by Beks
We left Florence this morning. Weird to say but… Im not a fan. It was busy, dirty, and the people were beyond rude. Im not your typical loud American. Im quiet, I say thank you and please in Italian but somehow, I think all the Americans before me blew it. Or… I can just blame the Canadians.
Sorry for the horrid punctuation. Im paying for this internet connection and for the life of me, I cant figure out this darn Italian keyboard!! I dont have time to find all the keys!!
We arrived in Siena this morning and what a beautiful city it is!! We had a pretty bad experience with the gypsys in Florence and are a bit scared to head to Rome in a few days. There were two groups of gypsys who were causing problems in the streets and another who tried to steal clothing while my husband was washing his in the laundry mat! He met a couple who had their passports and cash taken in Rome and warned us to be VERY CAREFUL. Ugh.
We are heading out to see the wine country tomorrow morning. Im not sure when my next connection will be but I hope to update in Rome.
Ciao!
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
We never had any problems in Rome, but maybe things have changed. We always wore our money in money belts under our clothes and I always had my purse across my body with my hand on it.
Could have warned you to skip Florence. We did the same thing, Venice and then Florence and really they need to be in the other order, given how car-free Venice is. In Florence you have to look the wrong way down one-way streets and watch yourself from getting run over on the sidewalk! Too much of a transition. It’s just the Art Museum, the Dome and then out of there anyway.
We had no trouble in Rome, except finding decent food. We found great food in the Ghetto, btw, I’d rec that for restaurant hunting.
But as always. Do not, do not, do not carry anything you aren’t willing to lose. It doesn’t matter where you are. Any tourist zone anywhere in the world has the same rule. If you feel you must carry your passport, then put it in a pouch inside your clothing on a cord in one of those security carry things. Handbags and especially fanny packs are easy marks. You might as well hand your stuff out to the thief if you are keeping it there. Leave bags for tour books and tissues only. Spread your cash out between pockets. Hook your bags onto your chair when you are sitting in a cafe and carry them on the building side when you are walking. In Italy thieves like to ride by on scooters and grab things that are loose. Keep your small camera synched around your wrist, and if it’s the big fancy kind, well, guard it non-stop. That’s life with a nice camera all the time, anyway.
Don’t carry anything you don’t mind losing, don’t dress like you have money, and you really can travel stress free.
Yep, you have to be very wary of the gypsies. It’s funny (or not, really), but, where my family is from (which is an hour outside Venice) it’s kind of a running “joke” (joke that is oddly true) that anything south of Florence is basically southern Italy. Meaning, don’t put anything valuable in your back pocket, strap your passport to your body, and hold on to your small children (crazy stories when I was little and spent summers in Italy of gypsies kidnapping little kids so they can be used to help their “begging for money” operation).
Anyway. I don’t remember Rome being that bad but I was nine last time I went and it was 1987. So, might be different now.
I loved Florence, but it was 10 years ago. My friends were pickpocketed, but I knew better than to carry anything around worth having.
Don’t sweat everything too much. My brother has been stationed in Naples a year and travels all over the country in a very desirable American sportscar with about 700Hp. We were sure it’d be stolen by now, but he’s managed to keep it around.
Hey, don’t blame the Canadians. You Americans pretend you are us in Europe and give us a bad rep! But we love you:)
Laina, Nah, it is absolutely no contest . . . the British are the worst tourists.
Laina – Totally true! We thought about saying we were Canadian since they dont like Americans! Dont worry, we decided to say we were from Hollywood. Turns out, they hate Americans… except those from Hollywood. They assume we are best friends with Jay-Z and Nicole Kidman.