Emergency Tips when Stuck in Rome without a Passport

My holiday in Rome was ruined when my son left his bag containing his passport and valuables in a bag on the bus. I had budgeted for my holiday and instantly could see I would have to spend longer there than was planned.

My daughter suffers from ME, which is a condition where she was unable to withstand the usual pressures of life. My son has asthma. This is what I did to ensure my children returned home safe and well.

Firstly, I took emergency measures regarding the passport situation. Read about this in two separate articles.
Getting an emergency passport abroad.
A Checklist  after you have lost your passport.

I had to think about the welfare of my children. We were in a strange country and contrary to belief, Rome is not as developed as one might think. Dig beneath the glossy images and you will find badly-run public services where help is not always forthcoming. Rome has a grubby underbelly with graffiti and rubbish on the streets. There are dark alleyways and grotty districts just outside the center of Rome where you don’t want to find yourself in after dark.

English is not spoken well by many officials. The language barrier proved to be a real problem.

Another problem is the inefficiency of the public services due to poor funding. Empty and graffitied kiosks litter Rome. The British Embassy in Rome is open just a few hours a day. The lost property office is located outside of Rome and closes at 1pm most days.

Because of these challenges, I had to keep myself and children fit and well. This is what I did.

1 Have a good breakfast at your hotel. Racing around Rome expends lots of energy. I packed a few extras in a doggie-bag for when we were caught out.

2 Contrary to belief, the trattorias and oseterias are not cheap places to eat. They charge extortionate prices for drinks and slam on hidden service charges. Instead, we had picnics every day in the park. There are some decent supermarkets in Rome, including the Coop, the Pam Local and CarrFour. We purchased healthy sandwiches, yoghurt drinks, fresh fruit and cookies every day. We ate well at the fraction of the price.

3 I had packed only enough clothes to last a week and the weather was boiling. To keep clean, I washed my clothes in the shower basin at the end of the day. I then pegged them out onto the balcony using socks. By morning, my clothes were clean and dry.

4 Drink plenty of water when in Rome. We went in mid-August when daytime temperatures soared into the mid-nineties. There are plenty of water fountains and the water is safe to drink. I refilled my water bottle whenever I could and kept sipping all day. I then applied lipstick to guard against chapped lips. A sun hat, cream and sunglasses are a given.

5 As both my children had health conditions, I ensured my travel insurance covered them. I also had an EHIC card (European Health Card) which is free. Just go on the Gov site to get one. But when caught out in Rome, you can’t always get hold of a doctor. I kept this option as a last resort.

6 My daughter suffered acute tiredness in the latter part of the holiday. My son’s asthma was aggravated by Rome’s pollution. We rested in a quiet, cool church. They are open to the public most days and they are not too crowded. They are also beautiful interiors where you can get lost in.

Read about Rome’s churches here.

7 I made sure I had plenty of cash that I kept it in a hidden pouch on a bum bag. I split this money between the three of us in case it got lost. Drawing money from an ATM had proved costly and I was stung. Read about the hidden cost of using VISA kiosks here.

Read all my articles on Rome on my Rome a Survival Kit

The CarreFour Supermarket Rome

A nice picnic in Rome is cheaper than any trattoria

Receipts from Pam Local

Altar of the Gesu Church

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

A water fountain in Orange Tree Gardens, Rome

Ostiense the Lost Property Office in Rome and Other Stations

The lost and found property in Rome is in a horrible little depot in Ostiense. My son had lost his personal belongings on the bus and reported it to the police. We were then told it was in ‘lost property’ in the main metro station. In Rome, it is the Termini. But no lost property is there. We were told to go to the wrong place.

Ostiense is nowhere near a bus station. In fact, it is tucked away and hard to find. An official told us to take a taxi there. Fortunately, our hotel was a 20 minute walk away.

Here is the address and contact details of Ostiense in Rome.

(or read all my articles on Rome on my Rome a Survival Kit)

Polizia Locale Roma Capitale

Ufficio Oggetti Smarriti

Circonvallazzione Ostiense, 191 - 00154 Roma

Tel (+39) 06 67693214

Email: oggettismarriti@comune.roma.it

Website www.comune.roma.it

Opening hours Monday to Friday 8.30am – 1pm.

