Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

It all seems so far away now, but before the eastern delights of Hong Kong and the greatest day ever, twelve blokes headed towards the Balearic Island of Ibiza, some not knowing quite what to expect, but all looking forward to some sun, beers and for me, finally sampling some of the legendary nightlife that the White Isle is famous for. Being my stag weekend of course, I wasn't going to have things entirely my own way. Perfectly demonstrated before I'd even left for the airport! Gareth, being my best man, gave me prior warning that I would be expected to wear something of his choosing to the airport. Unfortunately I nearly never made it! In an attempt to get some well needed sleep before our early departure I drank a small crate of lager as a tonic to get me off, but it nearly worked too well as I slept through my alarm and was woken suddenly by a barrage of voices shouting through my letterbox at some silly time in the am. To the people in the street who were also woken, I...

In a nightclub, on the dance floor. The room is packed and just ahead is a giant screen showing Mel Gibson in Braveheart running across the mountains of the Scottish Highlands. Had a bit too much to drink, but not so that I'm not enjoying it, I'm smiling slightly insanely. The speakers are playing at full volume. The classical soundtrack of the Braveheart soundtrack mixed in slightly with a beat. It gives it a dancier edge, I know I'm in a club, not the multiplex. It builds up, the pictures on the screen change. William Wallace has stopped running. He's lying down. Dead in a minute. The music draws out. Lights Out. It's Dark. Quiet. Left wondering what the hell is going on. Know it's gonna go mad in a minute. It does. William Wallace shouts out "Freedom" the music starts up and it starts up quick I'm jumping, dancing wildy at the same time four hundred gallons of foam flies out of a cannon hanging from the ceiling, I've lost my mates, can...

Last night Stephanie and I, accompanied by Pat and Colin, my soon to be in-laws, visited the Little Silver County hotel to confirm the final itinerary ahead of our big day and more importantly pay off our "big cheque". With everything now firmly set in stone there really is no going back and we can start counting down the days with a little less stress and look forward to our last days of freedom as specially arranged by our respective best man and bridesmaid in Ibiza and London! Last night was the starkest realisation yet that the plans of the past two years are coming to fruition and that finally after thirteen years Stephanie and I will finally getting married! It has been a long time coming, but we have put those years to good use. In fact, as Oliver, the hotel manager ran through the various questions he had for us, recommendations of things that we needed to do, we kept surprising him with answers of "done", "done" and "here you are". ...

Thirteen years Stephanie and I have been together before finally getting married! Why that long? I really don’t know, but like our relationship and the famous idiom which links us with our final honeymoon destination the comparison couldn’t be any closer. Just as “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, the foundations upon which our marriage shall stand upon haven’t been either. There has been a recurring theme within this series of eight blog posts and it may have come across as slightly repetitive, but history, culture, architecture and cuisine are the four staples of any tourist experience. Rome is the birthplace for each and every one of them. From the ancient Romans, during the times of Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire, or even before that with the Roman Republic and Roman Kingdom, the historical significance of the Eternal City cannot be put into context by someone of such limited knowledge as myself, but it’s fair to say, that looking around, whether it be at our legal or economic...

On 11th September 2001, I sat on an aeroplane with seven other friends, tired and exhausted after a week’s hedonism in the Greek party resort of Malia. Little were we aware of, at the time, of more significant events happening elsewhere in the world. Indeed, we had been given, at least in hindsight a couple of clues, pilot warning of turbulence ahead, seat belt signs showing, but nothing was felt. Added to this, the hour circling around the skies at Gatwick whilst all air traffic was grounded and parking spaces for planes became more limited. Once landed, those of us with mobiles switched them on. I wasn’t one at the time, choosing instead to leave mine at home (how times change). But those that did were faced with a barrage of voicemail and text messages to ensure that they had landed safely. Word began to filter around that something was happening in New York, a terrorist attack of some kind, but the full horror of that day’s events where still to be fully understood. As it ...

