February 14th, 2007



I eyed the selection of Immigration Officials: one of them looked relatively human, so I positioned myself in front of his line. I had been rehearsing what I'd say the entire flight, and had vacillated between honesty and artifice for the past twelve hours: standing in front of him, I found myself explaining with a sheepish grin that, for some reason, I'd been denied a visa—his initial alarm seemed to fade as I explained it was just a failure to include bank statements, and we somehow established a friendly rapport. I felt dizzy with anticipation as he raised his stamp, and then a look of dismay crossed his face as he spotted something. How long, he asked, had I spent in the UK in the past year? I felt my heart sink, told him the truth, and resigned myself to being put on the next plane back. He seemed to consider this for a minute. ‘That'll be why they denied you, then,' he said, but he didn't put his stamp down. I felt a glimmer of hope return, and said several things in quick succession, regarding this being the last trip for a while, a return flight I was waiting to book, etc etc, but I don't even think that mattered; he stamped my passport and I walked, dreamlike, through baggage claim, feeling the urgent need to get out of the airport before someone realised the mistake and forced me back. Before I did, though, I went to the payphone. ‘Are you sitting down?' I asked, when he answered. I could feel my voice well up then, and said, ‘I made it back in. Happy Valentine's Day.'
-- Diana

Nov 2014 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and started chemo 6 Jan 2015, on my second chemo session, I was starting to feel very weak, but I wanted to do something on Valentine's day if I could....I didn't know what though; but my husband, SURPRISED ME, I had always wanted to go to Wales down memory lane, visiting places I had gone to on holiday as a child....my husband packed my bag, he put a blanket, hot water bottles, a flask, food and pillows in the car (just in case I needed them) and then he took me on a bus man's holiday. Because I was at risk of infection, we didn't get out of the car, he drove through the day and then through the night, driving from place to place, and stopping for me to look out at St David's Cathedral, Fishguard, Haverford West and a few more places and coming back through the Brecon Beacons... We talked, we laughed, I cried, and I'll never forget it, he knew what a difficult time I was having, but made every day count - that's what I call LOVE....It was an amazing 2 date....

An evening of wine, cheese and chocolate at 1855.

The best way to spend Valentine's Day evening? Go to a supermarket, alone. Be as inconspicuous as possible. Loiter and observe...

Watch the young men staring vacantly at the shelves. Nervously, they lift and replace colourful vegetables and shrink-wrapped cuts of meat. Offering to cook a romantic meal had seemed a good idea, but when faced with the challenge of selecting actual raw ingredients, their faces show regret and bewilderment.

One of them makes a call: “Hi Mum… I'm cooking for Sarah… what sort of mince should I get?”

In the confectionery aisle, a man stops a female assistant. “Do women like dark or milk chocolate?” he asks. “I like milk,” she says, “but my sister prefers dark”. He puts a box of each into his basket.

One of the more decisive shoppers has reached the checkout: two packets of Durex, a bottle of Basics vodka, baked beans. He uses the self-service till to avoid eye-contact.

Desperate husbands arrive at the flower-stand, swearing when they see empty space where there were once red roses. “Please check if there are any more out the back?” they plead.

Back in the meat section, the man with the phone is leaning against the fridge-unit, rocking gently in despair, “there are NINE types of mince,” he whimpers quietly.

Indecisive-chocolate-man is at the checkout. He scans the boxes of chocolates, then three bottles of wine – white, red and rosé. I admire his resourcefulness.

I leave the store and walk up Cornmarket. In the chocolate-shops, soap-shops and card-shops, assistants are taking down the window-displays. They crumple paper-hearts, stab scissors into pink balloons, and fold oversized cardboard lips into recycling bins.

One of the men from the supermarket is behind me. He's on his phone: “Hey babe,” he says, “how about we get a takeaway tonight?”

Valentine`s Day 1998 was my Wedding Day! It was the best Valentine`s gift anyone can possibly ask for. It was a beautiful sunny warm day and the guests were having drinks outside the hotel where we had our reception. It was pure magical and my husband has no reason to ever forget Valentine`s Day !:)

Dear Daily Info,

I HATED Valentines Day.. that is until the following events occurred, and now I might just be a convert. I think the only evening that could possibly compete with my most romantic memory is the wonderful sounding evening at 1855.

Whilst travelling in Australia, I met a Frenchman and we spent several whirlwind days together. What followed were NINE whole months of internet dating, emailing each other several times a week between the UK and Oz. After not becoming bored, we arranged to meet in London for the first time in almost a year, on his way home to France. You can imagine the pressure. All went well (after I waited at London Liverpool Street station for four hours after his baggage was misplaced.) We were falling in love, and thank goodness, or all that emailing (at university, at work, at the bar with friends, during films..) would have been a complete waste of time. A month later, we spent our first whole week together in Paris, culminating in Valentines Day where we ended a long day of ice cream, walking along the Seine and exploring the backstreets of Paris with a bottle of wine at Pont Neuf, ended up renting bicycles and cycling around the Arc de Triomphe at midnight and finished in a late night restaurant, eating steak and cheese platters at 2am.

Hi there,

My amazing Valentines story... my partner and I had taken a year off to go travelling and we found ourselves in New Zealand for Valentines day. We ended up camping near a beach and watched the sun go down whilst drinking cheap fizzy wine and pinching ourselves at how lucky we were. We had the whole beach to ourselves and the weather was fantastic so we sat out and watched the stars together. Later on in the evening we went for a walk where we had been told there were glow worms visible in the darkness. Near a small cave we found glow worms and I kid you not they were formed in a heart shape (it could have been the fizzy wine though). Just perfect!

I would go with the Javanese Gamelan dancing and if that is won then the wine and cheese evening.

Hate it!
I celebrate my Valentines day either before of after 14th Febuary just because all restaurants, cinemas and hotels are fully booked well in advance. I like a nice quiet place rather than overcrowded, that's why myself and my partner organize our special Valentine's Day any other day.

P.S Please may I win ;) this prize "An evening of wine, cheese and chocolate at 1855"
Loyal and dedicated user of DailyInfo :)

Marta