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It has been a few days since I have been able to post for the blog. Apologies. As I mentioned last week, we had a fabulous vacation planned in Lake Como. That trip came to a screeching halt on Wednesday when our rental car was emptied of our suitcases, backpacks, laptops, clothing, toiletries, prescriptions, eyeglasses, and everything else that we had brought on the trip. Thankfully, we were carrying our passports, wallets, and iPhones, but the feeling of being violated and also being without any possessions sent us home five days early.
We spent two nights in Milan at the Park Hyatt, two nights at Casa Olea (part of Mr & Mrs Smith), and a night at the Sheraton Lake Como. We packed everything into the trunk and drove to the town of Como to walk around for just an hour before heading to the AC Hotel Torino.
We had a nice stroll by the lake and grabbed a snack. We were parked in a busy paid lot that had tons of people coming and going. In the hour we were gone, thieves managed to open the trunk (without damaging it or any other part of the rental car) and take all of our possessions, luggage, and backpacks.
It’s a gut punch when you go to get something from one of your bags and realize that everything you own is gone. We called the police and explained the situation. Two officers arrived (smoking) and took a report.
I showed them that I could track my MacBook Air, MackBook Pro, and AirPods. They shrugged and said it was 20 kilometers away and too far. They advised us to go to the police station and file another report. We did, but not before spending three hours in the stuffy, stifling station (95+ degrees) that was packed with American, German, Italian, and Swedish tourists who had all experienced the same theft.
We were the lucky ones. I erased our devices remotely and we had our passports, wallets (with credit cards), and iPhones with us. Others were not faring so well. I spoke to an Italian man who lost everything including his wallet, phone, and passport. He was in Como for work and without anything. Truly sad.
Needless to say, this ruined our trip and I wanted to get home as quickly as possible. This was easier said than done and the rebooking took us from Silvio Berlusconi Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) to Munich International Airport (MUC) to New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and home. I was able to find Lufthansa First Class seats redeemable with United MileagePlus miles for the next morning and we were on our way. Unfortunately, storms in NYC cancelled our flight from New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and our flight from New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), which led to us having to spend a night at the Westin Flushing LaGuardia Airport, which just opened on June 3rd (I had written about this earlier this month).
I was planning a different set of reviews, but things change. Theft and weather were not part of the original itinerary. Here is what you can look forward to from this trip:
Flights:
- United Polaris® – Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Brussels Airport (BRU) to Milan Linate Airport (LIN) in Brussels Airlines Business Class
- Air Dolomiti Business Class from MXP to MUC
- Lufthansa First Class from MUC to JFK
- Delta Air Lines JFK to ORD (Cancelled)
- United Airlines LGA to ORD (Cancelled; not reviewing the rebooked flight)
Hotels:
- Park Hyatt Milan
- Casa Olea Hotel (Mr & Mrs Smith)
- Sheraton Lake Como Hotel
- Sheraton Milan Malpensa Airport Hotel & Conference Centre
- Westin Flushing LaGuardia Airport
Lounges:
- United Airlines Polaris® Lounge (ORD) (did not review as it was too crowded)
- Lufthansa Business Lounge (MXP)
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Satellite (MUC)
- Capital One Lounge (JFK)
Anthony’s Take: This trip did not turn out as expected, but I guess that is part of traveling. I got some stories to tell and thankfully we were not hurt. I can replace our belongings and even with all of the hassle this will not slow down my travel. I feel grateful that we had our passports, iPhones, and wallets. I’ll lick my wounds, tend to my garden, and cover everything above this week since our trip was cut short by five days. Crime can happen anywhere. I do not blame the beautiful town of Como. This could have been Paris, Tokyo, New York, or small town USA just as easily. Time to make limonata from lemons.
(Featured Image Credit: WoodyAlec via iStock.)
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11 comments
A tip for you, as someone who drives across Europe regularly – park with the trunk of your car against a wall – like right up against something. We have parked in all sorts of dodgy places and by boxing our belongings in, it deters thieves enough to not bother with your car. I’m sorry it happened in such a fab place, but glad you are feeling pragmatic about it 🙂
Such a narcissistic and false statement. Tokyo? You ever been to Japan? You are saying this could just have easily happened in Japan?
I guess, for your views on the world, karma served you. You think all places are equally dangerous, you think people everywhere lack honor just like yourself. There you go.
It was an example. There are criminals everywhere. Tokyo has a low crime rate, but not a zero crime rate. Sorry, James, but I stand by my statement. This was not specific solely to Italy. If you don’t like that, there are plenty of other blogs for you to enjoy. Have a good weekend.
I’m curious how thieves could enter a car without any visible damage. Somehow unlock the car by sliding something through the door? Intercept key fob radio signals?
The moral of the story might be that nothing can be kept in the car.
There was a recent report of someone tracking their computer and confronting the Albanian thieves, who gave back the passport and the bag but kept some of the loot.
I am not sure of the tech, but a friend of mine said they must have seen the rental car sticker and used some sort of device to remote unlock the car and/or trunk. No locks or windows were broken and when we returned to the car it was locked. I also did not open the trunk after leaving the hotel. Bad luck for sure. I thought about it, but had no idea what I’d be walking into and did not want to take the risk.
Again, so sorry to hear of your loss. As a result of your report, I have learned a new lesson. Consider whether or not to keep anything in a rental car. Of course, if kept in the hotel, things can also be stolen.
Thanks. I’m not going to say that I’ll never keep anything in the rental car again, but it has me thinking.
Diversity is Italy’s strength.
Sorry you had to go through this. Thanks for the warning. Would you share the exact location where you parked for everyone’s benefit? What kind of rental car did you have? From which agency was it?
It was an outdoor public, paid lot. The rental was from Hertz.
That’s incredibly rough for sure. As bad as it was I’m glad it wasn’t worse for you. While I find the smoking to be largely irrelevant the fact that the police couldn’t be bothered to pursue repeat felons (unless this just happened to be the thieves first time. You judge the likelihood.) is stunning. That’s basically the equivalent of saying they don’t feel like it even though they could pinpoint the crime ring’s location due to Airtags.