wasn't going to BLOG today but this story is CRAZY!!

---

I was not going to blog today but such a weird thing happened today that I cannot help but share...IF for no other reason than to make others aware of what happened to us. It was about 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning and we were walking along Via de Cola de Rienzo headed to Ponte Margherita and the Piazza del Popolo, kind of retracing our steps from our first day. It was warm but there was a nice breeze and there was very little traffic of any kind. We figured that the earlier the better....and OKAY we SMACK of TOURIST! Seriously, we are camera laden, map carrying, English speaking standouts. But in Rome there is a lot of this and frankly, we don't care. We feel pretty confident here now and are able to tell where we are and where we are staying and where we want to go. We are also pretty well travelled and just sharing with other travellers we know there are a lot of scams out there.....but still....Then, this black car pulls up and this VERY well dressed gentleman with a map pulls up beside us and says "Do you speak English?" the FIRST clue was that he had an OBVIOUS Italian accent, why the hell would he want directions from OBVIOUS tourists. He tells us he is confused about the river and is turned around and wants to be on the Vatican side and we politely tell him no, other side. He then says "Where are you from?" We tell him Canada. Well, HIS WIFE is from Canada--Vancouver, BC to be sure. He tells us he is so angry with people in Rome who won't help him and we are so kind. Then he tells us he is Vice President of CHANEL...the purse/belts/accessories division and he whips out a copy of VOGUE and says 'this is me', showing us this picture of himself. He talks a bit more about being lost and nobody will take his Diner's Club or American Express etc. He wants to say thank you to us for being so HELPFUL...he takes this purse out of a bag, there are several bags in the car and says this is NEXT year's NEW bag, it is worth $1500 and he is going to give it to us, but please don't sell....he tells me to touch it. It is not leather and has NO Chanel markings on it whatsoever. He then asks John for some money for gas and he will give me this bag. Frankly, it is an ugly bag and it is starting to creep me out. We tell him no. I shove the bag back at him and we walk away, he drives off. Clearly a scam artist and when you think about it NOT a particularly good one...but we are both so willing to help and cannot believe that we are meeting someone so blatantly deceptive. That becomes the focus of conversation for several blocks as we both reflect on the badness of it and then the whole scenario making of "We should have grabbed the bag and run with it just to see what would happen." But I was creeped by his wanting us to come closer to the car and shake our hands and I remember looking into the back seat and looking around to see if there were other people around the car. The whole thing felt wrong. I always trust my instincts. They serve me well. I tried to think of an angle to convince John to actually BUY me a Chanel bag but even I could NOT spend over $1000 on a freaking purse that inside of 2 months I will be bored with and want something else.

Just for fun we hit up the local market, this is a place for local people and one of the best things to do that you will never really learn about in a travel book and OMG so FUN...every KNOCK off in the world and then some can be found there for under 50Euros. The guy who runs our B and B told us to go there. He said you can find anything you ever want there. He was right... from underwear out to fur coats and EVERYTHING in between. There is an Antiques area that would make any Canadian weep--stuff we would pay a lot for so cheap, but how do you get it home? And, frankly...I have enough STUFF. I did buy some sunglasses because even as knock offs I could not tell the difference between them and the real ones I actually paid good money for, so maybe these ones are hot? Either way, it was a lot of fun to poke around and be off of the beaten track.

We both have had a superb holiday and for those of you who have asked me about Asia and the place I most want to go...the ONLY thing I will say is that it is off of the beaten track and away from the touristy areas. I have my secret list of places and the continents are 5 for 5. In my last 5 birthdays I have been on 5 different continents, Asia would count as 6 for 6 but there is one place in particular that I want to go because it adds to another list of places that I dream to see. My lists are not typical, I favour the natural world and particularly places that may not exist for much longer. I couple this with things that I have read and places that somehow have meaning for me. So, I encourage everyone reading this to make their OWN dream lists. I have many...some are easier and more achievable than others...and after Australia I started to think very carefully about the HOW of travel and at first I thougth that the caravan thing was the way to go....NOPE, wrong....yacht. Own your own boat and you can go ANYWHERE....so, new plan, new goal....going to make my own floating school. ciao, nan



Italy is a tourist mecca...the Amalfi and Tuscany are away from things some, depending upon where you go...great place to visit.

---