I just wanted to thank everyone for their opinions--I think they could keep this thread going for MR ideas to Europe anyway, but just FYI, I finally booked my ticket to BUD for the weekend over Thanksgiving. I got the brand-new A333 flying MSP-AMS, then MA AMS-BUD-AMS. On the way back, all of the AMS-MSP flights were sold out in Z class, so I ended up on a true MR routing: BUD-AMS-LAX-MSP, on MA, KL, and NW.
Wish me luck!
Now, for specifics on BUD--I'll do a search, and start a new thread on that. But thanks again for all the help, and add any more ideas for Euro-MRs here!