METRO B o B1 (dir Laurentina) GARBATELLA

Sadly, my son’s bag wasn’t at Ostiense. With two days to spare until our flight back, we inquired at other Roman stations. We didn’t have time to try them all. Many of the bus drivers couldn’t speak English and we were given slips of paper, some of which was in Italian. In the end, we couldn’t locate my son’s bag containing his passport.

Still, if you find yourself in a similar situation, here are the contact details of the ATAC bus depots in Rome.

ATAC Bus depots in Rome

Acilia Via Enrico Ortolani n.303 Tel (+39) 06.46956416

Collatina Via Birolli n.6 Tel (+39) 06.46955222

Grottarossa Via Flaminia n.1060 Tel (+39) 06.46953012

Magliana Via Luigi Candoni n.101 Tel (+39) 06.46955371

Montesacro Via di Monte Sacro n.10 Tel (+39) 06.46955801

Porta Maggiore Largo Caballini n.1 Tel (+39) 06. 46954875

Portonaccio Via Portonaccio n.20 Tel (+39) 06.46953205

Prenestina Tel (+39) 06.46954469

Tor Pagnotta Via Mario Carucci snc Tel (+39) 06.46956922

Tor Sapeinza Via Prenestina n.605 Tel (+39) 06.46953610

Tor Vergata Via di Tor Vergata n.191 Tel (+39) 06.46955650

Trastevere Via delle Mura Portuense n.43 Tel (+39) 06.46956605

Read my article on how to get an emergency passport abroad.
A checklist on other things to do if you lose your passport abroad.

Or read all my articles on Rome on my Rome a Survival Kit

Ostiense Lost Property Office in Rome

Information kiosk in Rome

An ATAC Bus in Rome

The Termini Station in Rome

My Experience with the Roman Police and Ostiense

My son lost his passport on the bus and went to the police. After my experience with them, I was left with a terrible impression. Here’s why.

I found my son forlorn in the Police Station at the Piazza del Collegio in Rome.

The police spent an age filing a simple report. In Britain, the report would have been done in a jiffy.

The report was on scrap paper and in Italian. This police report was my only means of communicating my problem, as most of the officers couldn’t speak English.

However, one officer spoke decent English. She told us that my son’s bag had been taken to ‘lost property’ by the bus driver who found it. When I asked where this lost property office was, I was simply told, ‘ask anyone. It’s in the main terminal station.’ I wanted the address, but she never gave one. I therefore assumed there was a big lost property office in the central bus station in Rome.

We went to the Termini but there was no lost property there.

I eventually found out from a small ticket booth at the other end of the station that the lost property for Rome was in a grotty little station outside of Rome called Ostiense. It had by then closed. It was 1pm on Friday.

The lost property office in Ostiense is not in the Termini as I thought, but happened to be a 20 minute walk from our hotel. The horrid little place was shut until Monday so we had to wait. When it eventually opened, the police officer looked at me with disdain and announced, ‘no bag here!’ She didn’t even pick up the phone or make an effort to help. There seems to be a lack of communication between the police offices in Rome. They simply don’t seem to speak to each other.

I returned to the Piazza del Collegio police station and was met with a fat Italian smoking a cigar in the foyer. He couldn’t speak English so I showed him a copy of the police report. He spent ages reading this report which was in his own language.

He led us into the station upstairs and we were met with the same lack of listening skills as before. No one checked their computer for our earlier report and no one picked up the phone to call Ostiense. I was then given an ad-hoc form to give to the embassy as though a fresh report. I kept telling them I had already reported the missing bag, but no one listened.

I never found out where this ‘lost property’ office was from the police. My son was by then greatly distressed.

I returned every morning to Ostiense to be met with the same ‘no bag here!’ I flew home without our bag.

I have since barred my son’s phone and debit card, neither of which has shown activity. I suspect they languish somewhere in a Roman storage place waiting to be claimed. I firmly believe they have not been stolen.

