After we had all our valuables - passports, bank cards and cash were stolen on the second day of our vacation in Athens, we searched everything we had in or possession for some loose change - every pocket in our shirts, jackets, pants and all the clothes we were wearing. We scraped together a total of 40 Euros plus my husband's credit card!
Having some loose change and a credit card meant that we still could buy food and would not starve! Neither would be sleeping on the street as we could still book our hotels using the credit card for the next two weeks. We were so happy and relieved!
As we were heading back towards our hotel, we walked past an ATM bank machine. We took a look and saw the Plus icon on the bank machine which meant that we could withdraw cash from this machine. Very excited!
With only 40 Euros in our possession, we would need a little bit more cash buying street food and beverages from the convenient stores. So I stepped up and inserted our only bank card into the ATM machine trying to withdraw some cash. A few seconds after the credit card was inserted, the ATM screen flashed in English and Greek - FOREIGN CARD! Then the machine swallowed our card and the door on the machine window lowered and it closed up the machine!
It was around 7p.m. on a Friday evening. My husband tried to retrive his card but to no avail. All the staff at the bank had left for the weekend and there was no one around to give us any help. We were stunned; our only credit card was eaten up by the bank machine and we were left now with only 40 Euros!
My husband called the number listed on the ATM and told them what happened. They said there was nothing they could do and neither could they give him back his bank card as he had no identification to proof that he was the owner of that card.
The next morning, we went straight to the Canadian Embassy to report our passports stolen and try to get a replacement. The Canadian Embassy staff was most friendly and helpful and tried their best to help us. However, since this was the Easter Friday, the Athens' C Embassy staff told us that the staff in Canada were off and not returning to work until after Easter Monday which meant that the earliest we would get our new passports would be Wednesday the following week.
O, My goodness! even though we have asked our family to send us some emergency money, how are we going to get it without any government ID to proof our identities?
We just couldn't believe what has happened to us; whatever could go wrong has gone wrong for us on this trip!
RT, Athens, Greece,
042026
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