Look at me, I’m a tourist in my own city! Next to me is my cousin Val

Lately there has been a lot of talk about safety traveling alone (especially women). In light of recent horrific events in Turkey of a woman killed on a solo trip or in other parts of the world, it’s a worthy topic in my book. The reality is that bad things happen to good people everywhere we go – the difference is what gets press coverage and what no-one ever hears about. I will say after living here full-time since 2007 that I feel very safe living in Florence, Italy and for the most part, Europe in general.

While for some it may ‘feel’ safer in America because you can very much live in a certain kind of bubble  [car-work-gym-house], the statistics don’t lie. Here, while there might be a slight chance of getting my purse/wallet/phone stolen – I do not fear getting killed in the process which I really can’t say the same when I am in America. The facts are that random, violent crime is much less in Italy than in the United States {just my example} and murders are rare.

There are a lot of personal {read common sense} things I make sure to do on an every day basis which I would like to share with potential visitors to Italy and Florence specifically. Please feel free to leave me a comment if you have had an experience you would like to share or a tip you think I may have missed. I love hearing from my readers!

• Use common sense. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Yet even smart people make stupid decisions on a daily basis –  myself included. My biggest idiot-move is walking around with my ipod earbuds stuck in my ears all of the time. Honestly, it’s not safe or smart to do this. You can’t hear if a bus is hurtling towards you on a tiny sidewalk nor a potential attacker/angry nonna coming from behind. Put your ear buds in only once you have arrived somewhere safe or are on the bus etc. Also a lighter volume helps as well, you don’t want to be a future Helen Keller like me.

• Buddy-System. While I know this may not be possible on a daily basis. I recommend the buddy system for getting home late at night or at least getting to a well-lit place where you can wait for the bus, taxi or with someone. Crimes in Italy that I hear about the most are petty thefts. Whether that be someones wallet stolen {just one example – I avoid a certain juice bar  in the center because I know multiple people who have had their things stolen at this location} at a laundromat, Iphone taken at knifepoint, or one of the famous ‘scooter robberies’ where two people on a scooter fly by and grab your purse while you are walking, these things happen but not often! If you have a friend with you, you will be a less desirable target, especially late at night.
  

• Avoid side-streets & always take well-lit roads. I used to live on a tiny street off of via ghibellina when I was a student, studying abroad the first time. Via ghibellina is a lively street any day of the week with some popular student bars and restaurants, whenever I got a sixth-sense that I wasn’t alone walking home – I never-ever went down my street by myself. I just kept walking until I hit the viale that goes towards Piazza Beccaria which always has passing traffic. Whenever you can, take larger well-lit roads and explore the tiny {often really pretty} isolated streets only during the morning/day. If you feel like someone is a little too-close to comfort, call someone or pretend to and speak really loudly and avoiding showing them where you live!

• Pay attention! T-man once almost got his wallet stolen by a gypsy long ago at a cross-walk in front of the Duomo. The only reason he saved his lire was an alert passer-by across the street spotting this person with her hand near his pockets and let him know! Remember thieves are really, really good at what they do. Often you won’t know about a theft until it’s already happened and most of the time its over with in a blink-of -an-eye. Now with smartphones, Ipads, cameras, and the like, make us more distracted than ever {I put myself in this category}. Don’t be a victim and try to pay attention to what you are doing especially in the busy center in areas like the San Lorenzo markets, Santa Maria novella station and anywhere where tourists congregate. Also if you have a smart phone that has a lost-phone app download it and you may thank yourself with some prosecco later. It’s the first thing I did when I got my Samsung Galaxy SIII. 

• Don’t carry all of your cards/cash/documents with you. This is what I do. I have a wallet and in it are many crumpled esselunga receipts, a membership card to Montecarla bar that I haven’t been to in five years and one document. Do I walk around with my passport? Nope!  However, I have made copies of it and carry that with me along with my carta’d identita or permesso di soggiorno. One debit card travels with me along with a change purse and some cash. In typical girl style, I have many random coins populating the bottom of my bag. I try to leave as much as I can at home and when I travel I carry a small purse that can be strapped to my front that holds cash, one card and only one document because I really don’t want to go through the pain of remaking all of my cards if they get stolen. Make copies of every important card/document you have and keep them in a folder in a different place than the original docs. In your cell phone or purse keep a list of numbers you need to call if your cards get lost, plus your at-home doctors phone number and any urgent health info ie: diabetic/need certain medication just in case. 

