When traveling abroad you become aware of things that you don't see on local TV or read about in the newspapers. These are minor happenings that do not qualify for The New York Times or FOX News or CNN. However, they are important and do signify a greater meaning.

While touring in Greece on the Isle of Rhodes, I felt a figurative "slap in the face" to myself and others. Rhodes (Rodos), the largest of the Dodecanese Islands, is famous for having the statue of the 110-foot Colossus of Rhodes standing in the harbor in ancient times. All ships had to pass under this huge edifice to enter the harbor. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In 224 B.C. an earthquake destroyed the Colossus. In 1309 A.D., the Knights of St. John purchased Rhodes.

They built a fortified city and capped it with the modification of "The Palace of the Grand Master," a huge Byzantine fortress.

The cost was three Euros apiece for Lorraine and I to enter the palace. When I handed the cashier a $10 bill, she haughtily said, "We do not accept dollars!" I said, "I only have dollars," she looked away and repeated "We do not accept dollars!"

I was a little distressed but she was adamant. I said to her that "The Ancient Greeks were great mathematicians and would have no trouble converting dollars to euros." She held her ground and we were left standing outside the palace. Finally, the head of the operation came by and with a calculator figured out the exact rate of dollars to euros.

Eureka!, we were allowed entrance to the palace.

As we wandered through the dark somber rooms of the Palace with its magnificent icons, statues in the courtyard and hanging tapestries, I was still seething at having the U.S. dollar treated so ignominiously. I remembered days when Europeans welcomed the U.S. dollar with open arms and fought to attain it. No longer!

"You can insult me but don't abuse my money," is a cry for equality on the Continent. Hopefully, in time the Dollar will again regain its prominence among the major currencies of the world. But as for now when traveling in most European countries, one had better convert to euros. Remember, "What goes around comes around."