MORE OF THE BEST OF EUROPE.

THIS TIME, WE'RE SOAKING IN THE CULTURAL WONDERS OF HUNGARY,

IN BUDAPEST.

YOUR MOVE.

IT'S COSMOPOLITAN, COMPLICATED AND A BIT CHALLENGING AT FIRST.

SEASONED TRAVELERS LIKE IT MORE WITH EACH VISIT.

FOR MANY, BUDAPEST IS EASTERN EUROPE'S

MOST FASCINATING AND REWARDING DESTINATION.

WE'LL SOAK IN ELEGANCE AT THERMAL BATHS,

STOMP AND SLAP WITH TRADITIONAL DANCERS,

VISIT THE COMMUNIST ALL-STARS, NOW IN A STATUE PARK,

REMEMBER HUNGARY'S SECRET POLICE,

SAMPLE SOME PAPRIKA...

MMM, SWEET.

...AND CRUISE UNDER FLOODLIT MONUMENTS.

HUNGARY, LANDLOCKED DEEP IN CENTRAL EUROPE

AND FORMERLY PART OF THE WARSAW PACT,

IS NOW PART OF THE EUROPEAN UNION.

THE SEPARATE CITIES OF BUDA AND PEST

ONCE STRADDLED THE DANUBE RIVER.

NOW THEY'VE GROWN TOGETHER TO MAKE BUDAPEST.

THIS MYTHIC BIRD, THE TURUL,

WAS THE BIRD OF THE ORIGINAL HUNGARIANS, OR MAGYARS,

WHO MIGRATED OUT OF THE PLAINS OF CENTRAL ASIA.

IN 896, THE BIRD DROPPED HIS SWORD HERE,

INDICATING THIS WAS TO BE THEIR HOMELAND.

THE MAGYARS SETTLED HERE, SETTING INTO MOTION

A TUMULTUOUS AND FASCINATING THOUSAND-YEAR STORY

WHICH ULTIMATELY GAVE US THE MODERN NATION OF HUNGARY

AND THIS GREAT CAPITAL.

SITUATED ON A CROSSROADS BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA,

THOSE ORIGINAL MAGYARS ABSORBED WAVES

OF MIGRATING ETHNIC GROUPS.

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE OF BUDAPEST?

START WITH THOSE FIRST MAGYAR SETTLERS,

MIX IN GERMANS, SLAVS, JEWS, GYPSIES,

SPICE WITH A DASH OF TURKISH PAPRIKA

AND SIMMER FOR A FEW CENTURIES IN ITS FAMOUS THERMAL BATHS.

EACH GROUP HAD AN IMPACT.

ALL THIS ETHNIC PILING ON CREATED A CULTURAL GOULASH

THAT IS DISTINCTLY BUDAPEST.

STARTING IN THE 16th CENTURY,

THE OTTOMAN TURKS RULED HERE FOR ABOUT 150 YEARS.

LATER, AS PART OF THE HAPSBURG EMPIRE, RULED FROM VIENNA

AND ENERGIZED BY AN INFLUX OF GERMAN SPEAKERS,

THE CITY BECAME MORE EUROPEAN.

THE LAST HALF OF THE 1800s WAS BOOM TIME FOR BUDAPEST.

ITS CAFES WERE PACKED, AS WAS ITS OPERA HOUSE.

THE HABSBURGS AGREED TO A TREATY,

MAKING HUNGARY A JUNIOR PARTNER IN A VAST REALM

IT NOW CALLED THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE.

AS VIENNA'S SECOND FIDDLE,

BUDAPEST GOVERNED A HUGE CHUNK OF EASTERN EUROPE.

THE BOOM PEAKED WITH A FLURRY OF CONSTRUCTION

WORKING UP TO A GRAND PARTY IN 1896.

IT WAS HUNGARY'S 1,000th BIRTHDAY.

LIKE SO MUCH OF BUDAPEST,

HUNGARY'S PARLIAMENT WAS BUILT FOR THE BIG 1896 PARTY.

ITS ELEGANT, NEO-GOTHIC DESIGN AND RIVERSIDE LOCATION

WERE INSPIRED BY ITS COUNTERPART IN LONDON.

IT'S ENORMOUS, WITH LITERALLY MILES OF GRAND HALLS

DESIGNED TO HELP ADMINISTER

THAT SPRAWLING, MULTINATIONAL HABSBURG EMPIRE.

BY THE END OF WORLD WAR I, THE HABSBURGS WERE GONE

AND HUNGARY, WHILE MUCH SMALLER,

WAS FULLY INDEPENDENT.

