What can you bring to your friends from Russia if they already have an ushanka ear flap hat, a balalaika, and a pet bear? Sooner or later tourists start to ask themselves this question puzzled by the variety of Russian souvenirs. Don’t be afraid. In our vast country it is easy to find gifts that will definitely make your friends happy.
En every major Russian city tourists sites are surrounded by shops and stalls selling gifts, like magnets, carved jewelry-boxes, matryoshka dolls, wooden eggs, and T-shirts with Vladimir Putin’s portraits. However, this list of traditional Russian souvenirs is far from being complete and it doesn’t take to travel far away to get some original ones. For example, in Ramensky district of Moscow Region there functions Gzhel Porcelain Factory. Here you can buy the traditional white pottery painted in blue that will definitely be appreciated by the porcelain-lovers.
By the Volga river you will find Khokhloma, traditional Russian woodenware painted in gold, black, red and green colors. Here you will also find the Filimonovo and Dymkovo toys, clay figurines of animals and humans. Some of these figurines can be used as musical instruments, the pennywhistles.
If your friends are fond of music, they will definitely appreciate traditional Russian musical instruments, like gusli, balalaika, treshchotka or a blowing horn.
Today’s Russia has brands that breathed a new life into the traditional arts and crafts. One is named Krasnyy klubok. The craftswomen make hand-sewn traditional stuffed dolls that are both toys and protective amulets. Each one is different. For example, a dumpy kubyshka-travnitsa rag-doll is stuffed with fragrant herbs. It should be placed under the pillow to drive off the evil spirits. Domovushka doll with shawl-covered head and wearing bead necklace is a guardian of the hearth and Uspeshnitsa doll will help a young girl to have a happy marriage.
Place kubyshka-travnitsa doll under your pillow to drive off the evil spirits while you sleep
Put a smile on your friends’ faces by bringing them unusual kitchen utensils, like a two prong fork, a kovsh, a wooden spoon or a cooking clay pot. These will make your soups or stew remarkably tasty. But if you really want to surprise your friends, bring them a samovar. Drinking tea from samovar is a real ceremony, especially if you observe the rules: a samovar is stoked with dry pinecones and rekindled with the help of a jackboot (don’t be surprised!)
Drinking tea from samovar is a real ceremony, especially if you observe the rules: a samovar is stoked with dry pinecones and rekindled with the help of a jackboot (don’t be surprised!)
Don’t want to take bulky utensils with you? Buy some clothes. In Russia you will find modern-looking caftans, pinafores and traditional long earrings, traditional embroidered coats and buttons decorated with precious metals and ornamental stones. Any woman of fashion will be delighted to have a knitted goat down shawl. Such shawls made by craftswomen from Orenburg are very warm and so fine that you can easily pull it through a wedding ring. Such Orenburg shawls are quite expensive, but it is really worth it.
To those who prefer light summer clothing you can bring a dress or a mantle made of the famous Russian lace. Just like Orenburg shawls, Russian lace is something hand made. Just one glance is enough to understand that there is nothing like this that you can buy outside Russia. To accomplish the image of a Russian beauty, you can choose silver jewelry decorated with fitift, a brightly painted enamel.
A genuine shawl made by a craftswoman from Orenburg is very warm and so fine that you can easily pull it through a wedding ring
