2009 05 08 - Rome, Italy - Day 2

Today we enjoyed another lovely day, clear blue skies… warm weather… cool breezes. We strolled through several districts and made our way into the Ancient City. The ruins are very impressive and it is really incredible that you have so much ancient history at your feet.

Following a leisurely lunch we headed for the Pantheon (which always draws a crowd.) We were forewarned to secure our belongings as pickpockets and thieves frequent the area. We were busy snapping photos and taking in all the artifacts without a care in the world. We’re not in the crowd, just sort of off to ourselves. For whatever reason Joe reaches into his pocket and the look on his face is blank – the panic is immediate – his wallet is gone….. Now mind you we’ve been forewarned about pickpockets. They are real pros here and he’s even worn his pants that have zippered pockets – but the wallet is gone. Damn – these sons of b#/=@!s are good! Now let’s stop and think, when did they hit us?? We’ve avoided the crowd and geeze, we cannot believe we’ve been fleeced. All our money and credit cards are gone. Well, not really – Nancy’s wallet is back at the hotel, but the cards are all to the same accounts, and you know the drill…..they credit card companies will have to send us new ones, blah, blah, blah.

We’re still in panic mode. Nancy decides to approach a well-dressed Italian woman nearby who is talking on a cell phone to ask her to please call the police. Of course she doesn’t speak English and can’t understand a word she’s saying. A few more words, a few gestures, an exchange of gibberish, more hand gestures –now the lady thinks Nancy is asking her for money and shoos her away.

Next, Nancy spots a policeman across the square and approaches him. All the while Joe is telling her “they can’t do anything.” Imagine approaching this guy and try to tell him you’re the victim of a pickpocket. Not that this hasn’t happened before. Again, he speaks no English. Nancy attempts a few words of English/Italian and he uses a few hand gestures that we were sure meant “you’re screwed.”

Yep - we’re screwed. We opt to re-think this situation as we make our way back to the hotel to call the banks and credit card companies. As we retrace the activities of the day and the crowd, we’re thinking about where/how this could have happened. In panic and disbelief we think, we had it at the restaurant for lunch….putting the receipt away……the backpack slipped off the chair…..did the wallet get put on the table???? We flew back to the restaurant and as soon as we popped through the door our waitress is nodding her head “yes, yes, yes” – what a break! The cash and cards were there. The rush from broken to elation is a trip!

After all this excitement we need a little more R&R. We decided to go to a local Irish Pub and listen to an Italian Johnny Cash tribute band “The Folsom Prison Band” attempting to sing Cash in an Italian accent. It was funny and bad all at the same time – but everyone in the bar seemed to enjoy the music – and so did we.