How I lost “myself” taking a selfie in Barcelona
Everyone deserves a nice relaxing vacation. And I really felt the urge for my long-awaited dream vacation, when summer started.
Fortunately, we could get some last-minute deal and were able to book our first Mediterranean cruise. I was so excited to find that it was departing from Barcelona. I always wanted to visit Spain in my life and now here was my golden opportunity to explore this wonderful city.
In my heart, I could hear the lyrics of the song beating softly: “The Rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain…!” How could one forget the musical My Fair Lady and Julie Andrews singing this beautiful song?
So, we booked our flights to arrive in Barcelona two days prior to our cruise, hoping to spend time in this city filled with history, art and culture. My husband had spent time in figuring out how to quickly get around in the city and visit different places easily without spending much money and time. He also warned me that Barcelona is the capital for pickpockets and we decided to be extra careful. But that was it!
After our long flights, we finally reached our hotel in Barcelona. That evening, we bought our two-day Metro pass and set on our first day adventure to visit Las Ramblas. It was pretty hot and streets were over crowded, but I was thrilled to be in a city displaying beautiful architecture, art around everywhere. That was good enough for me to bear the heat and long walks. While enjoying sips of fresh coffee, tasting different flavors of ice cream, I also had some fun with bargain shopping. We returned to our hotel quite late, but I was glad that we were safe and sound. Since we made it safely through one day in this busy city, it built my confidence level more to travel by metro and wander around busy streets. However, it all lasted only for one more day!
Next day morning we set on our new adventure. We took the metro again and then hopped into the cable car to visit MontJuic Castle. I will never ever forget this day. No, I am not talking about the breathtaking scenery or historical landmarks, but about something unthinkable that happened to me. We enjoyed our cable car ride up the hill and exploring the castle. Everything went well until we decided to take the first stop on our descend by the cable car. I always love taking pictures, but this time I made sure to carry a selfie stick with me, so both of us could be in picture with the beautiful scenery in the background.
We found a beautiful spot, perfect with a railing to lean on and gorgeous view behind. Just as we were getting ready to take our selfie, two guys from the crowd came rushing as if they wanted to take pictures from the same spot. I politely told them to move away, so we can take our picture and then they can take theirs. They moved away a little bit and I clicked for our selfie. Oh, no! I could see the same guy in my selfie standing behind me. How did he even get in there? I was extremely upset but asked him again politely to stay away for a min, so we could get a clean selfie of just both of us. Another try and just as I am getting ready, he again comes rushing behind me, almost hits me from the back. Now I was about to lose my temper when I saw him photobombing my selfie. I quickly lectured him about good manners. Next minute they were gone. Well, I could finally take our selfie of just both of us, with great background and both of us wearing smiles.
Unfortunately, our smiles did not last much longer! Within a few minutes, I felt my bag was much lighter and realized that my wallet was gone from my bag. The zipper of the bag was wide open and the wallet that was so tightly fitting in the bag that even I would have trouble taking out was gone!
How could this be happening to me, when I have been so careful in crowded streets?? Oh NO…!!! Who and where?? How could this be happening? Suddenly I realized that I must have got tricked by those two strangers who posed like tourists and photobombed my selfie. I got distracted only for a few seconds, never even suspected those phony tourists trying to get closer to me. How did I not know their intentions? I quickly looked at my pictures that I took and there it was — the clear evidence of how this crime was committed. I could clearly see in one of the selfies the guy fiddling with my bag behind my shoulder. In the second selfie, same guy was holding my wallet in his one hand and holding his phone with other pretending to take picture. I tried to scream, warn other tourists — but surprisingly not a single person seemed to care. I asked for help to call police and again it seemed no one was worried. One of the street vendor said — “It happens all the time. Just cancel your credit cards, Police will be at lunch now and they don’t have time.” Such a cold atmosphere! I rushed to the cable car station and the lady there said she has no ability to directly call police but will try calling the main office and request them to call police.
Almost after 50 min, we saw two police officers taking rounds. We shared what happened with them, but they could not even take police report from me. I was about to enter in panic mode, but then I recalled my “calming mantra”!
