Patrick, I understand now. I kept having dollars-euros on the brain. So maybe we didn't get a great exchange at the airport but 100 euros would have been a very expensive souvenir to bring home. Oh well, live and learn.

It is hard to judge exactly how much cash to convert (my husband had my girls in a perfume spending frenzy at Heathrow after London last year --quite a waste of money). But who wants to lose on both ends of a conversion? I think next time, I will "save" any leftover currency for the next trip to Europe. Especially with so many countries using Euros, it may make sense. Not exactly a souvenir, more like a starter kit for the next trip.

Victoria, if you are traveling to Europe somewhat frequently it is a great idea to keep the euros, but my husband and I planning a family so we knew it would a long while before we went back.