{"id":4929,"date":"2021-06-26T20:11:01","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T18:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/?p=4929"},"modified":"2025-08-14T19:37:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T17:37:59","slug":"am-fost-furata-in-vacanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/2021\/06\/am-fost-furata-in-vacanta\/","title":{"rendered":"I was burgled on a vacation!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As much\nas I’ve traveled in recent years, I can say that I was lucky to have had safe\nholidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nthere are exceptions\u2026 I realized the other day that, in different years, in\ndifferent countries, what I hate very much happened to me: to be burgled<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MADRID. THEFT AT KM 0.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many years ago I fled to Madrid on a whim, on a romantic getaway for two, being invited to a friend’s civil wedding \u2013 where the dress code was “the tourist clothes you’re wearing” J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
me, the bride and a friend of the bride<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The enthusiasm of that adventure made us leave our suitcases quickly and go to the city carrying our backpack, full of everything we had in it from home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Km 0 in Madrid \u2013 Puerta del Sol<\/strong>, we went everywhere, we wandered on the streets and the main boulevards, we also went to the wedding, we then returned to the center, happy to take the pulse of a city that does not sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the\nevening we looked at a street artist, caught in the crowd of curious people,\nthen we went to a place I already knew, where we ate the best hot dog in the\nworld!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we\nwere supposed to pay, I realized that my backpack was open and I no longer had\nany of the documents and the wallet! F@&ck!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s\nhard to describe the anger, the nerves, the spite, the suffering I felt at that\nmoment! I wanted to scream!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nworst feeling was helplessness and I kept wondering “what do we do now???”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nwalked the whole route in the opposite direction, hoping we will find the\ndiscarded documents somewhere. No chance whatsoever\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone\nhad stolen our passports with the visas (we were not in the EU at the time), the\ninsurances, some money, the plane tickets (at that time there were only printed\ntickets). Our great luck was that we had most of the money in our pants\npockets, not in our backpack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so\nwe had to “steal the bride” out of necessity, to take us to the\nPolice, that we were the nobody’s children!…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, in the middle of the night, we had to fill in the papers, to explain what happened and how it happened, what we had in our backpack, where we walked and at what hours and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We were issued a paper with which we managed to return home. A document to be used as a passport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
the “joy” I had the days after the burglary\u2026 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since that holiday, I have never stopped to watch any street shows where there are thousands of people\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIENNA. THE TRAIN BURGLARY.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after we got into the EU, I got on a train together with two friends (husband and wife) and left for Vienna, on another unplanned vacation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had\ntaken a bunk, in which only the three of us were sleeping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were\nquite surprised when, once we made ourselves comfortable, the car attendant\ncame to us and warned us that thefts were happening on the train, therefore, we\nshould lock ourselves up until the next morning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What?!?\nGod forbid, it was as if we were in the jungle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also\nfound out when and how thieves used to operate: during the night, on the\nventilation grille at the bottom of the bunk they spray I don’t know what gas\nto put you to sleep, then they open the bunk door with a special key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man, we\nwere quite afraid! And it was too late to get down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The man\nin the group looked for solutions and chose the safest one (we, the girls, took\npictures\u2026): he took the ladder from the bed, took off the trousers belt and\nbarricaded the door, to make sure we won’t become victims!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\ncovered with everything we could with the ventilation grid, we took all our\nmoney and documents with us and\u2026 now just sleep, if you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I fell\nasleep at one point, with all the stress I was feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nmorning, during the customs check, we found out that our neighbors from the\nsame wagon had indeed been robbed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbelievable!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PISA. LEFT BARE-ASS.<\/strong>..<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was\na hot July in 2004, when the minibus adventure came up as a crazy idea, but\nimmediately accepted. Each of us had his reasons for wanting a little escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took\nthe camera, I took the video camera \u2013 extremely precious to me at the time \u2013\nand I started a happy vacation, filmed from the very beginning\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five\npeople in the minibus, one noisier than the other, passing through Vienna, then\nwandering through Italy, wherever our car could take us. Venice, followed by\nFlorence and, before returning to the country, let us go to Pisa!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had\nnot booked any accommodation in Pisa, because our plan was to see what was to\nbe seen there, and then to go back to Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nstarted visiting the city with\u2026 some shopping. To everyone’s joy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nstreet with many shops gave us a crazy urge to buy. Cool things you couldn’t\nfind at home. I even got two dresses! (something unusual for me hihi)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nthrew the shopping bags in the car and came to Piazza dei Miracoli<\/strong>, taking pictures and filming the Tower from all\nsides, until the camera’s battery was dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
