Now, the real scam that happened to us when we visited Milan Italy in October 2016 just a couple weeks ago. I read many articles about scams like pickpocketing, dove feeding, lucky rope, lucky roses etc. to avoid when travelling to Italy. So, I felt I was pretty well prepared for the trip. We landed in Milan Italy with a direct flight from JFK with Emirates airline. It was a very sweet 2 for 1 airline ticket deal when my wife spotted it on "Travelzoo" We paid $900 to fly from JFK to Milan direct flight and round trip in November of 2015 for October 2016 travel. I took a huge risk for buying the special because it was non-refundable. The flight was very pleasant. The Emirates airbus A-380 plane was either new or newly renovated. Every passenger has his or her own TV screen. The screen size was the largest I ever seen when flying international flights. There are also big ceiling monitors that give you the impressive runway views when taking off and landing as if you were sitting inside the cockpit flying the airplane. Our economic class meal menu also includes complimentary beers, wines. The food quality was also very good. It was a pleasant surprise in light of recent waves of cut-back in meals to boost profit for the airline industry.
We landed in Malpensa airport in Milan after about 8 hours long flight. We walked to the train ticket window with our carry-on to buy our tickets to Milano Porta Garibaldi railway station. A young dark middle eastern looking man cut the line in front of the couple ahead of us. I was going to say something to that young man but decided to NOT make a scene. But, I was really annoyed by this first impression of Italy. Everything they wrote in their Italy trip reviews is real. I am witnessing it first hand here. As we got to the ticket window, and bought our tickets. I noticed the young man left his small old-styled cell phone behind(US standard) at the counter. So, we told the ticket lady and she smiled at us and took the cellphone in. I was smiling inside of me - Wow, that was a quick vengeance and punishment for wrong doing from God.
We got on the train, and lo and behold we were sitting in the same cabin as the young man I thought but unsure. I didn't tell the young man about his cellphone. As the train stopped at the first stop, the young man quickly arose and got off the train. I knew then that it was him, and he probably was going back to Malpensa airport to get his cellphone back. So, people don't cut the line to save time or you may lose more time and money.
We checked into our hotel and decided to jump onto the metro to the romantic Navigli canal for the famous Italian Aperitz drink and food bar along the canal.
We got to the Garibaldi subway station and went to the ticket machines. There was a man standing next to 1 of them, so we avoided him on purpose to go to the other machine. He quickly approached us, and pretended to help us by trying to touch our screen. I read about this kind of subway ticket machine scam before the trip. So, I waved him away before he even had a chance to touch my screen but I took pity for him and was going to give him a dollar after I got my tickets. We were finally able to buy our two 2-day tickets. Our credit card for some reason (probably because I was too nervous) was rejected twice, so we used cash. As we were waiting for the change/coins to drop, the man came back and reached his hand into the coin slot so quick I didn't even have time to respond. I quickly inserted my hand in there and fought to picked up the dropping coins. It must be a miracle - I was able to pick up all 3 coins (3.5 euros) and he didn't catch even 1 coin. So, no mercy for bad guys but yes mercy for poor guys. Boy, I was so happy that I passed my first Italian scam during my Italy trip but I was also mad at the man who pulled such a stunt in front of me. He was literally robbing me for the change. Luckily that was the only scam we encountered during our 9 days 7 nights trip to Italy in October 2016. Be very careful when you visit Italy. It may happen to you too, so be prepared when going to Italy.
Would I go back to Italy? You bet I would, because Italy was so beautiful and we only got to see Milan, Venice and Rome. We were wowed over and over during the entire trip. Not a second to lose, every day we walked and watched and enjoyed every moment of it. Italy was simply stunningly beautiful. We spent a few thousand dollars for the whole trip, it was the best investment we ever made. Look for more tips in later blog.
