Why you don't stay out all night...

On our way to the airport for our Spring Break vacation, Annie and I decided to stay out all night, since we had to be at the airport very early and we wanted to go to Stammtisch. We took all our stuff with us, since we figured that it would ensure that we were not pressed for time to go back to my place, then go to the airport, and not miss our flight. I had conflicted feelings about it, simply because I have had experiences and heard stories about staying out all night leading to bad things before traveling. But we still felt like it was the safest way to ensure we would make it to the airport on time, with all of our stuff.

When we got to the bar, we put our stuff down next to some friends, and went around, talked to people, I felt like at least keeping a slight eye on our stuff. Around midnight, our stuff was still there, because I put a shirt I was wearing into my purse. At 12:15, when we checked our stuff again, it was gone. My purse (which had my passports, my cell phone, my ids, my money, my bankcards, my address book, my keys, etc), Annie's traveling backpack with all her clothes, and her other bag with her travel documents, were all gone. Luckily, Annie had her wallet and her cell phone on her.

As soon as it happened, we searched the bar, thinking that it may have been moved. Then we called the police, went to the police station and filed the police report. After that, Sean and I walked around the neighborhood, thinking that maybe after they took the valuables, they just ditched the rest. But we found nothing.

The fact is that we did leave our stuff unattended, and being told over and over how safe a city Berlin is, combined with the fact that it was a small bar where we knew half the people there, I never expected this to happen. It is something that I would have never, ever, and never ever did do in Chile, and I probably would never do it at home either. But, I guess I've learned that it doesn't matter where you are, how safe you think a place is, or what you assume about the people, there are bad people out there.

Now, we are waiting to hear from the police (which I am not so confident that we will), go to the consulate and get new travel papers (I have no desire in remaining in Berlin for the rest of Spring Break), check the "Lost and Found" of the city (perhaps maybe some good, law abiding German turned something in), and try to book a flight to Portugal (since we still have our return flights) or just go somewhere else.