Gareth Harrison

Yesterday was my birthday – something I’m generally not to keen to celebrate, but James insisted that he and Helen take me for a birthday lunch at Kro, so I couldn’t really make up an excuse to get out of it!

It was nice actually – I got to see Jess, who’d changed so much since the last time I’d seen her back in July at Soul Survivor. She looks so much more grown up, and she’s now trying to walk, although it’s more a case of manoeuvring herself around things that she can hold onto!

The food was good – I had a steak ciabatta and chips, and it was much better than my usual Morrisons sandwich – so thanks to the Torrys for a really nice birthday lunch!

Then in the evening, I went to Hillsborough with James to see Sheffield Wednesday take on Preston! He mentioned in the afternoon that there was a ‘friends for a fiver’ night, and wondered if I’d be up for it, so I said yes!

We left straight from work (which unfortunately meant I couldn’t get changed into warmer clothes, and it was quite a cold night!) but it took us a while to get over to Sheffield, so by the time we got to our seats, the game had already been going for about 5 minutes.

Preston scored first after about 15 minutes, but Wednesday hit back with a goal not too long before the end of the first half. Then, not long into the second half, Preston scored again, and the score unfortunately didn’t change for the rest of the game. Wednesday had loads of chances, and it was really disappointing that they lost, but I could see that Preston were really lucky to get a win.

In my… ahem… ‘expert’ opinion, I really don’t reckon Preston should have been allowed their first goal – just before they scored, we thought the ball went just out, and then when we went to have a drink at half time, we watched the replay on the monitors they had on the wall, and I was convinced the ball went over the line beforehand.

And generally, there really were some shocking decisions from the ref! I might not be gifted with the greatest football knowledge, but even I could see that!! I actually thought it was quite apt that the added time was sponsored by Specsavers!!

I’m really not sure I could handle the ups and downs of regularly following a team – it messes with your emotions far too much! But I did really enjoy being there, watching the game and getting caught up in the atmosphere, and I’d definitely go again to see Sheffield Wednesday if I got the chance!

I’ve just got back from my first proper holiday in many years (I’m not counting Anglesey over new year!). Quite a few of my family were on holiday in Turkey staggered over a couple of weeks, so I managed to get some time off work and join them over there for a week.

I’d never been there before, but my mum and dad started going over there on and off for holidays about 10 years ago, and both my brother and sister had been there quite a few times as well.

Anyway, I headed over there from Manchester Airport with my cousin Sam and her husband Matt, and we got into Bodrum airport at about 5am, after having been awake since the morning before! Then it was onto a mini-bus for me, whilst Sam and Matt went onto a Thomas Cook coach (I’d booked with a small travel company, so my transfer was with a local company), and the journey from the airport to Altinkum seemed to take forever – the roads we pretty ropey, as was some of the driving! I eventually got to the apartments for 7.30am, and then crashed down for a few hours sleep.

Venturing out around lunchtime, the first thing I noticed was how much warmer it was than the weather I’d just come from! To the locals, it wasn’t hot at all, but to me, it was just about right!

I also got to meet Steve’s new girlfriend Jeni and her daughter Chelsea – I’d not had a chance to before this week. And as well as my mum, Vikky, Damien and the twins, it turned out that a couple we’ve known for years, Colin and Jenny, were and had been moved into the same apartment block at the last minute!

It was really nice to be able to spend such a long time with Brandon and Chloe. Again, I really noticed how much they’d grown since I’d last seen them in July. And they really are just so cute!

Unfortunately Brandon seemed to have some kind of bug for part of the week which meant he was quite unwell for a bit of the time, but generally they seemed to really be enjoying themselves, and loved playing on the sand, or running around in the beach cafe!

I’m not really the kind of person who enjoys sunbathing every day, so on Thursday I went on a day trip with mum and Sam to the city of Ephesus – or more accurately, what archaeologists have discovered of it!

It really is an amazing place. It was re-discovered about 150 years ago (it had become buried or something) and they’re still excavating it and re-constructing the ruins.

You could feel the ancient history around you – and it was weird feeling when our guide was talking about stuff that had happened there during Biblical times, and then to think that you’re standing in places where all those people had also been! It’s hard to get your head around! And some of the technology they had there 2 thousand years ago, like hot running water, and proper sanitation… and then all that was lost for so many centuries – it’s really crazy!

So generally it was a good week, although I found the town to be far to touristy… apparently it used to be a much more traditional place, but it now very much caters for the British, which actually isn’t a good thing. And I really didn’t like the fact that you couldn’t go to any shops or past any restaurants without being hassled to buy something – it really annoys me!!