Bute Park is 130 acres of landscaped gardens and parkland that once formed the grounds of Cardiff Castle. The park is named after the 3rd Marquess of Bute, whose family owned the castle and made their fortune developing the ports in Cardiff to export coal. It's a pretty vast park and I spent a lot of time here as a student as my halls of residence backed on to the park. It was the perfect spot got revision and a post exam picnic. 

There aren't many places you can sit down and eat in the city when you have a dog but Pettigrew Tea Rooms is a great spot with a puppy friendly outdoor terrace. Pettigrew vintage-style tea room is located in the historic West Lodge building on Castle Street. You can relax and indulge in the pleasure of taking tea in sophisticated surroundings inside the lodge, or like we did, sit outside on the terrace area with views over the river Taff.

(photo by Katy)

My friend Emma welcomed baby number two into the world on the same week as her two year olds birthday so we had a little party to celebrate. (I can barely look after myself, no idea how she does it!) Quinn and Caspian are such beautiful little boys, I wished they lived a little closer so I could spend more time with them. 

I don't visit the theatre as much as I would like to but I like to think I chose wisely when I do get the opportunity to go. I highly recommend going to see Matthew Bourne's production of The Red Shoes when as it tours across the UK. The Red Shoes is based on the Oscar-winning film starring Moira Shearer, and has inspired generations of dancers with the star struggling to chose between love and success. The show features ballet, jazz and modern styles of dancing, a bold and dynamic set and a wonderful cast. The Red Shoes is not to be missed, I might go and see it again when it visits a neighbouring city.

I'll be having a whole post dedicated to my adventure in Tuscany but wanted to briefly say that Pisa is gorgeous, Lucca was so peaceful and the architecture in Florence wowed me. My friends and I had been saving up for a year for a joint 30th birthday trip as we all turn thirty on 2017. We ended up going to Pisa as we were able to get cheap flights there from our regional airport. It was the perfect way to celebrate our big birthday milestone and I can't believe I waited so long to visit Italy. I would love to go back and see more of the region, hire a car and get out to the little towns and villages to discover all the sights, sounds and tastes of Tuscany. 

Three days after getting back from a jam packed and exhasuting weekend in Italy my blogging friends came to stay and I had a much needed lazy weekend. Sarah, Katy and Kim joined me for a weekend of lie-ins, brunch, a day at the beach and a feast in Wahaca, A word of advice, two street food dishes and some sides is more than enough in Wahaca. We thought we needed three dishes each and extras and I could of done with a golf buggy to get me back home after all the food that ended up on our table. I had to slowly waddle back to the train station as my eyes were far bigger than my stomach. I'm forever grateful to have met such wonderful people online, the blogger community has been a wonderful source of support and friendship for me. 

I managed to fit in another excursion in April when I headed to London on Good Friday to spend the afternoon with Sophie. The day was filled with catching up, the best food, walking around pretty streets near Hampstead Heath and visiting the home of my favourite poet (is it weird too have a favourite poet?) 

After being cultured at the museum and looking at all the beautiful houses covered in wisteria in Belzise Park Sophie and I headed to Franco Manca for a sourdough pizza and pale ale. The prices struck me as pretty affordable compared to other pizza restaurants and the sourdough bases which are proved for 20 hours were delicious. We both opted for a pizza topped with Gloucester old spot ham, mozzarella, buffalo ricotta and wild mushrooms which rivals my favourite 'The King' pizza from Pizza Pronto in Cardiff.