私達の初めてのヨーロッパ卒業旅行では、イギリス、ドイツを

回り、ローマに到着しました。

ここでは、本当に人生で初めての想定外の経験をして、一部は以前紹介した

トレビの泉の前のある飲食店での「目玉が飛び出る高額請求に驚愕！美人キャッチバー」の騒動です。

そして、ハプニングはそれ以外でもいろいろありました。

それは。。。、市内の大通りをあるいていると、何かを叫びながら近づいてくるジプシーの子供たちに囲まれました。

最初は、意味が分からず、しばらく話を聞いていると

「マネー、マネー！」（お金を恵んでくれ）と言っているのが分かりました。

私達も貧乏学生で、キャッチバーの被害にあったばかりなので、

相手にしませんでしたが…。

子供たちは、しつこく食い下がってきます。

そして、その手口は、巧妙で最初、１０歳位のリーダー格の子供が両手で　

ダンボールの紙を広げて持って、「お金頂戴」とお願いするふりをします。

それを見て、「こちらがお金ないから！」と言って軽くあしらうと

そのダンボール紙を目隠しに、下から沢山の子供の手が上着やズボンの

ポケットに手を忍ばせて、金目のものを奪い取っていきます。

１～２回目は撃退しましたが、３回目のグループ本当にしつこくてついに

小銭入れを奪われました。

気がついて追いかけましたが、細い路地に逃げ込まれて見失いました。

その中には、例の紛失証明書（到着時のヒースロー空港での紛失証明）が入っていました。

すぐに、警察に行き、私は日本から来た学生で「子供の窃盗集団に囲まれて、ひったくりに会い、

財布・小物入れを盗まれた。」と被害届けを出しました。

２人の警察官が対応してくれ最初に「身体にケガはないか？」と

聞かれました。しかし、それは無いと答えると「それは良かった」と

笑顔で応えてくれました。

私は、見知らぬ国の想定外の犯罪に遭遇したので、少し不快になりましたが！

イタリアンは基本的に陽気な人が多いのと、暴行事件ではなく、

こうした少額の窃盗事件は日常茶飯事なので、時に気にならない様でした。

しかし、私はそれどころではなく、紛失証明書が入った小物入れが盗まれたので被害届には　

「約２０万円相当の価値のある品物が入ったバッグを

空港で紛失した証明書が入った小物入れが盗まれた」とくどいですが、必死で片言の英語で説明しました。

私は、話が複雑なので、理解されたか心配でしたが、警察官はパスポートを確認すると、

なんの問題もなく短時間で「サッ」と証明書を出してくれました。

日本では、かなり細かく話を聞かれると思いますが、ローマは対応がスピーディで

非常に簡単だったので私は「エッ」思いましたが、「ホッ」と安心しました。

しかし、「そんないい加減な証明書で大丈夫かな？」と友人はかなり不思議そうな表情で私を見ていました。

まあ、いい意味で「適当、おおらか！」悪い意味で「ずさん、不適当」

これが観光国家イタリアの現実でした。

続く！

Blog idea　

Rome Happening No. 2, Attacked by Little Gypsy Thieves!

On our first graduation trip to Europe, we went around England and Germany.

We arrived in Rome.

Here, we had some unexpected experiences for the first time in our lives,

some of which I have already mentioned.

The “eye-poppingly high bill” at a certain restaurant in front of the Trevi Fountain!

The “Beautiful Catch Bar” fiasco.

And there were many other happenings as well.

That is…. When I was walking along the main street in the city,

I was surrounded by gypsy children who were approaching me while shouting something.

At first, I didn’t understand what they were saying, but after listening to them for a while,

I heard, “Money, money!

“Money, money! (Please give us money).

We were poor students and had just been victims of a catch bar.

We didn’t take them seriously….

The kids were persistent and insistent.

At first, the leader of the group, who was about 10 years old,

held out a piece of cardboard paper with both hands.　

At first, the leader of the group, who was about 10 years old,

pretended to hold a piece of cardboard paper in his hands and ask for money.

The first time I saw this, I said, “We don’t have any money! I said, “I don’t have any money!

Then, using the cardboard paper as a blindfold, many children’s hands would come out

from underneath and slip their hands into the pockets of their jackets and pants.

The first or second time, I had to fight them off.

I fought off the first two attempts, but the third group was really persistent and finally

They took my coin purse.

I noticed them and chased after them, but they ran into a narrow alley and I lost sight of them.

I went to the police station immediately, and they took my change purse.

I immediately went to the police and reported that I was a student from Japan

and that I had been surrounded by a group of child thieves

who had snatched my purse and glove compartment. I filed a damage report.

Two police officers responded to my report and first asked me if I had any physical injuries.

They asked me if I had any injuries.

The first thing they asked me was if I had any physical injuries.

But when I told them I was not, they smiled and said, “That’s good to hear.

He responded with a smile.

I was a little uncomfortable because I had encountered an unexpected crime in a strange country!

Italians are generally jovial people, and petty thefts like this, not assaults, are commonplace,

so it didn’t seem to bother them at times.

But I was far from it, because my glove compartment containing a certificate of loss was stolen,

and the damage report said, “A bag containing goods worth about 200,000 yen was stolen.

I desperately explained in broken English that my bag containing a certificate of loss

had been stolen from the airport.

I was worried if they understood me because of the complexity of my story,

but the police officer checked my passport and “quickly” produced the certificate in a short time

without any problem.

In Japan, they would have asked me a lot of questions in detail, but in Rome,

they were very quick and easy to deal with, so I was relieved.

I was relieved to hear that Rome was quick and easy to deal with.

My friend looked at me with a rather strange expression.

Well, in a good sense, “appropriate, generous! In a bad sense, “sloppy and inappropriate.

This was the reality of Italy as a tourist country.

To be continued!