My best friend had her wallet stolen in Milan. She called it the city of gangsters. This had come after her cousin had her bag stolen in Rome. After that she went back to Copenhagen instead of moving on to Spain, for a break from all the southern European heat. After her experience, I was so paranoid about travelling in Italy and I took her advice about wearing a "Chinese underwear of death". Basically it's a pair of undies worn over your normal ones which has a pouch at the front to store your most sacred documents. I also found a new use for those pouches in bras used for stuffing padding - great place to store extra cash.
I came to Italy prepared. But Heeyul did not, he already had his credit card "stolen", which should be a lesson to everyone to never leave your wallet unattended! By the time we arrived in Florence, his financial lifeline finally arrived so that he was no longer dependent on me. He was revelling in his financial freedom the last few days, but all that was about to become undone.
We had only just arrived in Milan and decided to take the metro to our hostel instead of walking the 2-3km because my ankle was about to give out. At the station I was struck by how fashionable people were, tall and slim, they looked like they were from the fashion industry. We got on the crowded metro, the last in and hence standing by the door. Before the doors closed, the woman who had gotten on after us jumped off and beckoned frustratingly to someone down the platform. It seemed she did not attract her target's attention before the doors closed. I thought it was pretty strange what she was doing, it didn't seem to make sense that she would get on the metro and tell her friend to also get on the metro - shouldn't they have both been on the metro? While I was still trying to figure out what had just transpired before my eyes, Heeyul next to me started madly patting his jacket and pants at places where there were pockets. He had been rather forgetful lately, misplacing things constantly, so it was with an unkind tone when I asked, "What did you lose this time." With equal nochalance, he retorted, "My wallet", as if taking his anger out at me. Hence, not only had he lost his credit card, he now also had his debit card officially stolen.
When we arrived in Barcelona, our tour guide told us pick pockets usually troll the ends of metros, near stairs because when people rush onto trains, they will crowd onto the train there. They pick your pocket and will be off the train as you speed away to your destination, blissfully unaware you've just been robbed. This was lesson learnt too late, but it was something we could personally relate to. Another interesting thing to note was the pick-pocket was not the gypsie looking character who had featured in every horror pick-pocket tale I had heard. She was very normally dressed, not straight off the runway, but not so tackily it would act as an instant reminder to mind your personal belongings.
Not much else to report in Milano. There is an elegant gothic Duomo and some pretty good shopping.