The Most Stupid Thing You Can Do in 5 European Capitals
From Lisbon to Warsaw, avoid this if you care about your health.
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Over the last decade, I’ve visited over 50 countries on every continent except Antarctica. Needless to say, I did stupid things on many of these journeys.
Some of these foolish acts forced me to spend a night in a police station, while others resulted in a few days in a hospital. One of them even resulted in the authorities refusing me entry into Qatar (it is a long story… subscribe to my profile and maybe I will tell it in another article in the future).
In my defense, most of my mistakes were due to ignorance— remember what they say, that pain is often the best teacher.
It might be fun to tell those stories years later after they’ve happened. However, they are not always made up of pleasant experiences.
Some of the events described in this article occurred to me, while others occurred to friends; hopefully, however, none of them will occur to you.
1 — To Exchange Money at THIS place in Prague, Czech Republic
This is not the first time that I write about why Prague disappointed me. But some things must be said more than once.
Never (and I mean never) change money on the street, particularly in tourist-heavy areas such as the Old Clock’s environs. You can be certain that you will be scammed if someone approaches you in front of an exchange office and offers you a better rate. Most of the time, you will be unable to obtain Czech money. You’ll wind up with some east-European currency that won’t help you much in this country!
If you need Czech money (and you will, given the Euro is not legal cash here), use an ATM.
Always inquire how much you’ll get for your money if you come across an exchange office (and there are many of them everywhere). Many exchange offices deceive you into thinking you’re receiving a good deal. After you sign the bill and receive half of what you expected, you could be…