2004<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
even in 2021 the habit of supporting the Tower not to fall has not disappeared hihi<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And, as\nwe knew that from Pisa you get to the sea in no time, of course we did not want\nto miss the opportunity to swim a bit before leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a\nfew minutes of driving, we found the beaches, we parked in an appropriate\nplace, with a fee, exactly opposite the beach, we changed as we could in the\nminibus and there we were all 5 of us in flip-flops, T-shirts, swimsuits and\nshorts, crossing to the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only we\nwere in the private beaches area. But we put out foot down. Into the sea, I\nmean. We walked a few hundred meters through the water, looking for a public\nbeach. Someone explained to us that there was one just a few minutes away by\ncar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfect!\nWe went out on the road, the owner of the car went to take the minibus from the\nparking lot and he was going to pick us up from the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nwaiting for him, we had a good time playing, we were doing all sorts of\nnonsense, we were pretending to be hitchhikers, well, stupid jokes like this\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\njokes suddenly stopped when we saw our friend making signs from behind the\nwheel of the car, signs that we did not know if they were obscene or desperate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\nwere robbed!!!” \u2013 he shouted at us when he reached us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, man,\nsure\u2026 Brother, good joke hihi\u2026 You don’t know how to act, you’re a terrible\nactor, stop the kidding\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only it\nwas just no joke. When we realized this, our mood changed at 180 degrees and we\nfelt like fainting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The car\nhad been broken into in the about 20 minutes while we were looking for a place\non the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once all\nthe doors were open, I saw the DISASTER: all our luggage was gone!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\nwindows were broken, no door was forced open, but the car had been emptied!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nstole our full suitcases, all the shopping bags, the photo cameras, the video\ncamera, the dirty sneakers, everything! We were left bare-ass, as we say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nrealized that I was left with\u2026 what I had on me: the swimsuit and a short\njumpsuit, slippers and, to my great luck, the money and the passport that I had\nwith me. Like all the others!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cried\nmy eyes out! I was upset, helpless, I had lost all the footage made during the\nfew days of vacation! (It was the first time I had a camera with me on\nvacation! There were no smartphones at the time.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we\nmourned, looking in the papers and bags thrown through the car, we realized\nwhat they had stolen from everyone. I was left without all the clothes (both the\nold ones and the ones bought in Austria and Italy), without my watch, without\nthe business cell-phone, without the sunglasses, without all the gifts bought\nfor family and friends, without all the jackets hanging by the minibus, without\nall the trousers; the other friends were left without all the things they had\nbought for themselves and their child and without the designer clothes they had\nbought from Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine\na devastated minibus. The thieves left nothing!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, yes,\nthey did: they left some terrible sneakers (they stole the new ones), my\nMichelin tourist guide, a plastic bag with some clothes and a pair of jeans\nbelonging to one of the friends, in which, unbelievably, there was a lot of\nmoney! God, how could they have missed those jeans???<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We went\nto the Pisa Police. On that occasion, we found out that burglaries were being\ncarried out there all the time. That there were groups of Albanians (well, at\nleast they are not Romanians J). And that we have little chance of getting anything\nback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do\nyou think we did after we wrote the statements? We drove through several\nparking lots, hoping to find at least the luggage thrown away. Well, no\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nleft. And the nightmare did not end here, because, as we were getting used to\nthe information and mentally visualized the luggage, we realized that other\nthings were missing too. Shock! They also stole all the Romanian documents\n(except for the passports we had with us): the ID cards, the driver’s licenses,\nthe car documents from Romania, all the cards, the press cards and so on. A\nreal delight!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfirst stop was\u2026 where do you think? At the shops where we had bought our cool\nclothes earlier. We bought them again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, where we had enjoyed the discounts,\nwe paid double!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we\nwent to a supermarket to get toothbrushes, a toothpaste for everyone, a\nhairbrush, a spray, but also\u2026 some panties! I got men briefs because they were\ncheaper hihihi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the\nway home I kept discovering, desperately, what means to have EVERYTHING stolen:\nI was even left without a handkerchief, scissors, hair elastic\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\narrived at the Romanian border in a T-shirt, some shorts and slippers. And with\nthe swimsuit on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nfact, we all came back “athletes”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nwas the first time I had the strength to make fun of my situation, when the\nHungarian customs officer asked us in a broken Romanian: “Do you have any luggage\nto declare?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah,\nright\u2026 I thought it was the coolest joke ever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PISA\n2021<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Well,\nsame old Pisa in 2021. Despite the pandemic\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\n17 years, I get here again. The friends I traveled with in 2004 ask me if I\ncame to find our luggage J)).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I go on walking through Piazza dei Miracoli, eating well, then I decide to do what I didn’t get to 17 years ago: to climb the Tower, hoping it doesn’t bend too much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n