do I know the same person? damn

Or maybe the friend has already paid for the trip before she loaned the money, and she can't pay it back because she doesn't want to be stuck in Italy without money for food?

Oh don't I know how this feels. One of my bridesmaids (from my weddings two years ago) never paid my mother back for her bridesmaid dress (mum paid for the dresses because my bridesmaids were university students who couldn't afford that much in one go, and the deal was they'd pay her back.) I hadn't nagged her about it - I'd mentioned it once or twice - and then I chose the wrong moment and wrong method of asking her about it. It was just after her wedding and I thought she had returned from her honeymoon due to the amount of activity on her Facebook page. (It had been totally inactive for like two weeks, then suddenly there was heaps of activity - facebook statuses, comments on photos etc.) So I left a comment on her page just saying something like I hoped she had a good time on her honeymoon and that my mum had mentioned recently that she'd never paid her back for the bridesmaid dress, and would she be able to do that soon? I'd purposely not mentioned it in the weeks leading up to her wedding coz I knew she'd have plenty of other expenses to pay for. Anyway she sent me a private message back tearing me apart, calling me rude and insensitive and I shouldn't mention money things in public places like FB and how I could have at least waited for her to get home and settled back in and how she deserves an apology but she wasn't expecting one because I supposedly never apologise and would just make up excuses. She also said she thought she'd paid it back but if she was wrong she would try to do so soon but couldn't afford it now because she'd just forked out all this money for her wedding, and she made personal insults about how I wouldn't understand how tight money can be after a wedding because my parents had helped pay for my wedding blah blah blah. Ok I can understand I shouldn't have mentioned it on Facebook. Some people don't care about talking about that stuff in public but I"ve known her long enough to know she is super sensitive about money issues, and I can accept I made a mistake when I did that. I thought she'd grown out of her touchiness but I really should have known better. But she was so rude and insulting in her reply, and I honestly thought she was already home, and the fact she didn't even give me an opportunity to apologise (and was really rude about it) - I thought "is this how you treat someone you call a 'friend'??" Could she not have simply said "I'd rather you don't mention money stuff on FB in future"? I just sent her a short reply back saying something along the lines of sorry, I didn't realise you weren't back yet, I won't mention money things on FB again and just pay it back whenever you can. (sorry that was my little rant... OP's story just made me think "I know exactly how you feel!!")

FYL, keep asking for your money when she returns from her holiday in Italy. If she still refuses to give your money back then think about if it's really worth continuing your friendship if she's taken advantage of your kindness and decided to take your money with no intention of paying it back.

break her knee caps

ydi for using £ symbol. foreighner.

same thing happened to me.. she was able to spend 50 bucks on weed and alchohol and not the 20 she said shed repay me a year before. plus she's 16 and doesn't have a job otherwise she wouldve payed me back already

She's not your friend, just your wallet's friend.

destroy her house while she's away

ooh not good!!! You mean she took a vacation?!