Robbed!!

Well, we were warned. The above sign is posted on the inside of the front door of our apartment, but we have found Barcelona to be such a beautiful city, and the people here have been very warm and friendly. So, yesterday morning, when we went out for breakfast, I let my guard down.

We stopped in a small cafe' about a block from our apartment. There were only a half dozen other patrons in the place. It was a Monday morning..following Easter, and things were quiet. In this place, you order food at the counter, and they prepare it and serve it to the table. I put my backpack on the chair and turned..it was literally just behind me, to place my order. My family was all up at the counter looking in the display cases to decide what they wanted to order. It took about 2-3 minutes. When I turned back around, the backpack was gone! Unfortunately, I had decided to take my new, expensive camera with us that day as we were visiting Parc Guell, a famous park in Barcelona that was designed by Gaudi. No one, not my family, not the servers, and not the other patrons saw anything.

The manager was kind enough to call the police for me, and they said to walk down and file a report..about two blocks away. That took an hour or so..we didn't have to wait long for an interpreter. Later that afternoon, I filed a claim with our insurance company...USAA. They are processing the claim. Hopefully we'll get reimbursed. And hopefully, I'll be more cautious from now on with my expensive stuff. We sold everything we own except the camera and our clothes, and of course our laptops, so the camera was literally the most expensive thing I owned.