Whenever I see a Polizzio car. I consider myself lucky that the British police are more advanced than the Romans.

Lesson learnt

Don’t assume the Roman police have the efficiency of the British Police. Their resources and training appear lacking.

Lack of funding equals early office closures and basic resources.

Look after yourself. Don’t assume anyone in a big city will, even an official.

Read all my articles on Rome on my Rome a Survival Kit

Police Station in the Piazza del Collegio

The Termini Rome: no lost property to be found

The grubby Ostiense in Rome

Poor funding equals deserted  kiosks in Rome

My Visit to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel Without a Passport

I managed to see Vatican City despite my son losing his passport and trousers on the bus that morning. We had missed our timeslot and I didn’t know when we would be flying home.

It was mid-August and boiling in Rome. The crowds were tremendous. We managed to get into the Vatican despite the odds. Read my other article on how I managed to do this.

Inside the Vatican, we were allocated a guide and given green earphones which you get to keep. A Canadian guide gave us a talk, his chilled-out brogue just audible beneath the throng. But my earphones would at times cut out. I realised it was due to wandering too far from him. Each guide seems to have their own frequency, shared only by his or her group of tourists. So I kept close by and the problem seemed to resolve.

We began our tour in front of large reproductions of Michelangelo’s frescoes.

The talk lasted about half an hour before we wandered into the Vatican Museums. Our guide kept raising his hand to ensure we didn’t get lost in the crowd.

We entered the galleries, which (I had read) was 7km long, but we didn’t do the entire length. The ceilings glowed with frescos. It was hard to pay attention when astonishing images bore down on you.

Here is a brief history about the Vatican garnered from my guidebook and on the day.

The Vatican A Brief History

Constantine, Rome’s fist Christian emperor, had the basilica built over the tomb of martyred St Peter. It was sacked in 846 AD by Saracens before Pope Leo IV had huge walls built around the church. It was known as the Leoning City, then the Vatican City.

The popes took residence there in the 13th century after being in exile in Avignon. The Vatican is now an independent state after Mussolini signed the Lateron Pact in 1929. Swiss guards protect the border. It has its own post office, currency, newspaper and railway station. You don’t need a passport to cross over, although I was told I may need mine due to my son’s had gone  missing.

The Vatican is approached via the Castel Sant’ Angelo bridge, adorned with Bernini’s windswept angels. Hadrian’s impressive mausoleum can be seen just over the Tiber. This fort provided a refuge for popes.

The impressive St Peter’s basilica looms ahead. Its immense proportions inspired Goethe’s quote, it is ‘like entering eternity.’

Michelangelo’s The Pieta has its own chapel near the entrance. Find Bernini’s Baldacchino over the high altar. A spiral walkway will take you up to the galleries. Find dizzying views into the basilica’s interior. At the top are stunning views of Rome and the Vatican gardens. But beneath this immense building are grottos, catacombs and the tomb of St Peter.

The Cortile Della Pigna is a good place to rest and admire the bronze pinecone fountain before delving into the galleries.

The Picture Gallery

The Pinacotaca Vaticana covers nine centuries of art with works by Fra Angelico, Perugino, Bernini and Caravaggio. Find Raphael’s Transfiguration and Da Vinci’s St Jerome.

A mindboggling collection of art and artefacts can be found from Egyptian art to contemporary. Find the Apostle library, the Borgia apartments, the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel.

The Museo Piour Clementino has wonderful Classical art.

A contemporary gallery with works by Francis Bacon provided the penultimate before the finale, the Sistine Chapel.

At this point, our guide bade us farewell and told us to simply look up.

The Sistine Chapel

The Cappella Sistina formed the climax to the tour.

This surreal place is located within the Apostolic Palace. Tourists sat on benches within a certain hush to admire the frescoes. I spent ages just looking up. Photographs aren’t allowed.

Sixtus IV had the Sistine Chapel restored in the 1470s before Michelangelo painted the ceiling under Julius II between 1508 and 12. Michelangelo returned and painted the Last Judgement in 1535- 41.

