Friday, November 24, 2006

Today I found 9 cents Euro (1 five-cent Euro and 2 two-cent Euros). Although change for purposes of this race the foreign currency will sadly not count toward the daily totals. Change was found in Ireland.

The lot of us (that sounds very Irish) drove to Kilkenney, Ireland today. Along the way we stopped at a gas station to fill up and I went in to get a drink. There I found a single two-cent Euro by the front counter. I actually ended up purchasing a Coke to drink. I had been told that in foreign countries Coke uses real sugar instead of corn syrup. The lable showed this to be true so I wanted to give it a shot. To be honest I couldn't really tell the difference.

Walking around Kilkenney I found the remaining change. One of the attractions we visited was the Dunmore Caves, caves where vikings killed local villagers many centuries before. The tour guide shared an interesting Viking factoid, which I happily pass along:

Vikings did not have pockets on their clothes, so they carried their change by coating it in wax (usually from a bee) and sticking it to their body. When coins were found in the caves years later the speculation was that as the Vikings were building fires to smoke the locals out of the caves the heat caused the wax to melt and the coins to drop.

Totals for the day: 3 Foreign Coins
Race Totals: $461.03