Although I had a great time during my Spring Break trip to Europe, I quickly realized keeping my guard up was the best strategy while visiting foreign countries.
Before arriving in Spain, I heard tales of widespread pickpocketing in Barcelona. These tales were confirmed on the bus from the airport when an American told us to stay alert. At first, I didn't think too much about it. Then, I experienced firsthand why I should have taken these warnings more seriously.
We stayed near La Rambla, a major tourist thoroughfare filled with street performers and vendors of all sorts during the day. At night, however, this street became overrun with a bevy of shady figures.
One night at 1 a.m., we were walking down a dubious side alley toward our hostel when two men approached us, allegedly promoting a club down the road. One of the men, who had attempted a suspicious salsa move on my friend, did the same to me to demonstrate the club's theme. I disregarded it at first simply as an act representative of the cultural differences in attitudes about personal space. As he grabbed one of my hands and tried to dance with me, I felt another hand groping my front pocket.
Luckily, I was able to thwart his thievery with a quick arm chop. This attempted pickpocketing occurred within an hour's arrival in Barcelona, literally outside our hostel's front door.
It was not all dreary, though. The illegal beer salesmen - who hide their goods in places such as mailboxes but still somehow deliver ice cold products for only one euro - were a welcome addition to the otherwise sketchy atmosphere.
In Florence, Italy, we spotted what I believed to be a larger "small-size" gelato cup than we had seen elsewhere. I asked the price. The scooper said "two," and wary of the validity of this excellent deal, I asked again, "two euros?" I received a head nod in response.
All of us were pumped with this great deal and went ahead with our orders, only to find a cashier asking for six euros. She said that two was not the price but rather the number of flavors allowed in one cup. The gelato man, who had otherwise seemed skilled in his English-speaking abilities, had exploited the language barrier to deceptively hawk his dessert. We bitterly ate our purchases, which were far inferior to others we had sampled.
Thieves were more sophisticated on the Greek island of Mykonos, as it was not until three days on the island that my friend was unable to withdraw money from his account. He phoned Bank of America and learned that someone had gotten hold of his card information, most likely from a tampered automated teller machine. Visa had disabled his card as a result of suspicious charges. Ultimately, they temporarily unfroze his account so he could get cash, but it was a close call.
All in all, these were just passing issues and did not ruin an otherwise excellent trip. So we had to deal with the wiles of prostitutes, drug dealers and identity thieves - it happens. What I'm most worried about now is returning to America to find a worldwide conspiracy in the frozen treats industry. I hope Ben & Jerry's doesn't try that gelato stunt.
Alex's column runs biweekly Tuesdays. He can be reached at a.foreman@cavalierdaily.com.
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