The scene of the crime.
Throughout our travels of the past four years, we have always been warned about pickpockets. We've always been mindful of how we carry our bags and purses, but thankfully we have never had anything stolen from us.
When we arrived in Barcelona, the first thing Arturo told us was to watch out for pickpockets. He said it was the worst this city has seen in 10 years. He warned us not to let anyone crowd around us with offers of help and to keep our satchels in front of us, zipped up at all times.
The other night we were taking the metro and we were on a very busy line. The trains were full and people were anxious to get where they were going. As we tried to enter a car, two men were getting off. But instead of stepping out of the car onto the platform, they stood in the open door, not moving.
I thought that was weird. We tried to push past them to get into the car.
All of a sudden Joe jerked his elbow up sharply and yelled, "Let go!"
Joe had his hand on his wallet in his front pocket and he felt another hand cover his. Thank goodness Joe had the wherewithal to lay a martial arts move on the guy. The two men quickly scuttled away and we felt very lucky that Joe and his wallet weren't parted.
Joe now carries his wallet in his breast pocket zippered up.
That is freaky, Joe Sotham- crime stopper. I have heard that Barcelona is quite bad, it was also bad when I was there 20 years ago , the Ramblas especially. Imagine the pain of retrieving everything and reordering cards from Spain!
ReplyDeleteWow, close call Joe. I imagine a lot of unsuspecting travellers don't get as lucky, mind you they may not have your moves either!
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