You are currently browsing the daily archive for June 30th, 2007.
Well, this is our final post from the U.K. We’re in Stansted Airport, where Internet time costs a whopping one pound (that’s two dollars!) for every 10 minutes – so this will be quick!
It rained the entire morning (as, in fact, it has rained every single day that we’ve been here) as we drove the M40 back to Heathrow. We then hopped on a bus to Stansted, where we encountered the craziest, most congested airport either of us has ever experienced. People stand in massive clumps, staring at the departure board, waiting for their flight to be listed. You cannot just check-in at any point; you have to wait until about 2 hours before your flight, and then you’re told at which counter to check in. So then you join a massive hoard of people jockeying for a place in the check-in queue.
Peter got a chance to dust off his rusty French skills when he called our hotel to tell them we’d be arriving late. After planning the entire conversation out in his head (in French, of course – and after consulting a newly-purchased French phrase book), he got half-way through his first sentence, and then copped out with a, “Parlez-vous anglais?” Luckily, the hotel employee was very friendly and understanding, and even referenced James Bond in the conversation! We’re looking forward to checking out the tidal barrage along the Rance River in Dinard, France. It’s one of the oldest tidal power facilities in the world.
A tout l’heure!
PS – They have awesome food – and we’re totally serious – at Stansted airport. So if you’re ever in the mood for a little airport craziness, check it out!
Yesterday, we met up with Iain Russell, the head of Wave Dragon, U.K. This tidal energy generator uses the power of ocean waves to create electricity. As Iain explained it, the inventor developed the idea after watching waves crash on and drain through coral. The Wave Dragon is a 900-foot wide floating steel-reinforced concrete machine with a 300-foot adjustable “beach” in the middle. As waves approach the Dragon, they’re guided into this beach and crash up over it. They then drain down through six turbines, thus creating several megawatts of electricity. The beauty of this design is that it is incredibly durable and there are very few breakable moving parts. If something does break, the engineers can just remove a turbine and drop a new one in. Oh, and one other very cool thing: The engineers control the movement of the Wave Dragon by sending it text messages! You can find out more about the Dragon here.
We also must mention the site of our meeting with Iain. We had lunch at a small country tea room, which was incredibly charming and unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. The food was great – we had garlic bread, pasta carbonara, and a green salad. Fabulous!
We then headed down to a Days Inn in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and we’ve written this post from the public library in Stratford, just down the street from Shakespeare’s birthplace! Tonight we’re flying to Dinard, France, and hopefully we’ll be able to find an Internet cafe there tomorrow evening.
