Budapest, Hungary

10 May 2023 - Austin Shen

The happy times in Europe with my favourite people in the world continues! This time it’s Kitty who is moving to Cologne, with her entire life in a suitcase, for an exciting post-doc job doing incredible stuff in biophysics. We planned a holiday in Budapest to break up the rough months of PhD submission grind and starting this new role. It was also a wonderful case of worlds colliding with meeting Sara for the first time, who is Kitty’s good friend from their exchange. We’d all heard of her before - she featured at Kitty’s 21st. But it’s only now, many years later, that I got to meet her.

Budapest is now one of my favourite cities in Europe, and definitely the coolest place I’ve been to. It’s beautiful, run-down, and edgy while being totally welcoming and relaxing. Analog cameras and vintage stores, street art, folk music, underground bars and clubs, etc. You get the vibe. Very Kitty. We spent almost a week there slowly enjoying the bars, coffee, some of the beer, goulash, museums, thermal baths, gorgeous buildings, and more. This year finds a way to just keep getting better.