A leap of faith across the Atlantic (Part 3)

So here I was, in Manchester with a perfect stranger, living the absolute dream. I traveled to a country I did not know, and spent the day exploring with a man I met online two months prior.

The first day couldn’t have gone any better. Despite my obvious exhaustion, we ended the night exploring BBC at Media City and headed to the bars for a few drinks. I thought about when this first kiss would happen all night, but of course I was too nervous and he was a gentleman. I thought the liquor might loosen us up a bit but here we were about to go to sleep and no kiss in sight.

It’s okay, I got 3 more days to woo the fuck out of him.

So basically when this trip started he told me to pick a bunch of places in reasonable distance to Manchester that I wanted to see and he would drive us there. I had a list which we kinda winged the entire time. In my opinion being spontaneous is the best. So the next morning we decided to head to York, about an hour and a half from Manchester. So here we were, hitting the road (on the left side of course) through the English countryside to our next destination.

Heading into York you can see why it is a popular tourist destination. Immediately entering you can see the huge structure of the York Minster Cathedral. My jaw literally dropped at the scale of it, pictures do it absolutely no justice whatsoever.

We made our first stop at York Castle which resides on top of a hill. Now, it doesn’t seem like much, but when you get to the top it actually is quite high, and for me that’s a problem. Inside the castle I was okay, but it was the climbing to the top to walk around it that was the problem, for not only me, but for the both of us. The funny thing about this is we are still getting to know each other, and what better way to do that than both shaking in our fucking pants at the heights. He’s freaking out, I’m freaking out. I’m laughing hysterically, he’s laughing hysterically. I will say though, he is much braver than me because as scared as we both were, he was able to take pictures while I clung onto the stone wall for dear life.

After our brush with death on top of the castle, we headed into the town. My absolute favorite part because it reminded me so much of Harry Potter, walking through the streets of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. There were cute little shops, pubs, and local talent playing their music for a few pence. Even though it was a rainy cold day, I actually welcomed it, I think it made it more magical in a sense.

Because it was a Sunday, we had to wait to get into York Minster so we decided to go have an awesome pub lunch at one of the famous pubs, The Golden Fleece. I’m big into paranormal shows so eating here was a really cool experience and of course the food was delish.

The day went by with such ease, it almost felt like we were a couple on vacation. I had never felt so relaxed with someone so soon. We sat next to each other in the pub, it was so cozy and kind of romantic, I think at that moment I kind of started to get that warm fuzzy feeling, it felt so natural and easy. Nothing was forced, everything just flowed the entire time. I can’t even recall one awkward moment throughout the whole trip, but in that moment, in the pub, I felt genuinely content for the first time in a long time.

As we walked around the city, I saw some constables which actually really excited me because of their hats (reminded me of Mary Poppins). I was too nervous to ask them for a picture so of course my lovely tour guide stopped them and told them I was from New York and wanted a picture. Not to my surprise, they were incredibly friendly and happy to stand with me. I mean look at how jolly these cops are! My day was made right there. It’s the little things in life, right?

So we finally got back to the Minster and words can’t even describe the beauty of it all. The architecture is incredible. I think my mouth was permanently dropped open for a half hour looking at this structure. You can see the scale of it by seeing how little everyone looks next to it and it expanded way in the back as well. We only had about ten minutes to run through it because we had to get back to Manchester for my tattoo appointment.

So a little backtrack, I’ve been wanting to get the Deathly Hallows tattoo for a long time, I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I decided that anytime I travel somewhere, if I had time, I wanted to get a tattoo as a memory of the place. What better tattoo to get in England than a Harry Potter tattoo? So when we walked around Manchester the first day, we came across a tattoo shop and I booked my appointment right away. 

We hurried back to the city just in time for my appointment. I have to say, it was such a cool experience getting tattooed by an artist there. I really love to soak in the local flavor and this was the perfect way to do that.

So as the day started to wind down, we headed to dinner and decided to relax for the rest of the night in the hotel room and watch some hilarious British television.

I kept thinking about this impending kiss all night. What’s funny is I was a bit nervous because I had never kissed anyone with such a long beard like he had. I wasn’t sure how it would feel, if it would tickle, or get in the way, I mean at this point I was clearly over thinking the whole situation. I needed my brain to be stopped. This needed to happen ASAP.

So yes, you all must be wondering, did the kiss finally happen? After two months online, and almost two days together, yes, the kiss happened and yes there was chemistry. I was surprised to find out that the beard did not get in the way, and it did not tickle!

We spoke a bit about why it took so long, and I guess we were both just very nervous about it. He’s a real gentleman and didn’t want to do anything to make me feel uncomfortable. For me, I have a really hard time opening up and sometimes it can come off as uninterested which in this situation wasn’t the case at all. I guess both our fears got in the way and that’s why it took so long.

Despite the fears, it finally happened and I’m happy it did. It made the whole experience that much special but equally just as difficult. Another day ending meant only two more days of this trip and just as fast as we said hello, we were going to say goodbye. I wasn’t prepared for that but I was going to try and enjoy the rest of the time with him as much as possible.

Part 4 of this blog will be arriving sometime this weekend! I know you are all waiting to find out the outcome of this story. It’s definitely not what you expect. Stay tuned!