Stood on the Rock of Gibraltar as a thirteen year old boy, looking out across the Mediterranean sea as it meets the Atlantic and gazing at the mass of land only thirty miles away trying to comprehend the shear size of the African continent ahead - five thousand miles from north to south and home to a billion people, numbers that are still mind boggling seventeen years later. I was hoping that we would be able to take a boat trip across so that I can say I have been to Africa, but we didn't quite make it. Now as a thirty year old man, the African continent lays in my path once again. Marrakesh, a city at the heart of Morocco, the country you can see when stood upon "the Rock", is the sixth destination on a list of eight possibilities put forward by my parents, with the grand reveal awaiting Stephanie and I on our wedding day. Marrakesh, the "Red City" is not the capital city, a fact which I have only just found out, (to my surprise) but a city of vast impor...

In 2005 the world sat and paid witness to one of the greatest football matches ever played. On the outskirts of the Turkish capital, Istanbul, the Atatürk Olympic Stadium hosted AC Milan vs Liverpool in what was to be a game of epic proportions. Racing into a half-time 3-0 lead, AC Milan had the trophy with the big ears well and truly in their grasp, only for a galvanised Liverpool side inspired by Steven Gerrard to turn the tie upon it's head in a crazy 23 minute second half spell. The game finished all square and Liverpool went on to defy the Rossoneri onslaught in extra time and won the trophy via a penalty shootout thanks to the exploits of Jerzy Dudek, the Polish custodian who recreated the famed "spaghetti legs" made famous by Bruce Grobbelaar twenty one years earlier. That famous night five years ago will always live in my memory and anyone mentions the word "Istanbul" that's where my mind immediately races back to. With a potential week's sta...

You're given a list, it could be any list, a list of crisp flavours for example, one always stands out. You love all the other flavours, but it stand out because it’s different, or a little more exciting than the others. When Mum sent me a list of places that Stephanie and I could potentially be visiting on our honeymoon, Hong Kong was the stand out choice. I must state right from the off. Just because Hong Kong stands out the most, doesn’t mean that there will be any disappointment when we finally find out. Mum and Dad have carefully constructed a list that removes any possibility of that from happening. But Hong Kong exudes a sense of the exotic, not exotic in a paradise beach kind of way, but a sensual melting pot that defies the very fabric of a living, breathing European being. The humidity of a tropical climate, the hustle and bustle of one of the most densely populated cities on earth, coupled with dramatic scenery on the backdrop of one of the worlds most iconic skyli...

In researching information about all of the possible destinations Stephanie and I maybe visiting on our honeymoon in September I've been on an unexpected interweb journey into the Caribbean and the Middle East. Before we found out which of the eight places we maybe going to, we thought Europe would be our researching ground and so now, finally, I find myself in somewhat familiar territory. Dubrovnik, a Croatian city which lies at the southern most tip of the country, the part which is split by a short coastline belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the east. All "new" countries, which after the fall of Yugoslavia gained Independence and faced a dramatic task of rebuilding after years of civil war and the rule of socialism. Since the introduction of low-cost airlines, many new tourist routes have opened and people have been able to experience previously unseen parts of the continent in which they reside. Indeed, it'...

Oppulance isn't something that Stephanie and I are too familiar with, but that could all change come September when we finally find out just where Mum and Dad will be sending us on our first voyage as Mr and Mrs. Due to the inevitable future loss of income to the Emirate state from it's oil production, Dubai is looking to the future and how to ensure that it remains ahead of the rest of the world in earning income. Dramatically investing upon the thriving tourist industry has seen a boom of construction projects not seen anywhere in the world. Dubai has also understood that quantity is nothing without quality and have strived for perfection in everything that gets the planning departments approval, nowhere more so than the Burj Al Arab , a place where one thing is for certain. Unless Mum and Dad have been secretly hoarding millions of pounds in their underwear drawers is that we won't be staying at the the worlds only seven star hotel, although it's a pl...

Last I heard, Antigua was an island in the Caribbean, and according to Wikipedia it still is! So you can imagine mine and Stephanie's surprise when we read our list of possible honeymoon destinations and Antigua was sitting pretty at the top! We had been talking all about the possible European cities that my parents could possibly send us and out popped this humdinger! In fact, it shouldn't have come too much as a surprise and on analysis it probably isn't. The full list is populated with places that Mum and Dad have been to, after all, we couldn't possibly go on holiday to a place that Mum and Dad haven't been to before! With any place you visit, we always like to do a bit of research, but finding out the day before we go, where we are going is going to leave Stephanie and I desperately hunting around for a Fodor's Travel Guide within the airport departure lounge. But with the Internet it makes life so much easier, Mum and Dad are keeping tight...

