Europe is a pretty safe place to travel. There is very little violent crime, but petty theft is commonplace. In the big cities, like big cities everywhere, you need to stay aware of your surroundings and the people around you.

We were walking through the central part of Zagreb, Croatia, with some people in our tour group. It was very hot that day; we were all a little lethargic. We were all separated by 10 to 15 feet and not bunched up.

K and I were climbing some stairs from one part of the city to another and were a little ways behind another couple in our group. I looked up, and two nicely dressed and groomed young women were walking one step behind the other couple. I thought it odd that they were so close. Then I noticed one of the young women had her hand in the back pocket of the man from our tour group.

At this point, I shouted “HEY” as loud as I could. The young women turned around and looked at me like I was crazy, but I pointed at one of them and yelled, “You had your hand in his pocket,” whereupon the man said that he felt something going on back there. I then yelled, “You are a pickpocket!”

I don’t know if they understood a word that I said, but I got the point across. The two women walked away, blending into the street crowd, and a member of our group still had his wallet.