GO NYC, London & Paris with Kathy and Alec Wightman | Issue LX

GO: NYC, London & Paris
with Kathy and Alec Wightman

We’ve had the good fortune of visiting many of the great cities in the world, but our three favorites may be New York, London and Paris. And we saw all three in December!

New York Public Library

eeping with the “Wightman Theory” of going to the city of international departure the day before heading overseas (if something happens to your connecting flight out of Columbus, you’re in big trouble), we spent a night in NewYork before flying to London. Kathy, as a retired librarian, always has an affinity for libraries and this time we visited the New York Public Library at 42nd and Fifth and toured “Treasures: The Polansky Exhibition,” a collection of some of the library’s most valuable, unique and important treasures. (Did you know the most “checked out” book in the history of the New York Public Library system is “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats?)

Buckingham Palace

Houses of Parliament

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

We’ve been to London a number of times, but this year we decided to rent an apartment in a residential area and spend time doing “non-touristy” things. Having said that, our apartment was in Westminster, just around the corner from Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, whose chimes we heard every quarter hour.

Classic British Food

London isn’t known for its gourmet delights, although that has changed over the years. However, there’s nothing like a traditional English breakfast...or fish and chips...or a Sunday Roast.

Pub

Not to mention the ambiance of the classic English pubs.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

It was wonderful to be in London during the Holiday Season! We went to the
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland—think the Ohio State Fair on steroids!

The Christmas Feast - Dickens

We also went to “The Christmas Feast,” a one-man immersive dinner theater
performance of Charles Dickens’ “ A Christmas Carol,” performed to a packed house...many of whom dressed in “period” wardrobe. (Kathy and I did not!)

London Neighborhoods

Notting Hill

Near Notting Hill

Our favorite thing to do in big cities is just walk neighborhoods. We certainly did that in London—Camden Passage, Kings Cross and the Regent Canal; Notting Hill, Westbourne Grove and North Kensington, Chiswick and Grove Park; and urban areas like the Theatre District.

Chiswick

Theatre District

The Chunnel

Talking about “neighborhoods,” as long as we were near by...we decided to spend a few days in Paris. So, we took the “Chunnel”—the train under the
English Channel. A first for us!

La Cordonnerie

https://restaurantlacordonnerie.fr/en

London may not be known for its gourmet delights, but Paris sure is! We ate at one of our favorites, a little place called La Cordonnerie (the cobbler).