Since the overcrowding of the Cinque Terre villages has been discussed here several times recently I thought you might find it interesting to read the latest entry into the "Tourists Scams" section here on the Rick Steves site. It concerns the Monterosso Train station which is very large and looked quite peaceful and relaxed during our visit. The Vernazza station was the one that was jam-packed with shoving tourists during our stay.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Tim,
Thanks for posting that! It's a good reminder that I need to check the Graffiti Wall once in a while.
Posted by
near NY, NJ, USA
445 posts
Thanks for reminding me to read the Grafitti Wall/scams more often. Fascinating recent posts.
I must add, however, that since I usually go to Paris in the winter, I have never had any of these scams happen to me nor have I seen them. The worst thing I saw in Paris was all those guys selling things at the spot everyone goes to for a good view of the Eiffel Tower on the other side of the Seine.
Not too obnoxious though and that was in April.
Never had a problem at Notre Dame even right after Christmas when it was very crowded with visitors.
One interesting note though..I once had my wallet stolen from my handbag in my local supermarket in NY,
I was leaning over to get something from the dairy case and felt something and wheeled around to face a very well-dressed woman who said sorry and promptly disappeared. It was seconds later that I noticed my handbag open and the wallet gone. Luckily what she got was actually a wallet in which I carried only credit cards from dept. stores and the like. My money was somewhere else. When I reported this to the police, they said that there were Columbian pick pockets who were actually trained in Columbia
and preyed on shoppers in supermarkets and the like.
So don't trust anyone even if they appear to be just like your friends!!! And mind your bag while in supermarkets here!!!
Since I was able to immediately report the theft of the cards, I had no negative results.