I think it might be possible that that happened to him. Maybe even if I've been visiting a friend, she could have told him that she had everything planned and looked at. As for the success of the train .... perhaps she fell asleep at the beginning of the trip, and if it is of deep sleep, she lost the notion of time.
It is sometimes difficult to travel abroad if you do not master the language in part.
It is easy to get confused if the signs indicating directions are not in a language you understand, and even more if they are not written the same as on your map or your GPS!