Let us address the situations one issue at a time.
1st. Let me assure you that MM has nothing to do with the E vs $ if he did the exchange rate would be much more in your favor.
2nd. Some of the forces that are behind the unfavorable rate are GWB, Iraq, Iran, Afganistan, to name a few.
3rd and last of the issues that you bring about is, should you buy now. That is something that only you can descide. When we travel to Europe we always take a couple of credit cards and a debit card for our local checking account. The advice that I would give you, if you are going to use the cards that way would be to call the bank security department that the cards are on and inform them that you are traveling and the approximate dates. Some banks have been known to see charges from foriegn banks coming in and shut down the account. When using the ATMs always use reasonable caution, take the receipt and keep them until you return home so you can reconcile the accounts when you get home. Another reason that you want to keep the ATM receipts is some of them have all your account information on them.
One word of caution, when we recently traveled to both London and Bacelona, we booked a couple of hotels through Bookings.net. When we arrived at the hotel we were horrified to know that they had transmitted not only the account number of the credit card, but the Expiration date and three digit security code. This to me, was nothing but pure shoddy security and placed my account at an extreme risk of fraudlant charges. The Account was closed as soon as we arrived home and a new account number issued. We also booked a through Hotels.com they were more security minded. Hotels.com also charges in dollars on the day of the reservation and you prepay where as with Bookings.net you are not prepaid and will pay on check out. The exchange rate could work either way for you in both cases.
The last thing that I will advise would be to go to a store that handles luggage and ask for a travel pouch that you can store you credit cards, passport and cash in. This is a cloth and velcro pouch with a neck strap that goes around your neck so that you can carry these items under your shirt away from pickpockets and other up standing members of society.
Other than that, have a good trip, watch your surrounding, and stay safe. Be sure to post on here how the trip went.
Once again, let me assure you that MM is not screwing with the exchage rate.
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Phantom Man