The frescoes, having faded with time, underwent restoration over twenty years ending in the 1990s. The chapel tells a story in three parts:

The southern wall: The Stories of Moses, painted 1508-1512.

The northern wall The Stories of Jesus, painted 1508–1512.

Over the altar: The Last Judgment, painted 1535-1541.

Notice an almost naked Jesus serving judgement in the center. This breathtaking scene is best viewed from near the chapel’s exit. Plenty of benches are provided for optimum viewing.

Also to be admired are the Raphael tapestries and frescoes by other artists.

What an experience! I will never forget it. But I had horrible problems on my mind.

My son’s passport was missing and I didn’t think we would be flying home on Monday. I braced myself for liaising with the Roman Police, the British Embassy and Lost Property.

Read about how I managed to get us home in two days on my other articles.

Michelangelo's Brooding Raphael In the Vatican Museums

Glowing ceiling Frescoes in the Vatican

The Vatican have 7 kms of galleries

Magnificent frescoes in the Vatican

The Last Judgement by Michelangelo (WCommons)

The Creation by Michelangelo (WCommons)

How I Visited the Vatican in Shorts and Minus a Passport

On the morning we were due to visit the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, my son lost his passport on an ATAC bus in Rome. In seconds, he had no passport and no trousers to wear for the Vatican. We had also missed our time slot.

Read my other article on what happened after my son had lost his passport. This article’s focus is on how I managed to see the Vatican against the odds.

I believed the Vatican demanded a passport and appropriate clothing. My son’s trousers and his passport were in his bag. Being mid-August, it was boiling and he was wearing shorts. We spent the next few hours filing a police report at the Piazza del Collegio Police Station. By the time the report was complete, we had missed our slot to see the Vatican. I had booked the excursion direct from the Vatican website. I wanted to skip the queue, have a guide and earphones. We were due to fly back in two days’ time.

It was about 4 pm by the time we had reached St Peter’s Square. My children were fraught, hot and tired. I didn’t fancy my chances of getting in.

Still, I had a go.

I had a copy of the receipt from the Vatican Website and made my way to the Information Center next to the Vatican Post Office. The crowds were humongous but miraculously, I was able to speak to someone behind the counter.

I showed him the paperwork and explained (very humbly) that my son had lost his passport this morning. I hadn’t been able to visit the Vatican at the slot arranged.

He was brilliant. He made some phone calls and arranged a later slot for me. Our visit was to be at 7.30 pm that evening. He also provided his colleagues’ names. He said so long as my son’s parent has a passport, he will be able to enter.

Still concerned, I explained that my son has no trousers, only shorts. The man smiled and said, it’s ok to wear shorts so long as they’re not thigh-high.

I couldn’t believe my luck. I thought you needed cover-wear to enter the Vatican and a passport. In fact, you don’t need a passport at all. And in the queue, I saw lots of tourists wearing Bermuda shorts. It seems times have changed.

I returned to the children and they were thrilled with the news. We milled around for a few hours and had a snack. By 7.30 pm, we were in the queue. I name-dropped at the doors and the usher let us in. No one looked at my passport or cared my son’s shorts.

Read about my visit to the Vatican in my next article.

Lesson Learnt

The Vatican’s rules seem to have slackened. You can wear shorts so long as they are not too short.

You don’t need a passport to visit the Vatican.

Don’t give up.

You are not allowed to take photos of the Vatican Post Office (I got told off).

Read all my articles on Rome on my Rome a Survival Kit

My Booking with Vatican plus headphones

Directions to the Vatican Entrance

Tickets to see Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

Doorway to the Vatican

The Vatican at Night

If You Lose Your Passport in Rome: what to Do

My son lost his passport and valuables in a bag on the bus in Rome. It was horrible but I learned a lot. After panic mode, I took the following emergency steps to get myself and my children home as soon as possible.

You can read how I got the emergency passport from the consulate here. But other considerations need attention. This forms the focus of this article.

1 Go straight to the Police. In my case, I had been told it had been handed to lost property. It is pointless applying for an emergency passport if the original passport has been found somewhere.

