Christmas Day is the most peaceful day in London and this year was no exception. Many people have already left town and everything is shut down. Even the subway and the buses do not run. This takes some getting used to if you're an ex-New Yorker.

We had a fairly nice Christmas. The major television stations, knowing that most folks will spend all or nearly all the day inside, lay on a banquet of good viewing. Yesterday, we enjoyed American movies "The Santa Clause" and "It's a Wonderful Life" along with British specials such as "Alistair McGowan's Big Impression", where Mr. McGowan and others do stunningly accurate impressions of British celebrities such as soccer star David Beckham or sexy TV chef Nigella Lawson ("Nigella," protesting that she does not deserve her reputation for recipes employing hard-to-get ingredients, tells viewers to obtain left-legged Lebanese chickens, diamond-studded Mexican potatoes and Phoenix eggs).

Today is Boxing Day. Almost as quiet as Christmas but some shops (including, thankfully, one of our local supermarkets). We broke yesterday's traditional day-of-sloth-in-pajamas by going out to the supermarket then going for a walk. Quiet but nice.