Budapest is called the 'Jewel of the Danube'. This view from above the city on the 'Buda' side was breathtaking. You can see the Parliment on the other side of the river - an amazing building. Budapest was devistated during WWII, and then re-built under the communist regime. Most of the people grew up under this government and it's been slowly changing since the fall of the Berlin wall. The country is deeply in debt and will be for a long time. Older people unfamiliar with capitalism are overwhelmed with the new shopping centers-for instance they can't imaging so many choices of toilet paper when they remembered feeling fortunate if they had toilet paper at all. The family experiences told by the guide about the country being taken over by communists were fascinating. Can you imagine owning a 3 bedroom apartment before the war, then not long after the war being told that your apartment was too big for your family of five and that two more families would be joining you?