Vienna Warning or Danger Tips by tiabunna

My mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, with no sound coming out (it’s not often I’m lost for words)! When Pauline told him, the Manager of the Vienna Volksoper was aghast that someone should do such a thing in Vienna! What had happened to cause such outrage? We’d just found, on arrival at the theatre through the crowded Metro, that our tickets had been taken from what I thought was safekeeping in my shoulder bag.

I’d read warnings in VT about the light-fingered people found in most European cities but had thought I was safe. My shoulder bag hangs in front of me and is zippered across the top. The opera tickets were in an envelope in the ‘first opening’ part of the bag. Fortunately my wallet was in a separate internal zippered pocket.

How had it happened? The Metro was crowded and I found myself standing, separated from Pauline and at times unable even to move; not thinking about it, I held an overhead rail, leaving the bag exposed; as we left the train, a woman jostled me, then turned to abuse someone in the carriage before disappearing in the crowd. Going down the stairs from the Metro I noticed the bag’s zipper mostly open and closed it, thinking no more at the time. Reality dawned at the door of the theatre! The moral of the story is that it just is not possible to be too cautious, especially in crowds.

There is a happy end to this story. The good people at the Volksoper checked our VISA card to confirm our previous reservation – then gave us new tickets to some of the best seats in the house, adding that they wished to help restore Vienna’s good name. I can only say that they certainly did that – we shall forever remember their kindness: it does restore one’s faith in humanity.

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