When we arrived on Friday there was a small amount of snow still on the ground from the ‘big freeze’ a few days previous. Gemma thinks snow is incredibly romantic so I was happy with even a small amount still on the ground.

On Saturday we got up nice and early to a bright and sunny day which meant most of the snow had now melted but nevertheless I was determined to follow my plan. We took the underground from Holborn and went  just five stops to Lancaster Gate to find passengers huddling in the entrance to the underground. We couldn’t believe our eyes, I must have done something extra special in a previous life because the heavens had opened. I had hoped for snow, this was a blizzard!

I took Gemma across the road to Hyde Park where I had planned a romantic stroll to Knightsbridge. My heart was racing, I had made it this far without Gemma noticing the ring box sticking out of my pocket, even though we had been crammed in on the underground like sardines! We made our way towards Knightsbridge and in the middle of Hyde Park, in the middle of a blizzard, this was it, the time was right, I stopped, got down on one knee, took the ring from my pocket and asked Gemma to marry me…

She said yes!

Everything had gone exactly to plan, I couldn’t have asked for more. We walked out of Hyde Park and into Knightsbridge to Harrods, one of the many places in London that Gemma had always wanted to go. We stopped for drinks, cake and ice cream, we were on cloud nine, we both couldn’t stop smiling and to be honest the rest of the day seems like a blur, I guess this probably had something to do with the champagne!

Having watched the Lee Nelson show on BBC3 I had decided to get seats that were close enough to feel like part of the action but not to close that Simon Brodkin saw us as a target! Throughout the show, most of the jokes were aimed at pulling apart the audience, their appearance, where they lived or who they had come with. Ultimately, this made both of us feel rather uneasy, hoping for the entire show that we would blend in with the background and not be spotted unashamedly laughing at the downfall of those around us!

Despite being fairly new to the comedy circuit, I actually had a very good time, laughing harder and longer at more of ‘Lee Nelsons’ jokes than I did at Jimmy Carr or Rickey Gervais. I’m not sure what this says about my sense of humour, or even the abilities of the other comedians but I have to say this show, in my opinion, was money well spent!

The streets in Bulgaria were littered with rubbish, some roads could be compared to a landfill site, I chose not to publish those photos. Being in a car was terrifying and the majority of people certainly knew how to use a horn. Road lanes, signs and signals really need not be there, in fact on our way to the airport we passed three cars driving at full speed the wrong way down the motorway!

We stayed in the heart of the city and it seemed just being English was a bonus in many places. Not only did we get the best, comfiest seats in any bar we walked into, freshly prepared fruit and snacks were only moments away as soon as we sat down. Coupled with the average price of ninety pence per pint, this was certainly a holiday to remember, or not as the case may be! Our first meal out which included bread, olives, starter, main course, dessert, shots and two pints each for six people cost just £35!

Not one to miss an opportunity, we drove out of town to a shooting range on our second day where upon arrival we were asked if we would need any help operating the guns. On displaying our British passports the attendant laughed and guessed that we would! A quick two minute demonstration and three of us stood looking at each other holding loaded handguns ready to shoot down range Rambo style! I was a natural, although I do have experience!

I saw some truly shocking sites in Bulgaria, I prefer not to go into detail but we also met some very friendly and interesting people. Sofia is an intriguing city but one that I probably wouldn’t return too although I am sure there are other parts of the country that I may visit in the future. As with all of these strange and bizarre destinations, it’s always worth going at least once.

I booked a two hour, sixty lap go karting session for me and eight friends at the Rayleigh Indoor Karting stadium. We took part in the ‘Sprint’ event which was split into three sections. A fifteen lap practice, fifteen lap qualifying race and a thirty lap final. My fastest lap time in the qualifying race placed me sixth on the grid for the final race in which I came fifth overall making up one place.

It was a very enjoyable event and one I would do again if it wasn’t for the muscle ache I had in my arms, back and legs the following morning!

Away from the busy streets of Edinburgh, Glasgow and other large cities, Scotland is a beautiful and extremely quiet place. We stayed in a tiny town called Feshiebridge a few miles from Aviemore.

When we weren’t walking through the Scotish highlands or cooking dinner in the log cabin we took the oppurtunity to take part in a few tourist activities including quad biking, horse riding, a tree climbing assault course and hiking up the mountains to feed and walk among a herd of wild reindeer.

The scenery was beautiful and Scotland really is a tranquil place and although it rained on the day we arrived it wasn’t anywhere near as wet or cold as I thought it was going to be! It was an unexpected yet brilliant holiday!

Ibiza has a huge reputation around the world as being the clubbers destination. It wasn’t until the island cropped up in my search for a holiday as a relatively cheap destination to fly to that I looked into it a bit further. I soon discovered that there are parts of the island that remain completely untouched by the noise and drunken antics that are synonymous with the clubbing scene.

We stayed in a small town on the east coast of the island called Cala Llonga. Our apartment was just a few meters from the white sandy beach and the warm, crystal clear Mediterranean water, paradise.

A river boat set off from a jetty on the opposite side of the bay to our apartment every day which we took up shore to Santa Eulalia and the old Ibiza Town to soak up some culture. We also booked a jeep safari which took us on a journey through the Ibiza countryside to the northern coast and the beautiful views across the Mediterranean to the island of Majorca.

This trip really showed me that Ibiza is a beautiful island that isn’t just for clubbing and lads holidays. Steer clear of San Antonio and you can soak up the sun and relax in the quiet, Mediterranean atmosphere of the Ibiza east coast.

Alicia Keys was excellent and performed many of her latest songs and a few classics that even I felt the need to sing along to! The only thing I found slightly annoying was the lone dancer jumping around like he owned the stage. Very distracting and something akin to one of your drunk mates getting up on the podium late one night and making a fool of himself. Fortunately for us he wasn’t on stage for every song!

If you are an Alicia Keys fan then I would definatly recommend you see her perform live and even if you aren’t it was still an entertaining show to watch.

The problem with Rickys latest stand up show was the lack of new material. Although he delivers his stories and jokes with expert timing in his own unique style, much of the material in Science was taken from previous shows or from the popular Ricky Gervais Audiobooks which have now been ported to an animated series on Channel 4. For this reason I felt a little cheated because I wanted to see something new and fresh but this show was almost entirely recycled. More to the point, aside from the ridiculous scenery and ‘brain in a jar’ stage props there was very little talk of science at all. In fact, this might as well have been called ‘Religion’ as, in true Atheist style, Ricky spent the majority of his time mocking Christianity and the Bible. Not necessarily a bad thing but something I have seen him do many times before.

Ricky Gervais is an extremely funny and talented comedian, but if you have seen his previous shows and listened to his Audiobooks on iTunes or the animated ’Ricky Gervais Show’ series on Channel 4 there really isn’t anything new here. I hope he can find new and fresh material for his next show otherwise his stand up will soon become overwhelmingly stale and I hate to say it, mediocre at best.