Two bodies or an extra lens for my upcoming trip to Rome?

redli0nswift wrote:

I've never been to Italy but I've been preparing for this trip the last couple of weeks. I bought a Rick Steves Rome 2015 book to guide me. He says multiple times throughout the book that thievery is rampant in Rome. He references the bus lines from Termina Station to places like the Vatican that are packed with tourists.

Do I have any first hand knowledge of this? No.

Will I plan accordingly? Yes.

I'm no stranger to Europe travel but when Rick Steves said be careful at the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, and the Paris Metro. He was right. My father-in-law was targeted in the metro and swatted away a hand that touched his wallet.

Besides, Italy isn't just full of Italians. Europe is more diverse than that and everywhere you see tourists you must know that crime is bound to happen.

Pick a country, any country, then pick a reasonable sized city, any city in that country, and you will find street crime present somewhere there. And, if you frequent tourist areas or any other crowded venue, you will have a better chance of being a target.

But, I have been to twenty-six different countries, plus all of the U.S. offshore territories, and forty of the fifty states. Once, back around 1975, I was in a shop in Istanbul and a boy tried to pick my pocket. Before I could react, the store owner had the kid by the back of the neck and a policeman appeared out of nowhere. The last I saw of that kid was when he was tossed in the back of a police car. The only place I have ever been robbed or burglarized was in New York, where I grew up and lived in, except for collage and the military, until I was almost thirty.

I live across the Connecticut River from Springfield, MA. A couple of years ago, Springfield finally made it onto the FBI's ten most dangerous U.S. cities list. Last Year, it managed to move up to number five, and this year they are hard at work to move up further but, it's tough to move up when you have to compete against places like Chicago, Detroit, and Baltimore. May that's why Rick Steves stays in Europe, issuing ominous  warnings to the tourists in his books and videos.