Here are some highlights!
Madejski Stadium and Green Park
We've ended up spending a fair bit of time in the Green Park area of Reading recently. At the beginning of the month, we went there to check out a café that Claudio's colleague recommended, and took the opportunity to check out the Madejski Stadium, the home of Reading F.C., while we were there.
The café, the Street Bakeshop at Lime Square, turned out to be a great recommendation. In fact, we ended up going back later in the month! The cakes and drinks are great, and the setting by the water is really lovely. It's definitely our favourite café that we've been to in Reading.
We enjoyed walking through the Green Park Business Park, an area which is surprisingly full of nature.
Green Park Village is always a super nice place to explore. Its lake and its North American architecture make you feel like you've stepped into a Hallmark movie!
We tried out the café in the village, Esquires Coffee. I hadn't heard of it before, but apparently it's a Canadian coffee chain, which feels appropriate for the setting. We enjoyed an iced coffee there, sitting in the sunshine next to the lake.
Friday night in London
One Friday, I received an email about a promo at Côte restaurants. We really like Côte, and feeling spontaneous, decided to take advantage of the promo, but in London rather than at home in Reading. So we ended up spending our Friday evening drinking great wine and eating delicious food next to the river with views of the City and Tower Bridge.
Going to London on a Friday evening feels completely different to going at the weekend - it's much less touristy and more relaxed. Given that we're only 25 minutes away from Paddington, we're going to try this more often in the future!
Afternoon tea at the Pantry, Reading
Who doesn't love a good afternoon tea? We certainly do!
When my parents visited us recently, we tried out the afternoon tea at the Pantry, which is the café located in Reading's Town Hall & Museum. At £18.50 per person, it's around half the price you'd usually pay for an afternoon tea in this part of the country, but was up there in quality with more expensive ones we've had in the past. The setting of the café inside the grand old building also gives it a really nice atmosphere. Would definitely recommend!
Reading "Beach"
A few weeks ago, there suddenly appeared a sort of beach bar type set up next to the river in Reading town centre. We went there a couple of times for a drink during the recent heatwave. It's quite nice to have a sort of beach to spend time at when it's hot and you live far away from the coast!
Regent's Park, Primrose Hill and Camden Town
We decided to spend the last day of the late May bank holiday in London, enjoying some outdoor spaces. One place we'd never explored together was Regent's Park, so we headed there first of all. Even though it was busy, the park is so huge that it still felt very tranquil.
London's second biggest park has plenty of attractions, including a beautiful little Japanese garden, complete with a waterfall.
Another highlight is Queen Mary's Rose Garden, which is so colourful and smells amazing.
We also went to look at London Central Mosque, a very impressive building.
After exploring Regent's Park, we moved on to Primrose Hill, climbing up to the top to enjoy the incredible view of the city's landmarks.
The final place we visited was Camden Town, which was somewhere we'd been meaning to visit for a while, not because we were especially interested in going, but because it's a famous area we hadn't visited yet. As expected, we didn't really like the vibe of the area (it smells a lot of both cannabis and body odour, and is very chaotic) but at least we can now say we've been!
That's all for our May travels, but June has already brought some very exciting travel adventures for us, in two foreign countries! Check back here soon to read all about it...