BUT THEN CAME THE NAZIS, FOLLOWED BY THE COMMUNISTS.

THAT ELUSIVE FREEDOM WAS FINALLY WON

AFTER THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION IN 1989.

AND SINCE THEN THE CITY HAS BLOSSOMED.

[ upbeat classical music playing ]

TODAY, HUNGARY RULES ONLY HUNGARY,

AND IT'S RULED NOT BY AN EMPEROR,

BUT BY DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES,

WHO LEGISLATE FROM WHAT'S NOW A PALACE OF DEMOCRACY.

LIKE VIENNA, BUDAPEST FEELS MORE GRANDIOSE

THAN THE CAPITAL OF A RELATIVELY SMALL COUNTRY.

BUT THE CITY REMAINS

THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF EASTERN EUROPE

WITH A KEENLY DEVELOPED KNACK FOR GOOD LIVING.

YOU CAN ENJOY THAT HUNGARIAN JOY OF LIFE

AT THE SZECHENYI BATH.

SOAK WITH THE LOCALS.

OF THE CITY'S TWO DOZEN OR SO TRADITIONAL MINERAL BATHS,

THIS IS THE MOST ACCESSIBLE AND FUN.

BUDAPEST IS HOT, LITERALLY.

IT SITS ON A THIN CRUST OVER THERMAL SPRINGS,

WHICH POWER ALL THESE BATHS.

BOTH THE ANCIENT ROMANS AND OTTOMAN TURKS

ENJOYED THESE SAME MINERAL SPRINGS.

THEY STILL SAY, "POKE A HOLE IN THE GROUND ANYWHERE IN HUNGARY,

AND YOU'LL FIND HOT WATER."

MAGYARS OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES SQUEEZE THEMSELVES

INTO TINY SWIMSUITS AND STRUT THEIR STUFF.

BABUSHKAS FLOAT BLISSFULLY IN THE WARM WATER.

THE SPEEDO-CLAD OLD BOYS CLUB

GATHERS PENSIVELY AROUND SOGGY CHESSBOARDS.

AND THE CIRCLE OF RAPIDS BRINGS OUT THE KID

IN PEOPLE OF ALL AGES.

AFTER 2,000 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND INNOVATION,

LOCALS HAVE HONED THE ART

OF ENJOYING THEIR THERMAL HOT SPRINGS.

BUDAPEST STRADDLES THE DANUBE RIVER.

ON THE WEST SIDE IS HILLY BUDA, DOMINATED BY CASTLE HILL.

THE ROYAL PALACE MARKS THE PLACE

WHERE ONE OF EUROPE'S MIGHTIEST CASTLES ONCE STOOD.

SINCE THE 14th CENTURY, HUNGARY HAS BEEN RULED FROM THIS SPOT.

AS WORLD WAR II DREW TO A CLOSE, BUDA BECAME THE FRONTLINE

BETWEEN THE NAZIS AND THE APPROACHING SOVIETS,

WHO SIEGED THIS HILL FOR SEVERAL MONTHS.

TODAY'S PALACE, REBUILT FROM THE RUBBLE OF WORLD WAR II,

MAY NOT BE WORTH TOURING,

BUT IT SITS ON SOIL DRENCHED IN HUNGARIAN HISTORY

AND IT'S CLOSE TO THE SOUL OF THIS NATION.

ANOTHER CASTLE HILL LANDMARK,

THE 800-YEAR-OLD MATTHIAS CHURCH,

HAS ALSO BEEN DESTROYED AND REBUILT SEVERAL TIMES.

ITS FLAMBOYANT STEEPLE AND OTHER FRILLY ELEMENTS

WERE ADDED FOR THE 1896 CELEBRATIONS.

THE OPULENT AND GILDED INTERIOR

TELLS A THOUSAND YEARS OF LOCAL HISTORY:

CRUSADER HEROICS...

BEATING BACK THE TURKS...

ALL PAINTED IN A FANCIFUL, NEO-GOTHIC WAY.

THE CHURCH'S PRIZE POSSESSION HIDES IN A CHAPEL IN THE BACK.

PEER THROUGH THE BLACK IRON GRILL

TO SEE THE 500-YEAR-OLD STATUE OF MARY AND JESUS,

WHICH COMES WITH A STORY.

IN THE 16th CENTURY, THE TURKS WERE ABOUT TO OVERRUN BUDA.

LOCALS, ANTICIPATING A TERRIBLE RANSACKING,

HID THEIR MOST PRECIOUS STATUE IN A NICHE

AND PLASTERED IT OVER.

