A 4am start is no ones idea of fun, but when catching a flight, needs must. Sadly this early wake up, combined with the nerves of flying Ryanair, resulted in a rather unstable tummy. This did, however, provide the perfect opportunity to check out Charleroi Airports bathroom facilities, even if I did have to ask for directions to them in my very dodgy, broken French. Upon arrival at the Gents, I noticed a glaring lack of any kind of hand dryer. Despite this apparent oversight by the airports designers, I carried on with my business, keen to avoid any recreation of The Inbetweeners infamous 50 Euro fine incident. Job done, I exited the cubicle and stepped tentatively towards the sinks, bracing myself for the dreaded trouser-dry. What faced me was like nothing I had ever seen before. These were no ordinary taps. The wings on either side suggested that these were more than a simple water delivery device. Intrigued, I proceeded to perform a bizarre form of Ti-Chi, assuming the existence of sensors lurking underneath. This assumption, it transpires, is well founded. I was greeted with a familiar sensation. Clinical, yet comforting. A blade of air made its presence felt on the skin of my hands. I could barely believe what I had stumbled across. The Dyson Airblade that we all know and love has now been incorporated into a single unit alongside a tap, in a design not dissimilar to an aeroplane, making its use in this airport particularly apt. While I wont bore you with the details of how it feels and performs, as youve doubtless read dozens of times, I feel it is important just to point a couple of things out. Firstly, this new combination of wetness and dryness, finally working together to provide a full, uninterrupted hand washing experience. Id consider this collaboration to be groundbreaking, akin almost to a hypothetical situation in which the Poms agreeing to share the Ashes with the Aussies. The only difference here, of course, is that this has happened, and the alliance appears to have worked. As such, I would be far from surprised or upset if this were to start a trend towards hybrid public bathroom appliances. The second important factor is its positioning. Being directly above the sink, all the inevitable drips end up back in the bowl, meaning there are no little puddles to contend with or indeed any unsightly streaks down the wall. Upon arrival back in the UK, I elected to do a little internet search, and discovered that each appliance was a staggering £1,500. While it certainly made my second visit to the lavatory at the airport feel warranted, I fear that this price could prove to be somewhat prohibitive, making these a sadly rare sight I suppose for now though well just have to wait and see. It is fair to say though that at the time, it all came together to create one of the finest hand washes, and of course drys, that I had experienced, at a time that I needed it most. (IMAGE: theguardian.co.uk - I was sadly unable to take a picture in its airport habitat)
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 21:05:57 +0000
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