Happy Christmas everybody! I hope the season finds you (and your family) healthy and happy.

To my American friends, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It snowed today in Metro Denver. I took a few pictures in Boulder Colorado where I work and posted them on Flickr.

I have quite an extended family in the UK which means we visited and stayed with different uncles and aunts while there. This didn't eliminate the need for hotels, but did lessen the number of nights we stayed in them.

We generally find our hotels online using services like Expedia or CheaperThanHotels to find places to stay. Great deals can be had at London Hotels, Edinburgh Hotels, and Glasgow Hotels, especially if you are willing to risk waiting until the last minute. We like to find places that are central, close to public transit, and (if possible) have a kitchen or kitchenette. Three of the four places we stayed in the UK for our vacation this month had those amenities. A kitchen reduces the amount of time you spend eating at restaurants, which are--in the UK--very expensive. This doesn't mean we don't end up eating out at all. We had a terrific meal, for example, at Ignite, a fabulous Indian Restaurant in Edinburgh.

We flew from London to Toronto today. We were told that we would have to clear both Canadian and US customs and board the plane in about an hour and 15 minutes. We rushed through to the Canadian Customs only to find out we were misled. We moved onto US Customs where the line was pretty slow.

Despite our challenges, we made it to our second plane without any trouble. I even had a bit of time to pick up a bottle of scotch from the duty free in Toronto.

We are in a newish Air Canada Airbus with a touch screen TV, emPower, and a USB port to recharge. The TV provides on-demand programming (movies and TV) and games. The power doesn't require an inverter as it boasts a standard plug.

When we got back to London, we were trying to decide where to go. The Eye? The Science Museum? We decided on the Tower of London.

The Tower is very touristy. The place was packed even during an afternoon over the week. The Tower has been well restored with additional sections being restored while we were there.

The Tower boasts great views of the Thames and the surrounding country. I do think that much of the Tower's displays are too modern. I found myself a little off put by the chrome pipes moving down to plexiglass panels with information about 16th century fabrics or tiles dropping from the ceilings. Projecting video onto Tudor walls was strange. The information was quite interesting but offered in ways that contrasted too heavily with the structure itself.

I'm starting to get videos from our trip to the UK up on line. The first few are available. As I find videos I like particularly, I'll post them here.

The first is of a very very cool street performer. If you like it and want to digg it, I have it set up HERE.