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.

Yesterday, we went to the National Portrait Gallery, one of my favorite museums, to see "The Americans," a special exhibit made possible by the refurbishment of the museum's U.S. counterpart.

Some of the usual suspects -- George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee -- were there in painted or photographed form. But there were quite a few you might not expect in this kind of exhibit: the Cherokee Indian statesman Sequoyah, George Gershwin, Tallulah Bankhead and Michael Jackson (by Andy Warhol), for example. A good exhibit.

My son Jay and I had lunch at the Cafe in the Crypt, a wonderful cafeteria in the crypt of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, the Christopher Wren church that is one of Trafalgar Square's great sights. It's a little-known place that serves up decent, reasonably priced food and is cozy and atmospheric. I'm particularly fond of their soup-and-pudding lunch special: soup, a fresh roll and dessert. On Sunday Jay and I had bread-and-butter pudding. Mmmmmmm. My sole concession to healthy eating was to forego the custard they pour over the pudding.

After that, we returned to the museum to check out portraits of various Britons from 1960 to the present. Various Beatles and Rolling Stones, together and separately, designer Mary Quant, actors Terence Stamp and Julie Christie and former prime ministers such as Harold Macmillan were among those decorating the walls. One of the more memorable was a photo of the queen that looked like an incredibly accurate portrayal -- until you read that the picture is not of the queen but of her waxwork twin at Madame Tussaud's!

Later, we took the No. 13 home again. Another wonderful trip (see below for details) but this time in stunningly clear, sunny weather (a rare treat in London).

Jay and I topped off the day by seeing "The Two Towers". We liked it. They don't make many epics like this, and they are a rare treat.

Covent Garden is like Times Square: one of those tourist magnets you head for soon after you move to a new city, but then try to avoid subsequently, especially during the holidays. But we found ourselves at Covent Garden this past Saturday because there are shops my son Jay likes there: GadgetShop and Eric Snook.

I was glad we went. Covent Garden -- which once housed one of London's great markets and now houses a brace of small shops mainly aimed at the tourist trade -- was hung with giant Christmas wreathes. Off to one side, a carousel spun around. And the buskers -- street performers -- seemed more appropriate at this time of the year. While Jay prowled through the novelty and gag gifts that make up Eric Snook's inventory, I stood outside and listened to two surprisingly good singers belt out opera.

Later, the singers were replaced by a quarter consisting of three violins and a cello, which launched into Vivaldi's "Spring". Familiar, yet welcome.

After we tired of Covent Garden, Jay and I headed down to the Strand, the east-west artery of London that parallels the Thames. It was dark by then. Our old friend, the No. 13 bus took us through Trafalgar Square, with its lighted Christmas tree and carolers, then on to Picadilly Circus and its flashing, lighted signs. From there we headed up Regent's Street, packed with shoppers and festooned with twinkling Christmas lights. A left turn took us onto Oxford Street with its shops, shoppers and lights. Finally, a right turn onto Gloucester Place heralded the "quiet" part of the trip, zipping northward to Finchley Road and home, passing Regent's Park and its London Central Mosque on the way.

This is always a great bus ride but even more so this time of the year. We're very lucky.

Commuting by double-decker bus is much more pleasant than taking the subway home, even if it does take a little longer. And it can bring unexpected rewards. Two days ago, going home from work, I took the bus to Waterloo Station, from where I could take the Tube the rest of the way home.

As I entered the station, I thought I heard a brass band playing. I followed the sound to find a group of 15-20 carolers backed up by the small band. As announcements of trains arriving or departing echoed overhead, I enjoyed a rendition of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" that sounded almost exactly like the one you hear in "It's a Wonderful Life." I half-expected Jimmy Stewart to walk out of the crowd of commuters, many of them heading off early for the holidays.