Trenitalia and story of the Lost Luggage

After spending our first day beautifully in Italy, its train system warmly welcomed us by taking our luggage…Away.

Here is how it all happened.

We took the train from Venice to Florence, and we decided to keep our luggage in the luggage designated area. Little did we know, that it is the last place you should think of while keeping your luggage. Right after Venice, there was the train station of Mestre, and we decided to check if our bags are okay. And, to our surprise, one of the big trolley bags was gone. After 2 hours of complaints and searching on the train, we got to understand that it is a norm in Trenitalia.

I wasn’t completely upset by the loss because we were in Italy, and it is so beautiful that you forget about such trouble. Luckily, we did not keep our important documents or cash in the bag we lost. Around 8 PM, we got out of the train at Florence and went on our way to the station (train station) police to get a written complaint.

Policemen refused to write the report as we did not have any valuable or traceable items in the bag. That was disappointing, and it was 9 PM now, so we decided to leave and check in to our hotel.

But we were in Italy

After spending two days in Florence, we proceeded to Rome.On our way back from Rome, we decided to ask a police officer if we could get any help in this situation and told him the story of our lost bag. The policeman was very helpful and he insisted that we report it. However, due to a long queue at the police station, and waiting in line for almost 25 minutes, we realised that we would miss our train to Naples if we kept waiting there.

Well! Hello Naples,

After arriving at Naples train station, we met a very helpful man, who was working at the customer query’s counter. His name was Mr. Loris, so Mr. Loris heard us out and tried his best to get us some help. He accompanied us to Trenitalia’s station office, to the lost and found counter, even to the ‘Polizia di Stato Napoli’. Here, the policeman made several calls to Mestre and Venice’s station and no update was obtained of our lost bag, till this time we were so hopeless that we did not even ask him to write a report for us. Anyway, the policeman guided us on being safe taking precautions while travelling.

By this time, Mr. Loris has given us the names of all the happening places, and food outlets. He asked us to give a try to the restaurant named ‘Mimi’. After that whenever we asked, or told anyone in Naples our plans of having dinner at ‘Mimi’, we got a positive response, and suddenly I was the smartest person I knew. Ha!

We never made it to Mimì alla Ferrovia, but you know where to go for a good meal when you are in Naples. 

Well, well, well. We never got the bag back, and after Naples, we didn’t even care because we were in Italy, and it is so beautiful that it can make you forget anything.

So, here’s what I learned from this incident:

1. Never keep your bag out of sight when you are on a train. If you don’t find a seat near the luggage counter then, sit on your bag. Just kidding. Usually, you can keep the cabin bags near your seat.
2. Police will help you if are persistent.
3. Do not keep valuable items in the luggage bag, keep them in your handbag or jackets, as close to you as possible.
4. If you lost your luggage in Italy, you probably will never get it back.
5. Live in the now, do not let little things take focus away from the beautiful journey.
6. Always get a hotel which is near H&M, Primark or Zara (just kidding).

Silver Lining: We had two big trolley bags + one cabin bag, and it was slowing us down. After losing one of them, we saved a lot on the travelling time and extra hassle. Now, we pack minimal stuff while travelling.

Last time when I visited Italy, I told everyone that you leave a part of yourself in Italy as you get lost in its Magic. This time I can say that you lose a part of yours in Italy, for real.