The tourist destination of Prague is considered one of the must-see attractions in Europe. The long history of the city, with its patches of ancient buildings, highlights the city’s richness. On the other hand, the city is full of modern business, filled with the whole city’s youthful hormonal atmosphere, but also declare the city’s modern. Recently, a relative of my family came over for a trip and visited many places, and after arriving in Prague, he exclaimed, “Prague is really prosperous!
Behind the prosperity, materialistic desires. Where there is a desire, there are pits, there is a deception.
The first pit is the currency exchange. From the domestic travel to Europe, usually exchange some euros in advance. But the tourist countries and attractions, not always the euro zone, such as the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden. These countries Schengen visa are allowed to enter the country, the currency used but not the euro. So, for some necessary cash purchases, such as bus tickets, parking fees, and small store purchases, it is necessary to exchange some local currency.
I hadn’t noticed before that the streets of Prague are full of currency exchange stores: “Change”, or “Exchange”. These stores are usually very small and have a large exchange rate display board that lists the exchange rates for various currencies to the Czech koruna. Usually these rates are fair and in line with the real time exchange rate. If you ask him any questions, he will pretend that he doesn’t speak the language and tell you to look at the display board and tell you that all the information is on the board. Tourists take a look at the price of the card, think it’s not bad, then change it. Handing over the money, the staff member operates and types out a small note with a particularly long and rather fuzzy handwriting. Most tourists sign directly, a little more careful customers, may be on the top to find the exact amount of money can be exchanged. But this is also futile, because there are many numbers on the small strip, look up can not be seen clearly, so this group of careful tourists in seeing a number similar to the value of the heart, also signed and pledged. Then the staff gives you money, much less than expected. Tourists are certainly not satisfied, very angry to ask the staff how it seems. The key comes when the staff member dodges, revealing a row of small letters at the bottom of the display board he blocked, “28% fee per transaction” and looks at you with a sly look on his face, “I told you that all the information is on the display board”.
That’s the routine at the store around the Astronomical Clock Square in Prague’s Old Town. Every time I think of the staff’s conniving smile at the end, I want to punch him!
And eating, usually a main dish between 200 to 300 kroner, is a relatively reasonable price, such as the famous 1/4 of the duck, grilled pork chops, but there are also the pitiful restaurants. The Svejk Restaurant in front of the National Museum in Prague, on the pedestrian street towards the city center, opposite the shopping center New Yorker near Vaclav Square, is one of them, the address is “Hotel Prague Inn, 28. října 378/15, 110 00 Staré Město, Czech Republic”.
First of all, there is some bread on each table, remember that it is not free, it costs 50 CZK. Also, after ordering, the waiter will bring you a plate of more delicate looking bread first, usually a few pieces of bread for a few main courses ordered. Of course, this is not free, each piece of bread 100 kroner. Ask the waiter if it’s okay if you don’t want it, and the answer is no. In other words, since you sit down, this money must be paid. At the end of the checkout, the waiter will also ask you for a tip, if you don’t give it, you’ll have to grind it to death, and a little bit of it won’t let you go.
There is no such thing as a free lunch!
Last but not least, the Havel Open Air Market is located at “Havelská 13, 110 00 Staré Město”, so don’t be attracted by the prices you see at first glance. For example, at the fruit stall, there are various fruit combinations in a box, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and a yellow fruit shaped like raspberries, which looks delicious. A look at the price tag, 69 kroner, quite cheap. If you look more closely, you will find “per 100 grams” written in very small letters in the corner of the price tag.
However, this is not a big deal, as I have encountered it in other markets, and it is a common trick.
Why are there always various types of pits in busy tourist cities?
The other day I was listening to a course on game theory at the Ho Fan Club, and I can try to explain it from the psychology of the game. There are three basic elements in game theory, payment structure, number of games and number of participants. First of all, from the top of the payment structure, the cost of cheating tourists is almost zero, in the game he chooses to betray no cost, but also gain. The number of times the game is played, the number of times the game is played can increase the possibility of the optimal ending solution, but in tourist attractions, the number of times the game is played between a business and a particular tourist is only once.
Feel to travel, but also really have to put the mind, “eat loss often.”
