I remember when I was younger and traveled I would always buy kitschy souvenirs but over the years what I buy on vacation has certainly changed. Don’t get me wrong, I still may buy some kitschy little thing but for the most part I want my “souvenirs” to remind me of the memories I’ve made while on travel. So from our latest adventure I did buy some books but I also bought some other bookish things that I couldn’t pass up when I saw them.

I found a clever book tote “Reading Is For Awesome People” in Utrecht. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the bookshop where I got it. I have quite a few book totes but I do use them whether it’s when I go to the library or book group. So I know I’ll get a lot of use out of this one.

Three bookmarks to add bookmarks to my collection. The Girl with a Pearl Earring I bought at the Mauritshuis museum shop, the map bookmark, made from a recycled map, I got in Braunschweig at Graff Bookstore and the other I got from Die Buch Bar in Quedlinburg.

A Journal from DeafMessenger which I found at the American Book Center in Utrecht. I can’t pass up great journals and this one is so cool. Check out DeafMessenger to see more of their unique journals. Speaking of the American Book Center, I visited the location in Amsterdam many years ago and at first glance this one seemed tiny but there was actually a lot of space inside and a great selection of books.

Flow Magazine in German. I picked this one up at Bucher Nolte in Gifhorn. I’m looking at a lot of pictures more than anything but maybe this will be a reminder to practice more German.

I also got this great coffee paper from Die Buch Bar. I’ll have to use this either for some art journaling and/or bookbinding.

I try to not buy a lot of books because these can certainly get heavy but we had some gift cards and I just couldn’t resist some of these so here are my book buys:
The Green Road by Anne Enright
Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healy
The Lake House by Kate Morton
Us by David Nicholls
The Disappearance by Annabel Kantaria

So all of that along with lots of chocolate made for a very heavy suitcase. Now to find a spot for all of my goodies because my studio/library is a bit of a mess.

I hope you’ve all had a great weekend! I finally finished emptying out my suitcase and took some naps to recoup from a full week back at the office. It’s true, you need a vacation after the vacation!

I still have a couple more vacation posts to share so I hope you don’t mind. Now it’s time to show you some scenes from Quedlinburg, Germany. I’ve mentioned before how much I love going to the Harz area of Germany. It’s not too far from where my in-laws live so when we visit we usually manage at last a day trip to the Harz.

This time we stayed overnight and spent a great time visiting this beautiful medieval city. Founded in 922 Quedlinburg is a UNESCO World Heritage site and I believe it has one of the oldest Fachwerk (half-timbered construction) houses in Germany. It is beautiful. We did have some rain while we were there so we couldn’t spend as much time outside taking pictures but just sitting in one of the cafes around the market square eating delicious cake and coffee was perfect.

When we were able to walk around we wandered along cobble-stone streets, found antiquarian booksellers, took the Bimmelbahn for a 45 minute tour and I even saw the Frida K café. Unfortunately it was closed the day we went so I told my husband I’m definitely going back on another visit.

One of my favorite finds in Quedlinburg was the Die Buch Bar shop. This small shop is a delight for any booklover. They had jewelry made out of paper, bookends, book totes, and a bunch of other fun gifts. I was a bit overwhelmed and barely knew what to choose but I got a bookmark and some paper for bookbinding.

The rest of our visit we spent it with family and friends. Of course I  made my visits to bookstores I enjoy in Hannover and Braunschweig. I made a couple of book purchases whichI will tell you about soon. I ate way too many brotchen for breakfast every day and let’s not even discuss chocolate consumption. Oh but we did do a bit of bike riding in Germany so that should offset some of that right?

Ok, next up I’ll tell you about what I read & bought while on vacation!