RE: [Harp-L] you 'seasoned' travelers

[Tom Ball <havaball@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Joe,

With the exception of the first couple of destinations, all the 
places in your itinerary use Euros as their currency. The exceptions 
are Budapest (Hungary) and Bratislava (Slovakia.) The latest official 
exchange rates for those two nations can be found online, but as of 
now, there are about 185 Hungarian Forints to the USD; and about 25 
Slovak Koruna to the USD.

My suggestion is to bring USD cash with you, so that you can exchange 
to at least those two currencies at will. Banks -- if they're open -- 
will always give you a better rate than change shops. Travelers 
checks will not be as liquid -- many places do not take them, or 
offer a terrible rate if they do. Try not to exchange more money than 
you'll need, though, as you'll lose twice if you have to re-exchange 
leftovers into Euros or dollars.

The rest of the locations all use the Euro, so you shouldn't have 
much problem there. As to how much to bring, of course that depends 
on whether or not you like to shop, bring home souvenirs, etc etc. In 
general you will find Hungary and Slovakia to be  less expensive than 
Austria, Germany, etc., so those might be the places to shop. (?) 
It's true there are ATM machines all over western Europe, but they're 
not nearly as common in the east. Myself, I prefer cash -- but always 
held closely in a front pocket. Violent crime is very low in that 
part of the world, but expert pickpockets do abound.

Incidentally, you might keep an eyes out for touring US acts -- we've 
played many of these locales (including Bratislava and Budapest,) and 
it's surprising how many blues acts you will see in Amsterdam 
(assuming you don't spend too much time in the "coffeeshops.") <g>

Sounds like a great trip -- enjoy, and be sure to file a report when 
you return.

cheers,
Tom Ball
Santa Babs

=========================


From:"Joe and Cass Leone" <leone@xxxxxxxx> Subject: [Harp-L] you 
'seasoned' travelers CC:
 Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:19:26 -0400 To:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
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Sooo, let's say you're planning a trip and all the lodging, meals,
and transportation have been taken care of. How much personal cash
(traveler's checques) would you take? Here's the itinerary:
Budapesht
Bratislava
Vienna
Melk
Passau
Regensburg
Nuremberg
Bamberg
Wurtzburg
Rothensburg
Wertheim
Mainz
Rudesheim
Cologne
Amsterdam (3 days)

Total  25 days

smo-joe