Barcelona - Disaster day

We got up and went for coffee early as usual on Tuesday. We went to the same place for the third day in a row just because we knew the coffee would be reasonable and the kids loved the breakfast smoothies. Then we were to head back to the apartment and move on to Palma de Mallorca. The whole point of this trip was that S-i-L had a wedding to attend in Palma on Saturday and I had come along as chief baby-sitter for that evening.

We ordered our breakfast and I took it over to our table where the others were sitting. I left my handbag sitting on my seat right next to S-i-L and Master J while I went to grab a straw for Miss L's smoothie, and 10 seconds later when I got back to the table it was gone... Just like that. No one had seen a thing!

My passport, my purse with cash, credit cards and Drivers Licence, my iPhone, my camera... all gone.

Initially I couldn't believe it had been taken in that short time and from right under the noses of the others, so I went back to the counter to check that I hadn't left it there, and looked around our table and others. It was gone! Holy s*#t!!! I have been the one telling the others to keep an eye on their belongings, and not put things down because there were thieves and pickpockets in many of the cities we went to, and I had a proper travel handbag with clips that locked it shut to keep pickpockets out (which actually saved me once in Rome) and wire through the strap so it couldn't be cut and snatched... and I was the one that got robbed... Irony at it's best.

We had to make a quick decision about what to do as our taxi to the airport was due to arrive soon. I couldn't go anywhere because I needed to stay in Barcelona to sort stuff out. Even if I had been able to travel to Palma without a passport I would need one to get home, and at least Barcelona has a New Zealand Consulate (the embassy is in Madrid). So we decided that S-i-L and the kids would go to Palma as planned, and I would follow when I could.

Initially I thought I was dealing with it all really well. I felt completely calm. But I think there was a bit of shock going on. When I was saying goodbye to them at the apartments I could feel the tears coming on, and I am NOT a cryer!

S-i-L gave me €100, which was all the cash she had on her and then I was on my own... We had checked out of the apartments, but they let me sit in the lobby and use the wifi with my computer, and they gave me directions to the police station. I was under no illusions that I would get anything back, but I needed a police report number for my insurance and to get an emergency passport.

Before I went anywhere I had a small, discreet break-down in the lobby, hiding behind my suitcases. I needed to get in touch with my travel insurance company and the NZ Embassy and the banks to cancel my cards, and I had no phone! So I managed to put some credit on my Skype account using PayPal and started getting in touch with various authorities. Every time I had to tell someone what had happened the tears threatened to flow again and I was starting to get really annoyed with myself!

I left my bags at the hotel while I when to the police, and then walked an hour across the city to the NZ Consulate office (which was closed... grrrrr). I was navigating by a crappy paper map because I had no phone, and it was really frustrating! I didn't want to waste my money on taxis because I didn't know how long that €100 would have to last. I also had the problem of being homeless... we had checked out of our apartment and I had nowhere to go, so I just hung out in the lobby of our hotel for a couple of hours, using their internet. Eventually they told me that they had a room available for one more night but it wouldn't be available until that evening, and thankfully they were able to charge it to the credit card that had payed for the previous nights (S-i-L's) without having to present it, because I had nothing. They were a pretty awesome bunch. They gave me the room for almost half price and they went out of their way to help me out where they could, using the phone to receive calls, helping me find things I needed around the city.

Another problem was that I am on the other side of the world from most of my friends and family so no one was awake to even begin to help me, even if they could. Luckily my gorgeous sister lives in Africa. She was awake and gave me her credit card number to order a new emergency passport... which would take 3-6 days to arrive. If it didn't arrive by the Friday I would miss my flight from Palma to Copenhagen and then home to Australia... My nerves were fried by this point! I also had no address to give them to courier the passport to because I had no idea where I would be sleeping after that night. I ended up giving them the address of the NZ Consulate due to lack of other options, even though I didn't even know if it would be open.

A huge problem was lack of cash, especially because I didn't know how long I would be stuck in Barcelona for. I had been on the phone (rather, Skype with a terrible internet connection the kept dropping out) to the credit card company several times during the day to try to organise emergency funds. It was a long process and the application needed to be resubmitted three times because of errors due to the bad Skype connection (each application takes two hours to be approved/declined). Finally it was approved and they told me that all I needed to do was go to a Western Union branch with some ID and that cash would be there for me. I don't know how many times I had told them through this whole process that I HAVE NO ID! Arrrgggggghhhhhh!!!

I was starting to lose it!

But by this stage friends and family were starting to catch up with what was going on thanks to Facebook. My sister offered to send me cash through Western Union, but again... no ID. So we put a call out (again through Facebook) to see if there were any friends, or friends of friends in Barcelona at this time. Then my cousin came through with the contact details of a guy she had stayed with when she was in Barcelona who was supposedly lovely and trustworthy. We got in touch with him and he was willing to meet me at a Western Union the next day and receive the cash in his name and hand it over to me. We were in two minds. Should my sister transfer a whole lot of cash to a guy we'd never met on the presumption that he was trustworthy? In the end there was really no other option. Uncle D (see previous posts) had offered me help with cash if I needed it too, but he was in Madrid and I was in Barcelona. So I arranged to meet Mr B at Western Union the next day, and my sister said she wouldn't transfer the money until just before I was due to meet him so he couldn't turn up early and take the money and run (sorry if you're reading this Mr B! You turned out to be an amazing human being!)

With nothing more I could do that day, I eventually made it into my hotel room. Other than the coffee for breakfast that had been the start of all this, I hadn't eaten all day due to nerves and circumstance. I was starting to feel a bit wobbly. So I went and bought a bit of food and spent €6 of my precious money on a bottle of wine, and settled in for the evening.

A sleep did my nerves a lot of good! I woke up feeling like everything was coming together and thinking I could cope with the world.

As promised, Mr B met me at Western Union at 11am and my faith in humanity was restored! But it turned out that my sister was unable to transfer the money as Western Union at her location in Africa was not accepting HER identification details! She was becoming a nervous wreck at her end! And this lovely man, who until that morning had been a complete stranger, took me to his own bank and withdrew €500 for me. All my sister had to do was an online transfer to his account when she could. There are no words for how dumbfounded and grateful I was for his generosity and trust. I could rave about him for hours. Thanks for introducing us, cousin T!

And after that things just came together nicely. I had cash... S-i-L's friend (the one getting married in Palma) offered me her apartment in Barcelona for as long as I needed it because she was out of town getting married... I rang the passport office in London and changed the delivery address to that apartment. So all I needed to do was wait.

The man that I had spoken to in London had said they would do their best to get the passport to me by Friday so that I could avoid missing all my connecting flights from Palma through Copenhagen and Hong Kong and back to Australia. And it came early Thursday evening!

So after having everything stolen on Tuesday morning, by Thursday evening I was on a flight to meet the others in Palma. It has been an amazing experience for me. It is true that the first day was pretty hard, but I have had so many offers of help and support from family, friends, and strangers that I almost can't think of it as a bad thing.

I am currently sitting in the hotel in Palma babysitting my niece (who is sleeping beautifully!) while my S-i-L and my nephew are at the wedding that was the point of this trip. Tomorrow we fly back to Copenhagen for a night and then home to Australia after a day in Hong Kong.

When I get back to Australia I will have annoying things to do like making insurance claims and replacing my phone, and I need to get access to my bank accounts again so that I can pay back my sister and S-i-L. But that isn't really so bad.

Massive thanks to everyone that has helped and supported me in the past few days, whether it be with cash, advice, or even Facebook messages and support. I am very, very lucky to be surrounded by such a bunch of people.

Over and out. This trip is at an end (and I have no camera to take any more photos to post!).