Day 178: Síofolk & High School Reunion

We woke up very very hungover. However, had to check out by 10AM so it is what it is. We pulled ourselves together, walked around Síofolk a bit, and suffered a two hour train north (for good reason).

Where Mary attended high school, there was a family that hosted European students every year for an exchange program. Because Mary and her friends were close to the family, they were often the first to welcome the international students to Chesterfield, including Svenja from Germany, Mia from Norway, and Szilárd from Hungary. Szilárd joined the men’s swimming team and mixed water polo team so Mary and him became friends. After not seeing Szilárd for 12 years or speaking to him for 10, we took a chance and reached out. He responded within an hour and agreed to meet up for lunch in Budapest!! Even though we were hungover, we were excited to catch up.

Szilárd now works in software development / AI for autonomous vehicles to avoid pedestrians and animals. He invited his girlfriend Dori to lunch as well and we enjoyed Pad Thai while sharing about travels and life since high school. It was wonderful catching up and we are so lucky that Szilárd and Dori shared their time with us today. They even walked us to our bus station 🥹

Our last two countries for Europe are Spain and Portugal, and it would take a 24 hour train ride to reach Barcelona from Budapest. We decided to fly direct to Barcelona on Wizz Airlines, a Hungarian budget airline. After arriving to the hostel, we scarfed down 10pm convenience store tapas, took some sleeping pills, and passed out 😴

Hostel: 360 Hostel

Restaurant: Bakery and Tapas

Food:
Spiced Pork
Marinated Octopus
Citrus Shrimp
Chicken Wings

Spots:
Siofok Water Tower
Millennium Park
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