• Let someone in on your plans. While I assume that everyone traveling lets a family member back home know about their whereabouts, not everyone temporary living somewhere does, but they should! If you are visiting Italy, register with the state department and let your family know your itinerary, names of hotels and cities visiting and the best way to reach you. It’s nothing one email couldn’t solve. If you are studying abroad or just living here, let a friend know where you are if you plan on a solo day trip in the countryside or to another city. Don’t rely soley on twitter and FB. If you have a non EU cell phone you should be able to use wifi abroad on your phone abroad and you can purchase a cheap, cell phone and rechargeable sim card when you get here near the train station at any phone shop. You can stop by the tourist office to get the address. 

• Don’t do anything abroad that you wouldn’t at home. For some reason, people at times treat Italy and especially Florence as their very own Disney World. Why? I couldn’t tell you but really they should remember it is a normal city with normal city problems. If you plan to go out drinking, great! Just bring a friend and make sure they walk you home or put you in a taxi with the agreement to text one another when you arrive home. Don’t take that shortcut if it means going down a dark road, especially if you have been drinking. If you need help, call someone! Also, please don’t leave your purse on the ground while you snap photos which yes I have seen, or stand in the middle of the sidewalk/street, it’s annoying – and dangerous. 

• Hold tight! Play a game with yourself where you stash all sorts of different goodies around your body. Honestly, I don’t have a money belt or see myself buying one in the near future. As I already mentioned, I prefer a method of keeping things in different places, and carrying a purse that can zip, not snap. Hold that purse like it’s your baby and you wouldn’t let your baby out of sight – right? {By the way I have no kids but it’s the best example I can think of}. Keep your purse and backpack in front of you, not behind you. Too many times have I seen tourists or students with large backpacks behind them just walking around crowded areas or on the bus with all of their stuff scattered about. Not a good idea. Pack less, and hold your purse tight! 

• Try the “one or other system” when it comes to clothes. This is for you ladies. “One or the other means” – if you want to show off your cleavage, that’s nice –  but… wear pants or a longer skirt. Wearing a low-cut top, plus a shirt skirt + heels in Italy means – harass me! Want to wear a short skirt? Pair with a more conservative top and again take it easy with the heels because the cobblestones will do their best to wreck them anyhow!  Carry a pair of bendable flip-flops in your purse. Italians are pretty harmless, but I remember being a student and wearing some pretty crazy outfits while wondering why men were yelling, barking or why I was getting asked out by a  high-school student, married men or nonni at the bus stop. Want to wear a sexy dress? Put on a coat or shawl over it until you get to your destination. Believe me, you will thank me later . 

• Don’t be scared of Italy or of Italians. Of course, I need to add this because I have seen comments on other articles/blogs about people not wanting to visit Italy because they thought it was unsafe and ‘scary’ just because said poster was just being honest. Someone a year os so ago emailed me saying she was scared to let her daughter study abroad because of all of the ‘crime’. My response was to do a five-minute research of the crime rate in her daughter’s own college town and compare that to Florence. You can just guess which one was worse. Really if you just follow the above steps and just use common sense and your own personal intuition, you will be just fine and have a wonderful time. Police are everywhere in the center and here is my own list of useful numbers & info everyone coming to Florence should know. 

FYI: I am working on another post about common ‘scams’ and how to avoid them which is a whole other ball game. I remember watching Italian Tv program striscia della notizia and one of their undercover cameras caught a taxi scam artist at his best, short-changing Japanese tourists and then shamelessly asking them out for a pizza afterward. classy!

Best motto you can live by ”Stay safe but don’t stay home!”

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