Catman:
I agree it's a beautiful city. Last time I was thee was the late '50s, and I don't think it's changed. I wish I had been able to convince Sally to go with me (we might have stayed longer and softened the impact of the jet lag).
I was there with a bunch of home builders from central Europe and the US. The most common comment was about how dirty the outsides of the buildings were, and how dangerous it might be to clean them.
I doubt that Budapest will ever get "Westernized." It's already what's probably the most "Westernized" city of what was once the "Eastern Bloc." Hey, this was a part (maybe the center)of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that almost dominated Western Europe for a century. In fact, one of the guys attending our meeting (from Poland) had his pocket picked on an evening stroll along the Danube. How "Westernized" can you get?

[This message has been edited by philforest (edited 04-18-2000).]