Lost and Never Found! (Part - 2)

Recap: http://www.tellingunsaid.com/2017/04/lost-and-never-found-part-1.html

My husband pulled me to the apartment while I was still numb... I remember, I could hear voices of my dear sister, dear BIL (brother-in-law), and my elder darling niece, "don't worry, it'll be sorted, you must have left it at the apartment." But, I knew it wasn't there. 

I had been irresponsible (or may be, not vigilant enough) in taking care of something which was most consequential. 

I was crying by then, when my husband was searching in our luggage, and my sister was trying to find in her stuff in case we kept it there mistakenly but... all in vain! Then, my husband and BIL decided to go back to the Grand Canal and to every place we visited during the day, to check if it mistakenly fell down somewhere, or someone might have kept it in custody to return it to the owner (considering we are in a place where people are believed to be helpful). But, what we didn't realize that someone might have just stolen it from my bag, probably during our journey through water taxi while coming back since, it was jam-packed and people were air-tight like; cold-drink bottles are packed in a carton.

My Husband and I, were on phone constantly to cross-check if, any of us found the passport case. Meanwhile, my elder niece, my adorable darling baby, was right there by my side crying along and consoling me continuously. Even with such stress, she was giving me the strength that, we can't control the situation but, what we can do is, "Be Positive" and "Stay Strong". She said, "Masi, we'll find a way! There has to be a way for everything, let me google it", and, this awakened me.

I also started googling about such incidents, steps to be followed in such a situation, and the outcomes of such instances with other people in past. My sister, meanwhile, was cooking dinner for all of us, and was giving me all the strength that I needed in that moment. My husband, just then, called us to inform that they didn't find anything at any place, and that they are coming back now since, the city is getting even more crowded and it'll be difficult to travel back in sometime. I told him that, I am searching about the solutions on google so, will call back in case they need to do anything today. I also called our travel agent (who had provided consultation for our Visa) when it was midnight in India, to cross-check if he knew anything but, he just said, "You need to contact your Insurance helpline", which I found to be lame. Also called our host, and she suggested us to file an FIR but, she was not sure of, "Where & When".  

As per google's results, we were supposed to file an FIR at first, so I informed my BIL, and they visited Police Station in Santa Lucia which was closed by then since, it was already 8:00 PM in the clocks. When requested to file an FIR since, it was serious for us, they answered that, they only consider any "murder / suicide" case(s) as serious. I was stumped when my husband told this to me over phone. Moreover, we had our train to Rome via Florence, next day in the morning @ 9:37. What do we do now? How would it be possible for us to file the FIR next morning and even reach Venezia Mestre Train Station on time since, the Police Stations there opens @ 8 in the morning. 

My husband and BIL were back by then, and we decided to approach our host again. We called and told her everything, and she suggested that we can reach Station little early, and can file the FIR there as, one Police Station is there at the Station too. We took a breathe but, were still in distress. We left her a whats-app thereafter, seeking her presence at the station in the morning since, we knew little about the place. She viewed the message but, didn't reply. So, we were doubtful of her, to show up in the morning at the station. My sister and BIL suggested us to take rest, and forced us to have some dinner. I believe, we would have slept on an empty stomach if they were not there. 

The night moved very slowly, and we were all awake, the whole night (not to much surprise) !

We reached the Station early next morning, and our host was right there waiting for us at the entrance. We, honestly, are still very obliged for all her support. She guided us the way to Police Station. Me and my husband were holding hands in discomfort, wondering; "What would the Police ask?" "How would they react?", "Whether they would file our FIR here or not?". As we reached the Police Station, and explained everything, they said, "We can file the FIR but not now since, the senior officer is not here, and we doubt what time he'd be available." Again, we felt helpless. But, to our support, they called the Police Station at Florence Station and asked about the availability of senior officer to which the Florence Police gave their consent. We felt at ease but considering what all has been happening all this while, we were quite unsure of what's in store for us.

We reached the Florence Station, and visited the Police Station at first. They made us sit and wait for the officer to come. Me and my husband were sharing our desolation through eyes, but, my dear BIL was right there sitting with us, making us feel stronger. Hadn't he been there, and my sister and niblings; I don't know what we'd have done on all our own. Well... the officer came, finally, and filed our FIR in another 10 minutes, and we, finally, Smiled after all this while.

But, the tragedy doesn't end here...

We were yet to move to next step and get our ECs (Emergency Certificates) from Indian Embassy in Rome, Italy. It was our Fate only, that Rome was our next destination. Who knew that we selected Rome as our last destination because our Passports were meant to be lost in Italy, and we were meant to visit Rome for ECs...this, now makes me Laugh!

The hardship was, we were reaching Rome in evening hours that day, and we had our flight back to India right after two days from Rome. We were yet to get our Passport Size pictures clicked, and get other documentation done for ECs, and we didn't know how much time the Indian Embassy would take to do the required work, and hand-over our ECs.

We wondered if we would be able to get it done, anytime before the day our flight was, or we'd have to cancel that flight, book another one, book another hotel too to stay back in Rome until the ECs were issued.

The "suffering" continued...

to be continued...

PS : There is a solution for everything, you just have to explore every possible way to get at the right thing, at the time which would just be right. Don't stop when you are trying to come out of any hurdle, Stop when you're actually out.