As the days stroll by and we eat into 2010, we grow inevitably closer to England's World Cup destiny, my 30th Birthday and of course, the day Stephanie and I get married. Exciting times for us indeed, but it in the last few days the excitement has just upped a notch or two! Since I last wrote, Stephanie and I have settled in nicely in our new jobs, so that they now just feel like jobs and have lost the "new" element, such is life. In the past three months we've made new friends, learnt new things and have had lots to contend with, like getting burgled and having to buy a new car whilst sorting out the insurance on the as yet unfound old one. Gillingham being relegated, Liverpool missing out on the top four and the start of the World Cup which saw the usual delirium as the nation obsesses about the national team. It would have been easy to write about any of these things, but Twitter and Facebook make my life easier, I can say something in 140 cha...

Stephanie and I both knew that 2010 would be a defining year for us both. Our marriage in September was to be the crowning event of a year that would see me reach my milestone 30 th birthday, and more importantly, the year England finally won the world cup! However, life has a funny habit of throwing the unexpected and providing you with challenges you were not ready to face. Last week, Stephanie and I both handed our notices into our respective employers informing them of our decisions to seek employment elsewhere.   Whilst both had different motives for our job changes the timings of which were more coincidental than planned. In fact, we have joked since that we must be the first couple in history to hand notices in on the same day and not have won the lottery! Stephanie had heard of a position within the foster agency my Mum and Dad are working for and applied for the role more out of hope and curiosity than wanton desire. Working for Sainsbury’s for twelve years had dampe...

My Facebook status read this morning "iPad or iPooed? Feel it's more of a nice to have, rather than a must have..." and have since felt a certain need to elaborate. Firstly, just what the hell am I talking about? Well, if you don't know already, Apple have launched a new product, named the iPad, which prior to yesterday's announcement was the stuff of online legend, myth and unfathomable hype. Paddy Power even ran a book so you could bet upon the new devices name. The iPad, in short is a new, larger iPod touch, incorporating all of the features you would expect with the iPod touch, including being able to run most, if not all of the applications from the iTunes store, play music, store photos, browse the web and use the very useful mapping application. It's video playback mode has been enhanced meaning that you can play HD video content upon the device as well as a new(ish) application which allows you to download and read e-books, as you would a normal b...

I am writing this letter to you from the future, as in late 2009 a couple of books were released containing a collection of letters by celebrities and other people dated to their 16 year old self’s. Other bloggers like us have latched onto the "trend" and thus now I find myself following suit and writing to myself, albeit my 13 year old junior. Firstly, I ought to really apologise. Using a word like "bloggers" and offering no explanation. The thing is, if I did, I would have to explain the internet and websites and social media and tell you about your own website, how it came about and I know you better than that. Rather than me tell you all about it, I leave you with a tantalising glimpse of the future. It's not all Star Wars and Terminator (not yet), but you'll like it. Relish it, learn it, understand it, make a name for yourself In fact, whether this reaches you on your 16th birthday, or if your back from Kavos yet (by the way, throwing up on buy on...

Having spent two amazing weeks back in 2007 in the tropical paradise of Cozumel to celebrate John and Nadine’s wedding, Stephanie and I made the conscious decision to forego any holiday since then in an attempt to put all our financial resources into next year’s wedding. Eventually however, there comes a time when enough is enough, and a week in the sun is needed! With reckless abandon, we headed to the travel agents and booked a week’s stay at the Holiday Village in Sarigerme, Turkey, an All Inclusive resort with pools and slides aplenty for Oliver to run riot. Turkey also had the added benefit of amazing October weather and a currency that has a great exchange rate against the pound. Research is always the key, and in this case, we did some extensive research into the Holiday Village and many of the trip advisor reports were very complimentary. However, there was a darker side, a continuous mention of illness, food poisoning, pool closures due to “deposits” left floating upon ...