Robbed!

A truly terrible day today which started with so much promise.  We ate a picnic breakfast and decided we would spend the day in the centre of Barcelona visited several prominent attractions the first of which would be the Sagrad Familia. We caught a couple of metro lines and arrived at the basilica - very impressed by its proportion but I was very ambivalent as to whether I liked it or not.  Impressive it certainly is but gaudy in the extreme.  There was an enormous queue to enter it extending from the entrance at the rear to the front (although when it is finished the front will be one of the side facades). We visited the shop and purchased a guide book.  Thom and I decided we would like to visit it but were unsure that we wanted to queue up for over two hours.  A family did offer us their tickets but we felt unhappy about using them as we would have to say that we had just stepped out.  We decided that we would investigate getting tickets online and come back another day.  We had coffee in an adjacent MacDonald's where we met a lovely group of French Poles and we chatted amiably.  A nice morning.  We took the metro down to the main city park where we had intended to visit the Natural History Museum.  Thom expressed his boredom of Barcelona stating that he would have preferred a holiday in the USA and that he didn't like countries where they didn't speak English. I was beginning to get really fed up and suggested we went back to the hotel and regrouped.  Sara wanted to see more of the park and especially the lake. We walked towards the lake and Mary and I decided we would go boating for half an hour - a bit of time on our own and Sara could have a private chat with Thom.  Sara suggested that I had over to her my BlackBerry and wallet in case they got wet - they were securely in my pocket as I like to be able to feel them in case somebody tries to take them - but I agreed.  Mary and I were no more than ten minutes on the lake when we saw Sara taking photos of us with my camera - our bag had been left in Thom's safe-keeping.  He was scammed - two young men came up to him to talk to him in a quiet voice - as he leaned over to hear them more clearly they took the bag and went off on a bicycle.  The bag had my wallet and BlackBerry as well as a number of other items.  We went immediately to the Catalonia Parliament Police HQ who put me in touch with the British Consulate.  Fortunately our passports were secure in the hotel safe but I had lost 250 euros cash, all my credit cards, my Kindle and my phone.  If only I had hung on to them.   The loss of the phone is the biggest blow - containing as it does so much information I need. We trudged back to the hotel (we only had 4 euros on us) - about a mile where I made frantic phone calls to the mobile phone operator, bank, credit card issuers etc.   Whilst in our room we received a call saying that the police had recovered the bag with many items still inside.  We took a taxi to the main police station to find that our bag had been recovered, all items in tact except the 250 euros and my BlackBerry.  Unfortunately, having stopped all my credit cards, these recovered items are just useless pieces of plastic! Sara was able to get some cash from an ATM and we consoled ourselves with an oriental meal this evening at UDON's.  At least I've got my kindle, binoculars, travel cards and most items back.  Just a major inconvenience without a mobile phone and slightly worried about not having any contact for my journey back on Saturday.  I guess we lived without these things before.  Nobody is hurt and only two items gone - phone and money.  We will survive and will continue with the holiday.