In Rome, Beware

By Arnie Greenberg
Arnie welcomes your comments or questions.
Contact him at ultours@aol.com

It's the Eternal City, built around seven hills. It's filled with history, monuments, ruins, landmarks, famous fountains, squares and people.
It's a city that takes years to really know. It's a place everyone should visit.

But beware.

Evil lurks in the narrow streets, on the buses, the metro and in the parks. There is an element in Roma that makes it wicked.

Consider the street girls who are offered as" very young, very clean." Consider the ten-year-old with his hand defiantly in your pocket on the underground metro.
Consider the purse-snatchers and pickpockets who travel the number 64 bus from the Vatican to the Central Station, ready to pounce on unsuspecting tourists.

Consider the Gypsy mothers begging with a baby in their arms, while their children dig into your purses.

Consider the dash across a busy intersection as a light turns green and being jostled by young girls. Chances are, they have been in your purse in a moment. It happened to my wife. Luckily, plain-clothed policeman witnessed the scam and gave chase. Two teenaged girls were arrested.

Consider the police, who ticket tour buses as a matter of course over the least pretense. "Go back to France," they screamed at us, after a tiny infraction and a ticket that cost $150.

And what about the friendly Roman, who smiles and tells you how much he likes Americans or Canadians etc., while his friend is slitting your back pocket.
Beware of the man who drops a coin between your legs from behind. As he reaches between your legs to retrieve the coin, you are immobilized and sandwiched between two of his accomplices squeezing you from two sides while they pick your pockets.

Rome is a potentially dangerous city, as are many others. There are areas to stay away from, especially at night. Some streets are poorly lit and should be approached with caution.

Even a Sunday morning market can be a tourist hazard.
You have to live by your wits. Taking a tour very early in the morning might help. The undesirables are not generally early risers. Later the touts, the hawkers, the girls and the pickpockets look for vulnerable tourists and prey on them.

Now I can just hear Romans reacting to what I've just said, and I know many tourists who have spent time in Rome without being robbed or hassled, but caution should be your guide.

Read the warnings in your guidebooks, and take heed. Carry very little cash, and wear a money belt or body pouch. I even slip my pouch straps into my belt loops.
I've heard stories of young men on speedy motor scooters who have come up from behind and cut the pouch straps to scoot away with those bags.

I wear my passport around my neck and under my shirt. I never remove a wad of bills from my pocket in the presence of others. Even my credit cards are secure, I think. I buy pants with zippered pockets, and I never carry my wallet in my back pocket.

Beware of crowded buses and metros. The nicely dressed gentlemen or cute girl brushing up to you may have designs on your purse or wallet. I've even heard of an incident where a lady's necklace was ripped from her neck just as the metro doors closed. One could see the thief who defiantly smiled on the platform, as the train pulled away from the station.

A Japanese tourist had his wallet taken in front of my eyes. The thief immediately handed it to a colleague, who handed it to another. By the time the tourist yelled at the assailant, the third culprit was off of the train with the cash.

On one of my tours, gypsies accosted a lady eating an ice cream. A child was in the lady's purse, while she struggled (with one hand) to give the mother a coin.

One has to be aware of the possibilities at all times because it can happen in a flash.

Then there are those 'normal' things one does in North America that one shouldn't do in most European cities. A client gave her credit cards and cash to the owner of a tiny hotel to keep in her drawer.

The owner locked the door with the key she kept around her neck. She failed to tell the client that the other hotel employees also had keys. Everything was lost, and we had to make an emergency stop in Milan to obtain new passports.

Luckily enough, that went well, but I recommend that you carry a photocopy of your passport in a separate place, so you have the original number and pertinent information for the consulate or embassy to issue a new one. You cannot return to North America without your passport, so keep it safe.

So why did I pick on Rome? These things can happen anywhere, even at home. Over the years, I found more incidents took place in Rome than any other city. Of course, you may have discovered otherwise.

Yes, there are many good reasons to see modern Rome. For 20 centuries or more, it was the capital of Western civilization, art, law and religion.
It has some of the most impressive buildings in the world.

I can't imagine going through life without seeing the piazza Navona and the Bernini statue, or the Spanish Steps, the Fountain of Trevi, the Coliseum or the Pantheon, not to mention the Vatican.

But you don't want your vacation spoiled or your person violated. Be careful…and buona fortuna!