Just wanted to share an incident I had with a local in Piazza del Duomo yesterday. My husband, 24 y.o. Daughter and I had just arrived in Florence and were at the Duomo yesterday. We were each taking pictures and when I looked down there was a man attempting to sell my daughter a selfie stick. She said “no Grazie”, but he didn’t leave but moved closer. I was right next to her and told him no and “go” a few times. He would not leave and quickly got angry with me,as I had gestured for him to go away. So he decided to smack my arm down! At that point I yelled at him very loudly “You don’t touch me!” several times at which point my husband was right over to us and pushed him hard and told him to go. So, apparently he tried to spit at me because a nice young man came over to us to see if we were OK. He wanted to make sure the guy didn’t pickpocket any of us and did I realize the guy tried to spit on me? Well, we were not pickpocketed as there was nothing to take (thanks to RS’s great tips).
So next we were walking around the Duomo and cathedral for about 10 minutes. We were on the other side when that guy came up behind me and spit on me! He ran off through the crowd as I shouted after him and pointed at him saying he just spit on me and that he was a pig! I also called him a Mother F’er. There were no police around when this happened. In fact, we saw none in the piazza all day. It’s very crowded here right now (mid May).
This spitter turned out to be a stalker as well as an assaulter. Today we were on a private guided tour of the Accademia historical area and the Uffizi. We were walking through the same area and saw the spitter leaning against a building. I didn’t think he saw us, but made sure I was between my husband and male guide. We stopped in another area and I noticed a man that had been standing with the spitter walk over and stare at us. He got his phone out and was acting like he was taking pictures of the cathedral but then he texted someone. A minute later, the spitter shows up. At that point, I told the guide what had happened and pointed the spitter out to him. The spitter took off and the guide said “It happens” and that we won’t be bothered while we’re with him. We did not see the spitter again and enjoyed the rest of our day. Anyhow, just wanted to let everyone know that some of these people around the touristy areas have no problem assaulting and stalking a woman. Apparently, “it happens.” We’re leaving early tomorrow morning for Rome and I can confidently say I will never return to Florence. Just such a horrible and frightening experience for me.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16052 posts
I'm sorry for the horrible experience you had.
But it can happen anywhere, including Rome, not just in Florence.
Italy (actually Europe, the World) is full of low lives.
I've seen worse on BART trains and MUNI buses and on the streets of San Francisco on a regular basis. As a matter of fact a female friend of mine visiting me with her husband from Florence on her honeymoon in 1992 was spat on by a homeless guy at the SF Civic Center right in front of City Hall. She was also traumatized and wondered how could I have been so crazy to move from Florence to a filthy city like SF. But she also, to this date, hasn't forgotten the incident and never returned to visit the US. So I understand your feelings.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7162 posts
I can confidently say I will never return to Florence.
What a shame to denigrate all of Florence because of this incident
Stuff like this can and does happen everywhere
Glad you are all Ok
Let’s hope he doesn’t follow you to Rome
Posted by
OP
4 posts
I do not blame Florence at all. I agree low lives are everywhere. I have traveled quite a bit and have never been assaulted.
Just wanted to send a reminder that we stay aware and safe while traveling. I have definitely associated this negative experience with the area though which makes me sad!
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8879 posts
I am sorry for this experience for you. It is very hard to let something like this go, but try to do so because you don't want to let this person "win" by keeping you from enjoying your trip.
Posted by
Sioux Falls, SD, USA
3101 posts
Something similar happened to us in Athens from a band of lowlives who threatened and followed us. Very worrying.
When we were in Italy in 2022, there were peddlars, mostly clearly immigrants, selling all kinds of worthless trinkets. They did one public service - if it rained, you could purchase an umbrella pretty much ANYWHERE in any Italian city. Other than that, they were just very very annoying. I did not get a persistent peddler such as OP describes.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
cscheg, I totally understand. What an awful experience. I would have reacted and said exactly what you said. Sadly, as others have said, low lifes are everywhere and this can happen anywhere.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16537 posts
I'm so sorry for your bad experience too! Still, as some of the others have said, uncomfortable/scary experiences can happen to anyone anyplace in the world. Having avoided one attempted abduction at age 12, in my little Midwestern town back in the early 60's, and another in Chicago as a high-school student, I can attest to that possibility right here in the U.S. So don't write off Florence? It's the fault of the individual and not that lovely "cradle of the Italian Renaissance." :O(
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
This is more than just an incident: she was stalked and photographed by a second person and targeted again the following day. I wouldn't want to return either.
I had a mentally ill homeless man pick on me where I live, but it was one and done. That was uncomfortable enough.
Csheg 's attacker and partner were persistent.
Posted by
Rural Georgia
2195 posts
But it can happen anywhere, including Rome, not just in Florence.
I travel extensively throughout the US for work. We have been lucky to have traveled in large cities and rural areas across Europe. While this was an unfortunate incident, my experience and from statistics I read this is an isolated incident.
There have been a few times when I have been approached, either in the US or in Europe. I find the best tactic is immediately scan the area to see if there is an accomplice. Usually the best approach is to not engage. They will quickly move on to somebody else. Some Americans can tend to respond aggressively and things can go south in a hurry.
Finally, the best way to avoid situations like this is to not be an obvious target and to practice situational awareness. My wife and I observe the crowds and try to spot who we think will be the easy mark. They are usually pretty easy to spot. I'm sure we are as obvious to the pros as they are, but we try to lay low, especially in crowded tourist areas.
Posted by
Western Canada
3482 posts
I’m so sorry you had that awful experience.
How frightening.
I’m glad you were with other people.
My friend and I were robbed at an ATM machine many years ago in Florence, and it was quite a while before my anger subsided and I felt like going back there.
However, I have returned there five times since then, and it’s all forgotten now and lesson learned.
Florence is amazing and I really hope you will go back there again one day.