TALLINN

MR., WANNA BUY RUSSIAN SOUVENIR?

Lucky bastard, is what I sometimes call myself. And I did again this morning.

Instead of calm, it could have been storm. Instead of being in utter panic and profound crisis, I am here in Restoran Ravintola, on the famous Raekoja Plats (square) in the center of the famous Old City, designated by UNESCO a precious city (something close, but I cannot find it at the moment).

At 11:10, in broad daylight, I was robbed of my passport for a few seconds.

I had just entered the old town about 20 minutes before and been greeted like royalty by this young woman selling postcards. We had this high-octane conversation about the weather in Jamaica and the weather, about two weeks of real summer, in Estonia.

I entered the square proper and got myself situation on the map. I was near a fork in the road and I started going right on Kinga but changed my mind and returned a few feet to take the other, Voorimehe. My "gut", not my brain, noted that four guys, in their 30s, all in dark clothes, mirrored my move as the "leader" spoke to the others.

About 35 feet into Voorimehe, heading toward Pikk, the leader passes me and makes a U-turn to face me. "Mr.," he said, quite forcefully, close up to my face and talking rapidly, "Do you want to buy Russian souvenirs?" His three friends lagged behind me.

Then he put his left arm around my neck (long-lost friends, you know!) and rattles off about three more questions, none of which registered because my brain had kicked into gear just when I felt the slightest touch on my right leg, in that pocket near my knee.

I immediately turned around to see my passport in the hand of one of the three behind me. "Give me my passport!" I demanded, not shouting. He handed it back.

Had he gone to the left pocket, I am positively certain I would have seen the last of my wallet, three credit cards and a Visa bank card, plus $134, plus that address in Kyoto which I still carry after more than five years. Nor would I see them again. As if I would want to.

Patrick Barry B