2 We discovered the lost property in Rome is a small office in Ostiense. Fortunately, Ostiense was just round the corner from the hotel. The busses 160, 130 and 30 go near Ostiense.

3 Sadly, Rome’s public services are poorly-funded and offices close early. Ostiense office closes on Friday at 1pm, not to open until Monday. (My son had lost his passport on Friday morning) so we couldn’t do anything until Monday.

4 Telephone the British Embassy in London (the one in Rome has early closures). They told me to go on the Gov.uk site to begin procedures for an emergency passport. The emergency passport costs £100. The lost passport would instantly be void. The embassy advised me to wait until Monday to see if passport turns up. The contact details of the consulates are given at the bottom of this article.

5 I informed my scheduled taxi to the airport of the possible delay and to wait until my next call before coming to the hotel to take us to the airport.

6 I informed my flight operator of the lost passport. In my case, it was EasyJet. In some cases, they can offer a cheap alternative flight so long as I booked it before I had missed my scheduled flight. Sadly, I couldn’t be sure when to book my later flight, for I didn’t know if the passport would turn up at Ostiense.

7 I rang my bank to inform them of certain funds coming out of my account. In my case, I had to speak to Fraud Office because my card ceased to work. This was because the bank had been alerted of irregular spending activity due to the emergency. Once I had spoken to them, I ensured my card was unblocked for a longer period abroad than was planned.

8 I made plans with the hotel to stay a few days longer. I ensured I had enough funds available. In Rome, make allowances for city tax, which is 6 Euros per person per night.

9 I put a stop on my son’s bank card card and his phone.

10 I made plans that evening for what to do if: a) the passport was lost and b) what to do if the passport was found. To make things easier, I wrote all the phone numbers, addresses and details of the agents involved in my lost passport. I kept these notes with me at all times. I could then go to bed and forget about it.

11 Sadly, my son’s passport was not at the Ostiense on Monday. I followed my plans for a) the passport was lost. I had already made the list, so it was easy to follow.

12 As advised by the British Embassy, I went onto the Gov.uk website and clicked on the etd link (Emergency Travel document). The forms are straightforward (read full instructions on getting an emergency passport on my other article). Happily, I didn’t need photocopies of the lost passport, only my son’s passport number and issue date were needed. I had kept a record of these on a separate sheet of paper. Don’t worry if you do not have these to hand, the embassy will assist.

13 Once the emergency travel application is complete, you will get a notification email within 2 working days. In my case, my emergency passport will be ready by either Tuesday or Wednesday. You can ring the embassy for updates.

On Tuesday, I was notified my emergency passport was ready to pick up from the Ambassador Britannia in Rome.

14 The Ambassador Britannica in Rome is in Via XX Settembre 80a - 00187 Roma. This is walke-able from Rome centre. But I had to get there before 3 pm when it closes. You go into a booth where an official takes your belongings and puts them in a locker. You then go up into an office where my son was given the emergency travel document.

The emergency passport is beige-coloured rather than burgundy and you can only use it once. It is then taken off you at your destination country.

15 Once I had the emergency travel document, I was able to book the flight. Sadly, I was unable to honour EasyJet’s cheap flight offer, so I had to pay full price. I then rang the taxi company to inform them of when I will need to get to the airport. The hotel was kind enough to let me print the boarding passes.

16 I had to bar my son’s phone and his bank card, as both were in his bag.

Standard travel insurance will cover the cost of replacing a lost passport and in some cases, the payment of flight and extra nights in a hotel. Check the small print.

Here are the details of the Embassies I contacted.

British Embassy (Rome)

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Rome)

Consular Assistance

Phone (+39) 0642202431

Website www.ukinitaly.fco.gov.uk

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (England)

King Charles Street

London SW1A 2AH

Tel (+44) 2070081500

All in all, a horrible experience, but I learned a lot and wish to share.

Read all my articles on Rome on my Rome a Survival Kit

Lost property office in Rome

The emergency passport

Notice on the lost property office in Ostiense

British Embassy in Rome