THE MUSLIMS TOOK BUDA AND USED THIS BUILDING AS A MOSQUE

FOR OVER A CENTURY.

THEY WHITEWASHED EVERYTHING, HUNG CARPETS ON THE WALLS.

THEN, DURING A LATER SIEGE,

A NEARBY EXPLOSION RATTLED THE BUILDING.

THE PLASTER FELL AWAY FROM THE STATUE

AND THERE WAS MARY, LOOKING OUT OVER THE MOSQUE.

THIS SPOOKED THE MUSLIMS.

ACCORDING TO LEGEND, THE TURKS FLED,

MAKING THIS THE ONLY PART OF TOWN RETAKEN WITHOUT A FIGHT.

JUST OUTSIDE STANDS THE FISHERMAN'S BASTION,

AN ICON OF BUDAPEST.

IT OFFERS SWEEPING VIEWS OVER THE DANUBE TO PEST.

IN THE MIDDLE AGES, THE FISH MARKET WAS JUST BELOW HERE,

SO THIS PART OF THE RAMPART

ACTUALLY WAS GUARDED BY FISHERMEN.

THE CURRENT STRUCTURE, THOUGH, IS A FANCIFUL REBUILD,

CONSTRUCTED FOR THE BIG BASH OF 1896.

ITS SEVEN TOWERS SYMBOLIZE THE TENTS THE NOMADIC MAGYARS,

THOSE ORIGINAL HUNGARIANS, CALLED HOME

BEFORE THEY MOVED WEST TO EUROPE.

HUNGARY'S FIRST CHRISTIAN KING, ST. STEPHEN,

TAMED THE PAGAN MAGYARS.

HE ESTABLISHED STRICT LAWS, INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT

OF PRIVATE PROPERTY AND MADE HIS PEOPLE,

WHETHER THEY LIKED IT OR NOT, CHRISTIAN.

THE POPE CROWNED ST. STEPHEN IN THE YEAR 1000,

MAKING HUNGARY PART OF CHRISTENDOM.

THIS WAS A PIVOTAL POINT IN HUNGARY'S HISTORY.

WHILE STEPHEN COULD HAVE ACCEPTED HIS CROWN

FROM THE LEADER OF THE EASTERN, OR BYZANTINE, CHURCH,

HE CHOSE TO HAVE HIS RULE LEGITIMIZED

BY ACCEPTING HIS CROWN FROM THE LEADER OF THE ROMAN CHURCH,

AND THIS GAVE HUNGARY MORE OF A WESTERN ORIENTATION.

THE BUDA FUNICULAR IS A POPULAR LANDMARK.

BUILT IN 1870 TO PROVIDE CHEAP TRANSPORTATION

TO CASTLE HILL WORKERS, TODAY IT'S A FUN LITTLE TOURIST TRIP.

IT SHUTTLES VISITORS EVERY FEW MINUTES UP AND DOWN

BETWEEN THE TOP OF CASTLE HILL AND THE MIGHTY CHAIN BRIDGE.

GUARDED BY LIONS, WHICH SYMBOLIZE POWER,

THE CHAIN BRIDGE, THE CITY'S FIRST GREAT BRIDGE,

OFFERS A PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY WAY TO CONNECT BUDA AND PEST.

BEFORE THIS BRIDGE WAS BUILT,

PEOPLE NEEDED BOATS OR A GOOD FREEZE TO CROSS THE RIVER.

SOMETIMES PEOPLE WOULD WALK ACROSS THE FROZEN DANUBE

ONLY TO GET STRANDED ON THE OTHER SIDE DURING A THAW.

ONCE, A CITY BIG SHOT WAS STUCK ON THE OTHER SIDE FOR A WEEK

TRYING TO GET TO HIS DAD'S FUNERAL.

HE MISSED THE FUNERAL.

HE WAS SO FRUSTRATED, HE COMMISSIONED THE BUILDING

OF BUDAPEST'S FIRST PERMANENT BRIDGE.

THE CHAIN BRIDGE, FINISHED IN 1849,

IMMEDIATELY BECAME AN IMPORTANT SYMBOL OF BUDAPEST.

WHILE THIS AND ALL OTHER GREAT BRIDGES OF BUDAPEST

WERE DESTROYED IN WORLD WAR II, THEY WERE QUICKLY REBUILT.

PEST IS THE FLAT AND URBAN COMMERCIAL HALF OF BUDAPEST.

