Anyone with money needs to put a good percent of their wealth into hard assets. Land (waterfront lots, farmland), gold/silver etc. REIT's are also a good place to be. You need some cash but you need to look average to almost poor. Hide your wealth. That's the great lesson here.
Might not be a sure safe haven. They were already considering seizing real estate of foreigners. In fact, waterfront lots on the Mediterranean.