Treasures From My Travels: Italian Coffee Grinder

When I travel I love to bring back things for my home. It makes me so happy to be surrounded my mementos from my trips and the memories each item brings back. I've been meaning for a long time to start writing down the stories behind all the treasures from my travels and I thought it would be fun to share them on my blog.

Picked up in Sicily on my Italy trip last month, this little coffee grinder is a recent addition.

Frank and I were wandering through one of Palermo's many colorful street markets (where we also got a spleen sandwich) when I spied it sitting amongst a pile of other random used items for sale. I had been meaning to get myself a coffee grinder so it was a perfect item to bring home. The seller wanted 20 Euros for it, but after a few rounds of bargaining back and forth (20-10-15-11-13-12-sold!) and approval from his wife the coffee grinder was mine for 12 Euros.

I love the worn patina that the wood has acquired and the red metal on top is a great match for my kitchen. It is not very big which is fine since I only plan to use it for grinding small amounts. As an added plus the small size made it easy to bring home and it doesn't take up much storage space. Cute and functional: that's what I call a perfect souvenir. Off to make some coffee...