Day 04 - Friday 28th August - Part A

I’ll tell you about most of day 4 in the next blog. This is a separate blog to tell you about my stolen wallet.

We went to the Acropolis this morning at about 10am. We paid the entry fee of 12 Euros each by cash at the entrance which is about a block away from our hotel. That was the last time I saw my wallet.

For the early part of our journey up the hill, there weren’t very many people around but when we got to the stairs leading up to the main entrance to the hilltop near the Parthenon, several bus loads of people came from the other direction.

It was very crowded as we slowly navigated the ramps and steps with people going in both directions. There were staff keeping an eye on the crowd to keep people moving. They blew whistles and yelled out if anyone stopped to take photos.

This might have been where the pickpocket struck or it could have been at any number of other locations. It is probably easy to pick a pocket while someone is busy taking a photo.

Another place where there was a crush of people was at the other end of the hilltop area where there is a raised observation area with a flag pole and the Greek flag. It was here that I noticed that my wallet was missing.

We told various staff but they did not seem very interested. They kept on directing us to the next location down the hill. After we left the Acropolis area, we saw several police officers in the street and asked them where the police station was so we could report the theft.

It was a battle to find the police station – partly because we got conflicting directions from various shopkeepers that we asked and partly because the police station wasn’t clearly marked. It just looked like an office block. There was an unintelligible sign (to us) in Greek but none of the typical symbols you expect for a police station.

There was a policeman standing outside the police station chatting with another man. The policeman did not understand English but the other man told us to go to the third floor.

There was no reception desk on the third floor – just various people in casual clothes working in offices. They got me a form to fill out, stamped it and gave us a copy. The last policeman we spoke to said that it was possible that someone might hand the wallet in but it was not very likely. He said they would let other police stations know about the theft.

When we were leaving the building, I asked the policeman if I could take a photo so we could remember where we reported the theft. He did not understand me and when I started to pull out my camera, the friendly smile left his face and he waved me away. He was carrying a machine gun and so I decided not to pursue it any further.

Next, we returned to the hotel and told the people at the reception about the theft. The hotel’s access card was in my wallet and so they issued us both with new cards.

The wallet also contained my credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, American Express), my Westpac HandyCard, my drivers licence, my Medicare card, my MBF card, my RTA business cards, details of the medications I take, emergency numbers and possibly a few other items. It also contained cash of about 230 Euros and $A300.

I phoned Westpac to notify them about the credit cards. On my request, they blocked the credit cards rather than cancelling them just yet in case, by some miracle, someone hands in the wallet. They cancelled the HandyCard but said that Suzy could still continue using hers.

They told me that if I decided to cancel the credit cards, they would send replacement cards to our home address so they would be there when we get home in three weeks. In the meantime, they would be able to get emergency credit cards to us in Europe.

While I was on the phone to Westpac, Suzy rang the Acropolis and managed to get through to security. They advised us to ring back at 6pm to see if anyone had handed in the wallet.

Luckily, we had taken Westpac’s advice and bought Travelex Cash Passport cards at Sydney Airport before we flew out on Tuesday. So we can draw on these cards at a Visa ATM to get cash. Suzy also has a Westpac credit card in her name and so we can use her card to pay bills.

It all goes to show you that you can’t be too careful. In future, I might carry less cash. I probably won’t put my wallet in my back pocket (even though it has a Velcro flap) and I might use more than one wallet to separate credit cards, cash etc. I might also make greater use of the hotel safe.

Otherwise, it was a great day. . . .