Recently I have been very far away - 8 hours on a plane away to be precise. I was in America for Christmas and what a jolly little Christmas it was. I went to Washington DC and then on to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, where they remind themselves daily that the English were evil absent landlords who over taxed and indulged at the expense of others, that slavery was ok and that tricorns were the height of fashion.

I got into the Christmas spirit by following the fife and drum band around with blazing torches, enjoying the odd carol on the glass armonica, and watching the ‘lighting of the tree’ ceremony. I ate my Christmas day lunch in a tavern with a squash soup replacing the traditional prawn cocktail. I can’t say I missed it much. I also got to appreciate the beautiful wreaths made entirely out of natural stuff like twigs and not a dancing neon reindeer in sight.

It was altogether a lovely Christmas, so I thought I might just share a few snaps with you all:

On a more gaming related note when I went out one night to a local gas station to buy twinkies I noted that they were selling Microsoft points by the till. Midnight MS points and munchies just a gas station away, what a wonderful country!