Cardiff - Four months in

Time flies. I know I sound like a broken record or an old lady but 2016 has flown by. I have now been living in Cardiff for around 4 months. That's crazy. Although it does sometimes feel that I've lived here for much longer. For the last 5 months of 2015 I was clocking up to 500 miles a week on the road going to and from work. The milage itself wasn't the worst part of it, rather it was the time spent on the road. Living where I lived in West Wales the motorway is over an hour away thus if you get stuck behind a tractor/lorry/terrible driver then you're stuck behind them for at least 45 minutes. On a good day I'd be in the car for minimum 3 hours. BUT ALLAS, it's now motorway all the way. A cool 45 minutes and I'm sat at my desk at work ready for the day ahead. It's glorious.

It's not just the decline in hours spent on the road that makes living in Cardiff great - it's also the food, the people, the parks, the pubs, the cinema, the theatre, the CIVILIZATION! Now when I get home from work I actually have time and the means to go meet friends for a drink; I can decide at the last minute to go and watch a play in the local arts centre or a comedy show down in the Bay and I can choose from one of the umpteen restaurants on my street to go out for food.  On the weekends I don't need a huge plan to sort out lifts home from places I can either jump in a taxi or walk home. For the first time in a very long time I feel as if I am truly enjoying life.

So here are my top three favourite places in Cardiff right now -

Chapter Arts Centre

I love chapter not just because of everything that goes on there but also because it is literally a two minute walk from my front door. I can pop over there after work, have a drink, watch a film or a play and be home in a heart beat. For someone who grew up 45 minutes from the nearest cinema this is amazing. On Thursday night my housemate and I went over there after work to watch a play The Harri-Parris (which was great) and to have a glass of prosecco. I regularly set up camp there on a rainy Sunday afternoon with my laptop or a book and crack on with work or just to read for hours with a cup of coffee. It is always busy and without fail there will be tables and tables of people having food, sipping a drink, having meetings or just relaxing.


Yr Hen Lyfyrgell

Recently opened in the heart of the city , Yr Hen Lyfyrgell (The Old Library) houses a few shops inclusing Bodlon and Lampeter's finest Lan Llofft as well as a  large upstairs area where you can have a drink and some delicious food. A few weeks ago myself and a few friends headed there to have lunch and it was sooooo nice and when Wales were playing one of their Euro 2016 warm up games we watched it on their massive screen which makes it a perfect place to watch major sporting events.


Llandaff/Pontcanna Fields






























I usually end up venturing into Llandaff and Pontcanna fields everyday. Be that on my daily
run or for a walk in the evening. Having green space so close to my house has become very important to my life in Cardiff. Running/walking around these parks gives me time to think or not to think. Sunny Sunday afternoons are the best here - running past families on their post-lunch walk, witnessing dogs galloping around in the grass or simply grabbing a cup of coffee from Cafe Catsan and sitting watching the world go by. I think I've spent more time here than anywhere else in Cardiff over the last 4 months. Oh and in the last two weeks I've run passed THE James Dean Bradfield from the Manic Street Preachers and Gruff Rhys (aka the Coolest man in the world) from the Super Furry Animals in Llandaff fields. So yeah.