris Says Its, Uh, Monument is Bigger Than New York's

juliab — 2012-01-20T15:46:56-05:00

Someone's got issues.

That was our second thought when we saw this postcard in prime position at a Paris newsagent. Our first thought was "what the hell, is this a Vegas postcard or something?"

No, it seems that size really does matter to Parisians. Not only do they feel the need to boast about the size of their, uh, tower by plastering it in all its phallic glory over every piece of tourist tat, but also they're fully invested in the "our monument is more monumental than your monument" game, even though—yes—this Statue of Liberty does exist in Paris, though realistically on a far smaller scale. We can thank Photoshop for this fantasy depiction.

Poor old Lady Liberty. What we need now is for Dubai to make a similar postcard pitting Monsieur Eiffel up against the Burj Khalifa. That'll make the Parisian smugness wilt just a little.

[Photo: juliab]

Blast from the Past: Real Photo Postcards

JetSetCD — 2011-11-10T13:35:02-05:00

Walk through Times Square and at almost any of the cheapie souvenir shops in the area, you'll be able to score 10 postcards for $1. A steal for sure, but a closer look at the cards reveals that they're often outdated, faded or—worst of all—boring.

Travelers from the 1900s through the 1960s would have had a heart attack over this, since back then sending a postcard meant something. It was almost required of you to mail postcards from your destinations to your family, friends and neighbors, and the quality of the card was important.

Real Photo Postcards were popular for this reason. Printing on photo paper meant the picture would be solid, with no printing dots or gradients; it was as close to actually being there (except it was black & white). We were recently presented with this photo postcard from the heyday of the first Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth. At 724 feet long and 85,000 gross tons, she was the largest ship in the world and sailing on her meant you'd be sending a slew of photo postcards.

Best Ironic Holiday Gift to Give? Your Face, Painted on a Royal Delft Plate from Holland

jetflyboy — 2011-11-02T10:48:17-05:00

If you have ever flown KLM long-haul, you probably already know to get psyched for the in-flight shopping to start. This excitement is not due to tax-free bottles of liquor or J.Lo's latest perfume. Well, maybe for some it is, but the magic is really in the Royal Delft souvenirs.

If mini porcelain houses aren't your thing, Dutch Tourism (@visitholland) recently tweeted to say that visitors may design their own plates using the iconic hand-painted blue and white Delft pattern. This is your chance to get your face on a plate, people! After some thinking and wandering around the Royal Delft website for gift ideas, we came to the conclusion that this might actually work for a few people on our list this year.

Douglas: A Weekend on the Isle of Man: Tracking Down Rare Money, Rare Stamps and Good Coffee

JetSetCD — 2011-10-12T17:09:20-05:00

The Isle of Man is a mysterious place, a nearly sovereign territory out in the middle of the choppy Irish Sea between England and Ireland. What sort of people live there? What's there to see and do? These are all questions we wanted to answer, so we went ourselves...because why not? All this week we'll be sharing our experiences in this curious island destination.

The Isle of Man is not a particularly warm place. It may be an island, but keep in mind that it's an island in the Irish Sea, with a population more used to drizzle and wind than sun and gentle breezes. We went in the summer and still froze our butts off in certain areas (like the top of Mount Snaefell and The Ayres).

That said, the Isle of Man does know how to make itself special enough to warrant visit after visit, and that's by producing its own currency, its own stamps, and some unexpectedly damn fine coffee.

Everett: This is the Geekiest Thing You Can Buy at The Boeing Store

JetSetCD — 2011-09-29T11:00:02-05:00

So maybe you don't have $200 million to buy a Dreamliner, but do you have $75? For that, you can buy the #avgeekiest thing we've ever seen: a wired keyboard applied with a 787 Dreamliner skin.

This truly unique item we spotted in the Boeing Store at the Future of Flight Museum, so yes you can easily purchase it without any security clearances. We picked it up and had a nice little chuckle.

So why do we say it's super geeky? Well, so many reasons. Chances are it'll be used with a PC, anybody who buys it has a serious obsession with the 787 and...who buys wired keyboards anymore? Wireless or nothing, baby! Still, we wouldn't be surprised if it showed up under a few Christmas trees this year.

[Photo: Jaunted]

Memphis: Forgot Your Elvis Souvenirs in Memphis? It's Now or Never at the Airport Shop

juliab — 2011-08-05T11:43:46-05:00

Elvis is at the B Gates

Did you go to Memphis and not buy a caseload of Elvis memorabilia? A brave decision, and one that probably won't fly so well with the folks back home. Luckily, you have an escape clause—and you won’t even be charged for checking it into the hold.

Instead of the usual boring souvenir shops, see, Memphis airport has an Elvis shop. That’s right, a shop that stocks purely Elvis memorabilia, from magnets and t-shirts to clocks, Christmas ornaments and cookie jars.

The memorabilia is all official Elvis gear, so it’s the same stuff you can find at Graceland. And yes, there’s a mark-up, but it’s not as much as you’d think in all cases – about $1 more for Elvis emery boards and magnets, and about $5 more for anything bigger. We arrived three hours early for our flight and ended up taking home the Elvis clock – made out of pink glass—that we’d admired at Graceland but wondered how we’d fit it in our case. Simple, in the event: we just took it on the plane in addition to our already bulging hand luggage.