In Europe, Budapest is my favorite city!
The moment I first arrived though I had negative feelings, I think it was after seeing the beggars and alcoholics on Erzsébet tér, one of the main squares in the city. I must have walked around every district in central Budapest, I was amazed to see the facades of buildings crumbling away, one image I will forever remember is walking in a deserted street in Pest when suddenly a gypsy came around the corner, he was an old man with a pompous moustache, playing a violin while a little girl danced beside him.
Another time I went to a modern art exhibition in the Ludwig Castle overlooking the city and was shocked to see modern art which would not look out of place is some sleazy Amsterdam sex shop (while elderly Hungarian ladies would sit in the same exhibit room, I guess guarding the art work).
The Danube is huge, it took me ages to walk across the bridge.
Budapest is fantastic and gorgeous with a relevant history.
Visit it sometime!
