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Had about an hour of free (alone) time today. Decided to put my favorite shoes while I cooked dinner. Felt great!!

Had been to Cardiff a couple of years ago to attend a Wedding Reception. Had made time to go into the centre to have a browse, and spent some money on shoes. Liked it a lot, so wanted to go back, and eventually did.... Would like to be in a position to say I'd left all my 'men's' shoes at home..... But the prospect of driving for [up to] 3 hours in heels didn't seem prudent. I wore regular clothes and shoes for the bulk of the journey, changing into longer jeans and my HD boots, about a mile or two outside the city. First job was to get booked into the hotel, wearing heels. Did this, but the room wasn't ready. Left the car outside the hotel, and only having to cross the road ,went shoe shopping ...... For about 6 hours. Had lunch out, and walked for what seemed miles. I can tell you, Cardiff is the King of Shopping Cities. Went to most of the big name stores, including my favourite, House of Fraser. I bought nothing, Mrs Freddy spied a couple of things, but initially didn't spend any money on clothes or shoes either. [Though she did try to buy a 'sale' style of Carvela shoes in about 3 different stores!] Mrs Freddy did find a dress in John Lewis she liked, walking back through the store while returning to our hotel. On sale from what I remember was a prohibitively expensive amount of money, to something that might be considered merely expensive. A bright red number, so vivid that it would get her noticed wherever she planned to wear it. It was a warm sunny weekend, and it's some of the reason we went that particular one. I'd say the heat, especially outside, made every 100 yards walked seem like 200 yards. And in 4" heels too. Finally back at the hotel they tried to put us into a greenhouse, a sealed room with the curtains left open all day, that without aircon was just too hot to bear. We got a cooler room, then unpacked and showered up..... I felt it was not a great situation as wearing heels and being a complainer might draw attention? As it turned out, things went well at the hotel afterwards regardless. Had a change of clothes and put on cooler fresh heels. This time out, my fav Faith pair. Less discreet because they have a thinner heel [not stiletto] but more easily seen by anyone taking a second glance. We left the hotel at around 9pm, but it was still sunny and bright outside. Walking around the centre to find a restaurant was stimulating. Quite a few people were sitting around along our route enjoying the pleasant evening, and I made sure I didn't look backwards to get embarrassed if my heels were spotted. I found that walking out as a couple, meant we were pretty much ignored. We got to a restaurant quite soon, and sat at a seat with a view. The bench we sat on next to each other faced toward the bar counter, and just about every employee got a clear view of my footwear anytime they looked out from the bar... We stayed for a couple of hours and managed to sink a bottle of wine with our meal. The restaurant was a Prezzo and I can report the food was excellent, and the staff exemplary. When it came time to leave, and we were just about the last to go ..... I had to walk up some open stairs while staff ate close by. Having had a drink [and I usually manage about 3 bottles of beer a year], I was too merry to care if anyone noticed my footwear. We paid and left a respectable tip. Believe me, the staff there were wonderful. As we left, just about everyone wished us well and waved. [And that's before they picked up the money we'd left.] Outside, things were busy. We knew the place would be buzzing, but hadn't expected what we saw. Possibly thousands of people outside, walking between bars, to/from clubs ..... From the High Heel Appreciation point of view, I can report I found myself in HH Paradise. Mrs Freddy possibly got a bit fed up with my jaw dragging along the pavement .... But I just didn't feel the need to be that discreet about my gawping. Most folk were just to drunk to notice anything. I only wish I'd had a better video camera to record what I could see. We walked back to the hotel, only a couple of hundred yards away. Herself got a wrap as the air had chilled, and I put on some slightly higher heels. We then returned to the bars ....... Sadly, by the time we returned, drink, a largish meal, and a long day had started to take its toll. We were tired, and after only 15 minutes, decided we wouldn't go into a bar for an even later night, but went back to the hotel taking the long route as to enjoy the warmish midnight air. Once back we were shortly in bed and fast asleep..... Next day, we rose and went for brekkie in the hotel. We shared the breakfast room with between 20 and 30 other customers and it was obvious there were several stag and hen parties there. I was again wearing my HD boots, and while sitting these could be seen. At the time I was too weary to care . ... We both had a decent amount of food, then checked out. The car stayed in the hotel car park, while we went for a visit to Cardiff Bay by bus. It was another hot sunny day, and the breeze of the bay was welcome. I got a little sun burned, despite only being out in the Sun for an hour or two. There was a food festival that weekend, and the place was heaving. Lots going on..... I'm not sure if it was the heat, or the bird poop that got deposited on my shoulder while we sat in the bay, but we got back to the city in mid afternoon. I guess the prospect of the journey home through Sunday traffic wasn't a great help either. As it turned out, the journey was quite uneventful, save some slow traffic toward the M4/M25 junction. To drive home I changed into my flat shoes again, and I can tell you, it was a welcome relief. I suppose it's a fair assumption that your feet can become 'conditioned' to wearing heels, and for shorter periods [4-6 hours] mine are. But I've seldom spent so much continuous time in heels, and never in such hot weather while wearing them. I'd say about 14 hours on Saturday, and 6 or 7 hours on Sunday? Much of that time walking too, with only eating time allowing my feet to cool/calm down. It was a great weekend though. I want to do it again, and I hope to before the weather gets too bad. In terms of a High Heel meeting place, this has got to be one of the best opportunities for an evening out heel watching. Reason for edit: Typo's ~ spelling ~ grammar. .....

Welcome aboard. You've posted a couple of times, which is great as so many join and never write anything. I hope you continue to make the time to post. How was it you found us? I have to apologise for my curiosity, I'm so pleasantly surprised we have a girl's voice here. [As it were.] ......