I’ve mentioned that the Czech weren’t really keen on breaking larger bill denominations but it actually was much more of an issue as we stayed there. They definitely preferred to do most of their transactions using coins which became more of an issue as we walked around Prague. We tended to only have bills and nearly every store seemed to give us a little trouble when we tried to pay.

Even more of an issue, at least for Christina and I, was the inability to use credit cards at many places. I remember reading something years ago that Europeans didn’t use checks as much as Americans. Perhaps I assumed therefore that they used credit cards. I couldn’t have been more mistaken. Almost no smaller store or cafe took credit cards and many larger restaurants did not either. Each night, each of us was going to take the others out to dinner. The first night, Christina and I were going to pay but they didn’t take credit cards so that became Christina’s parents night. The second night, we chose a larger restaurant, a pizzeria, that definitely had to take credit cards — Nope! We then had to borrow Korunas from her parents and brother to pay for it. This became a funny and rather annoying pattern: Any time Christina and I attempted to treat her family, the restaurant didn’t accept credit cards so we would have to borrow money to pay. If they were treating, they accepted credit cards without issue. We didn’t have any issue in Austria or Switzerland but Czech definitely threw a wrench in our spending plans.

As if to emphasize the point, during the city tour we took, the recording mocked the Americans for thinking they had invented credit cards. Supposedly, the Czech people used an early form of credit card hundred(s) of years ago. I guess they felt that inventing it was enough; There was no need to actually use them!