Remember to be a bit careful with your belongings in some places in Italy
 

I think we escaped being pick pocketed/ robbed today. San Marco Piazza, Venezia. Most touristy place we've been just to have a drink: listen to the orchestra and people watch. Ordered drinks, Rob went to the toilet and the waiter knocked Rob's coat onto the ground and turned his back and didn't seem to notice. I thought nothing of it, picked it up straight away and was busy messaging on my phone and Rob came back to the table. When we were leaving I picked up my bag and my wallet was on the ground. Most unusual. Wasn't till we got home I realised a parcel was missing. No big deal just teaches us to be a bit more careful in these sorts of areas. Forgot all the warnings for high density touristy places. Don't put your jacket on back of chair (with your wallet in the pocket!) Don't put your bag on the ground. We've had no issues in our three weeks so far in Italy and have become complacent. Should have been more careful. Our fault. Geez had some Euro in there. So lucky.

Italy is beautiful and all of the people we have come into contact with have been charming and lovely and honest.

Without this near miss I would have posted that these warnings are a "load of crock": seems they are not. Hope this reminds others just to be careful in some places.

It is not my intention to create fear or fervour... We just became complacent and hope others might learn from this. Ciao we are having a wonderful wonderful time.

oh, I don't think warnings are a load of crock at all, this kind of thing happens in some big cities especially, and even more in certain European countries, although you'll have people claiming it doesn't. Not sure why you would have thought they were a load of crock? YOu didn't believe in petty theft or pickpocketing in highly touristed areas in Italy?

IN any case, people who aren't used to traveling do need to understand this, so good advice. I'm not clear if you are miplying the waiter was in on the scam or not.

I do put jackets on backs of chairs sometimes in outdoor cafes, but I never have wallets in my pockets, nor anything of value. And I do put my bag on the ground sometimes (or chair next to me if empty). But again, I don't have anything of value in them. i wouldn't in a real dicey area, though.

Christina yes a bit Pollyanna and have had no reason to be concerned despite my reasonable vigilance. So I was just saying...don't ignore warnings is all. I'm not sure what to make of the waiters in this particular place. My instincts are on holiday!! But I'll be more careful.

Has not changed how in love I am with Italy.

Still not clear. You said you escaped in the title. Did you lose anything other than the "parcel."? Was something in the parcel? Where was the parcel? Secondly could your billfold simply have fallen out. Our experience is that general this type of theft or pickpocketing requires a diversion. Was the knocking off of the jacket the diversion since nothing was taken from the jacket?

People need to be alert to this situation but should not to be carrying billfolds in easy to grab locations either.

Kym, thank you for posting yet another warning about pickpockets - you never know who will heed this post!

I never put my purse on the back of my chair or on the chair next to me or on the ground, no matter where in Italy I am traveling. It is always on my lap or dangling off my knees under the table.

I am glad to hear you are in love with Italy - I fell head over heels on my first trip and the affair is still going strong!

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Look you know forget it. Sorry I mentioned it at all. All I was saying was we became complacent. No my wallet fits really snuggly into my small bag and I had no reason to remove it. I posted on the wrong forum. My apologies. Let's leave it at that.

I have received a lot of help from the Italy Fodors forum and often really quickly when I needed it. I was just sharing my don't do what I did advice.

Chill. Please.

Sorry... Thanks ekc.

Thanks for the reminder KymMac and no need to apologize.
Keep enjoying bella Italia!

<<Don't put your jacket on back of chair (with your wallet in the pocket!) Don't put your bag on the ground.>>

Very good advice.

"and was busy messaging on my phone" providing the absolutely perfect opportunity for someone to rob you. Could you not wait even a LITTLE bit???????

Kym: Be aware that if you got hit by a meteor and reported it here, someone would say, "Why weren't you looking up?"

Be more than "a bit" careful, and this advice is not only applicable to Italy!

It is generally not acceptable here to say anything negative about any place which anyone may like. This goes double for France and quadruple for Italy. However, if you really want to make friends, you may blame it on the gypsies.

I am glad you didn't lose much and think reminders like this are valuable. I also hold my purse in my lab but do usually only carry a small flit criss-body bag that I just leave strapped across me. So glad you are wise enought to not let the incident ruin your trip or your impression of Italy. I love Italy!

Glad your experience was not too catastrophic.

The waiters in the Piazza do get pretty busy, shooing feral pigeons away from the tables, and dispensing spritzes at 15 euro a hit (plus surcharge for what is euphemistically described as "music").

Sorry - but your rules for taking care of your belongings are true anywhere in the world - not just Italy and not just tourist venues. NEVER let go of your belongings or put a cell phone on a table.

(I saw a woman's purse grabbed off the back of a chair in an outdoor cafe in very upscale Greenwich CT. A youth on a bike just rode by, grabbed the strap of the bag, and was around the corner in a matter of seconds.)

<Be aware that if you got hit by a meteor and reported it here, someone would say, "Why weren't you looking up?">
LOL! I can only add that if the meteor hit you in Italy, shame on you for luring it there:-D

Well I am glad you enjoyed your trip,, and that you yourself acknowledge your oopsies.. ( becoming complacent).. but must say I was a little taken aback that you thought warnings were overblown.. sure it does not happen to most tourists.. but if it happens to you it all becomes so relevant..

I always used to say this when people say " its a one in a million chance" when referring to a danger that might befall my kids.. I say " true.. but I don't want it to be my "one" .. lol

Also.. while I am not a huge fan of Italy..I will defend it in that this could have easily happened in many other countries in Europe.. ( and does)

The point is your post will help others.. so that's a good thing( unless someone reads it and thinks your experience was " a load of crock".. lol

Here's some good advice regarding pickpockets in Italy, and it applies equally to Spain, another pickpocket paradise: http://www.bella-toscana.com/pickpocketsinitaly.htm

My very first visit to piazza San Marco in Venice, I turned to two women sitting next to me in Cafe Florian's -- older and younger, whom I didn't know -- because I couldn't resist gushing how fabulous it was to be there. It was only then that I noticed that both of them were not looking happy at all, and the younger women -- the daugther of the older -- explained that her mother had just been the victim of an attempted purse snatching, rather a rough one, from a young man who tried to yank the bag off her arm in the middle of the piazza. The daughter boldly intervened and kept a grip on the mother's purse, and that was the end of it (but it ruined their experience of the piazza).

Things can happen anywhere, but I will add that later the same evening, for dinner, my husband and I joined 2 other tourists whom we had encountered at the hotel where we were staying who recognized us as living in the same NYC neighborhood (actually on the same street). Over dinner, the woman related how -- 3 days before, upon her arrival in Venice -- a young man had snipped the shoulder strap of her purse with a scissors and it was gone before she knew it. Luckily, it was a purse with nothing in but a hairbrush, some coins, cigarettes.

In very touristy places in Italy, it doesn't matter if you don't text or were born in New York or whatever magical thinking you like to engage in (or sense of superiority that other people are dumb). Thieves (including waiters) are professionals who don't need you to make "mistakes" (like sitting, breathing or looking at Venice) to take a swipe at your goods.

KymMac's only mistake, as she noted, was posting a complex thought on Fodor's.