My mom shared this Mantra with me — “Always try to be calm. Never lose your mind in any adverse situation and instead plan wisely to take correcting steps.”
“Crying does not help, take action,” my mom would always say.
What do we need to do now? We are out of country and on our vacation and here I lose my wallet with cash and all precious items. First things first! We started with calling the bank and others to report stolen wallet. It seemed as if it took forever.
Next, we headed to the police station. This was certainly not a planned destination on my vacation. But after 15–20 min walk, we arrived at the police station. This could really make another interesting story. A long line was extending outside of police station. This was only to speak to someone at the window. Every single person in the line had something stolen — either a wallet or their smart phone. After half an hour wait, finally I could speak to the person at the window. Then I was directed to the waiting room to see a police officer. Another 30 min wait time and I became restless. It was quite a large group of people and most of them shared that they had been waiting there for almost three hours. Such a long wait to report a theft! Meanwhile some of them shared their stories of how they got robbed. It was all shocking to me. Some lost their wallets/phones in Metro, some while walking on the streets and some in restaurants/bars or shops. That means no place was safe in this city. Some suspected small kids stealing, some had young girls luring them and some thought those were middle aged men/women dressed decently. No wonder it is called the capital of Pickpockets.
In any case, I could not bear the idea of waiting there for 3 hours. I felt my throat dry, but it was not possible to get even a cup of coffee. I tried my best, but I was asked to wait until my turn came. Maybe it was me complaining or it was my luck, but I was called in within an hour. We lodged the police complaint, shared the pictures of the suspect.
“What are the chances of finding this suspect and recovering my stolen wallet?” I asked.
“Not likely. We will inform you if someone returns the empty wallet. File with your insurance.” The officer said in a cold tone.
It was very clear that nothing was going to be done by police there. Now I know, why thieves make this place as their wonderland. There is no legal action taken unless stolen money is more than 400 euros. Oh well — it is a vicious circle! Thieves rob hundreds of people daily, police tired with making reports and have no intention of taking any action. This is like an infectious disease and it will continue to grow unless treated. Unless it affects tourism and economy of this city, there may not be any wakeup call for the officials.
We returned to our hotel after grabbing a soggy sandwich at McDonalds. The entire drama was physically exhausting and mentally draining. I was angry, but also sad inside. It was humiliating and at the same time I felt as if I lost my faith in all humanity. I considered myself quite smart and alert, but how could someone make me a fool? The entire incident replayed in my mind multiple times making me feel so silly and stupid. How could I fail to judge these people? And why me…?? I thought, this would make me crazy.
Okay, time to stop thinking and chant my mantra — “Keep calm”!
I tried to get all cluster thoughts out of my mind and then tried to sleep quietly thinking about our upcoming cruise. Just because someone stole my wallet does not mean they can steal my happiness and heart.
Amma, the renowned humanitarian has a great message. Remembering her words was a solace for me — “Don’t waste your time and never get attached to material things in life. Instead, build ever lasting relationship through love and compassion.”
I decided to follow Amma’s advice and stay positive. I also tried to build new friendly relationships on my cruise with an open heart. What a miracle! I met so many wonderful people on our cruise coming from different parts of the world. Language was no barrier here and age did not matter too. I made so many new friends.
Nature was splashing its beauty around. It was so nice to hear ocean waves singing at night and see the full moon rising over the ocean. I eagerly watched sunrise and sunset each day. I forgot all worries including my stolen wallet. Those were joyous moments that helped me overcome my stress.
Yes, occasionally I was haunted with thoughts of my stolen wallet and felt the pain. But there was nothing I could do. So why worry? After our cruise, I wanted to give one last try just for peace of my mind and get a closure with the incident. I decided to call Barcelona police stations as well as lost and found places in the city. Not a single phone call was answered. I was not surprised at all. What else to expect? So that was the end of story for my stolen wallet.
If you happen to visit Barcelona anytime, beware! Be careful taking your selfie and try not to lose your wallet or yourself, the way it happened to me!
Also next time, when I plan on taking my selfie — I will certainly make sure nobody is photobombing my picture!
