She came to Newcastle...

I realize now that I never mentioned that HBoO was coming to Newcastle to visit me. Well, she did come, and her experience was (hopefully) awesome. The whole time I've been gone, her and I have been keeping a constant connection via Skype, which has worked out pretty well, but then she got the bright idea to ask her parents if they would fund a trip to England for Matt visitation rights. Against all odds, they said yes. Not only that, but they also set us up in a 4 star Marriott Hotel in London for two nights. Best. Birthday present. EVAR..!!!

I learned of the good news via text message while I was gallivanting in Europe. Since then, we'd been diligently planning HBoO's imminent arrival. I got all dressed up and acquired some flowers and a cake (by request). She showed up at Newcastle airport Sunday night, where we remained attached for about half an hour. I'll skip a description of the mushy hugging and kissing part and just leave you with this video. Warning: GHEEYYYY!!!!! (but a good approximation)...

Then, I introduced her to all of my friends sporadically, starting with Flower and then branching out to the whole group. Everybody liked each other, so that was a success, but a few unfortunate events nearly ruined the Newcastle experience. Remember chavs? Well, after a brief mission to Flower's friend's house, the three of us were accosted by a drugged up chav couple. SCARY. AS. FUCK!!!

Luckily, they had combined some ecstasy pills with the usual copious amounts of alcohol, so they ended up being harmless, but it was annoying and stressful to be followed back to Knoll Court by scary drunk chavs who insisted on thinking that HBoO was Chinese even after we told them she was Filipino. Crisis narrowly averted...

The next day, our plan was to visit The Baltic, but all of the exhibits were being reworked, so we had to find an alternate means of entertainment. We ended up walking around the Quayside for a few hours, enjoying the beauty of the city center and the Tyne. Having run out of Newcastle ideas, we decided the best course of action was to spontaneously take a train to York and spend the day frolicking in England's quaintest city. Lots of sightseeing led HBoO to describe York with the following statement:

"Holy shit, Matt, this place is like DISNEY WORLD!!!"

to which I responded:

"Yeah, except these are REAL 13th century ruins, whereas Disney World's attractions are mostly made of plastic..:-P"

*smack!*

I then proceeded to photograph a whole bunch of random stuff (mostly York Minster)...

All in all, taking HBoO to York was the best idea ever. It's easily my favorite place in England, what with all of the picturesque landmarks, cobbled streets, and authentic pubs. Oh yeah, here's a bonus...
Anyone that knows HBoO knows that what followed this scene was a wonderfully choreographed booty shaking to "My Humps" and the milkshake song. Hilarity ensued...

Next will be the London leg of the trip..:-)

-Matt