St. Catherine

Today was a long day at the IBC (8am to 9:30pm), and we have a lot to get done before Opening Ceremonies on Friday. As such, I didn't get to do much today, although I did manage to have a few pints with some friends last night at a pub across the Tower Bridge.

Here's a bit more from my walkabout yesterday afternoon...

So, as I said, the area I'm in is called St. Catherine's Docks, and as I'm walking around and I come across this plaque that explains who she was (hope you can read it, it was easier to use a photo than to re-type! Hint: you can click on any photo to enlarge it, and actually view all the photos from each post in a gallery):

Interesting, I'd always wondered about the phrase "Catherine Wheel". Now I know that it was a firework named after a torture device!

From the docks area, here's a good view of my hotel:

The hotel is huge, almost Vegas-like in size. There are 91 rooms on my floor, and the layout is all twisty corridors that all look alike. My room is about as far as you can get from the elevator lift, and I actually got lost trying to find it going out last night (from my room: left, left, right, right, left!).

Just outside the hotel is a large sundial:

I've seen a few sundials around the city already, which is kind of amusing in a city that has as many cloudy/rainy days as London. The UK press gave Vancouver a hard time over the lack of snow, but we now have the possibility of having a Summer Olympics without any sun...

That said, yesterday and today have been gorgeous. I actually got a sunburn in the couple of hours I was out walking yesterday while waiting for my hotel room to be ready. I also found the "Tube" station closest to my hotel ("Tower Hill"):

You'll notice the old stone wall behind the sign. This is a part of the London Wall. Built by the Romans around 200AD, this wall formed the perimiter of London for nearly 1500 years.

Only remnants are left, but it must have been formidable!