THE MAIN SQUARE OF ITS INVITING PEDESTRIAN ZONE

IS VOROSMARTY TER.

THE LANDMARK GERBEAUD CAFE IS A FIXTURE.

BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS,

THE WELL-TO-DO LADIES OF BUDAPEST

MET HERE AFTER SHOPPING.

IT REMAINS THE MEETING POINT IN BUDAPEST.

IT'S CLASSY AND CENTRAL, PERFECT FOR PEOPLE WATCHING

AND A LITTLE HIGH-CALORIE 19th-CENTURY ELEGANCE.

THE NEARBY HUNGARIAN STATE OPERA HOUSE

OFFERS MORE OF THAT 19th-CENTURY SPLENDOR.

THE OPULENCE RIVALS PARIS AND VIENNA,

FROM ITS PLUSH HALLS AND STAIRCASES,

DESIGNED FOR SOCIALITES MAKING THE SCENE,

TO ITS RANKS OF GILDED BOX SEATS IN THE VELVETY THEATER.

WHETHER YOU ACTUALLY TAKE IN A PERFORMANCE

OR JUST ENJOY AN OPERA HOUSE TOUR,

IT'S CLEAR THAT THE PEOPLE OF BUDAPEST

HAVE THAT HABSBURG APPRECIATION FOR FINE MUSIC IN THEIR BLOOD.

YOU'LL FIND MUSICAL EVENTS ALL OVER TOWN.

TONIGHT, WE'RE OPTING

FOR A GYPSY AND HUNGARIAN FOLK CONCERT.

LIKE MOST EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES,

HUNGARY HAS FINE FOLK MUSIC AND DANCE.

HUNGARY'S LARGE ROMA, OR GYPSY, POPULATION,

HAS HELPED KEEP THIS FAST-FIDDLIN' TRADITION ALIVE.

WHILE MANY VISITORS LIMIT THEIR GYPSY MUSIC EXPERIENCE

TO GUYS DRESSED IN RED VESTS

OUT FOR BIG TIPS IN TOURISTY RESTAURANTS,

I GET MY TRADITIONAL MUSIC FIX IN CONCERT HALLS LIKE THIS.

NIGHTLY SHOWS ARE INEXPENSIVE AND HIGH-POWERED,

MIXING TEUTONIC-STYLE SLAP DANCING

AND SLAVIC COSSACK-STYLE FOOTWORK.

[ lively fiddle music playing ]

[ applause ]

WE'RE SLEEPING AT THE ART'OTEL.

EVERY DETAIL HERE, FROM THE STYLISH LOBBY

TO THE BREAKFAST BUFFET, IS DESIGNED WITH FLAIR.

THIS BIG MOD HOTEL IS A CLASSY SPLURGE,

OR A BARGAIN IF YOU BOOK DURING SLOW TIMES.

IT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE IMPRESSIVE BUILDING

THAT'S BEEN GOING ON HERE SINCE THE FALL OF COMMUNISM.

AND IT ALL COMES WITH A DANUBE VIEW.

WHILE THE CITY IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY MODERN,

MANY BUILDINGS SURVIVE FROM THE COMMUNIST AGE.

THESE ARE REMINDERS OF WHAT HAPPENS

WHEN YOU LOCK OUT YOUR ARTISTS

AND LET PARTY LOYALISTS DESIGN YOUR BUILDINGS.

ONE POSITIVE LEGACY OF COMMUNISM

IS BUDAPEST'S COLORFUL, SUBSIDIZED AND VERY PRACTICAL

NETWORK OF TROLLEYS, BUSES AND SUBWAYS.

LOCALS GET AROUND CHEAPLY AND EFFORTLESSLY.

I'M JOINING A HUNGARIAN TOUR GUIDE FRIEND OF MINE,

PETER POLCZMAN, FOR THE DAY.

GUIDES LIKE PETER HELP ME RESEARCH MY GUIDEBOOKS,

AND WHEN I FIND A GOOD ONE,

THAT'S A PERSON I LOVE TO RECOMMEND.

HUNGARIAN IS A UNIQUE LANGUAGE.

WE ARE ONLY RELATED TO FINNISH AND ESTONIAN,

BUT IT'S EASY, LIKE Azelet habos oldala.

CAN YOU SAY THAT?

[ Rick tries to speak Hungarian ]

NOT TOO BAD.

EUROPE, ESPECIALLY EASTERN EUROPE,

HAS MANY EXCELLENT YOUNG GUIDES WHO SPEAK FINE ENGLISH

AND ENJOY SHOWING OFF THEIR HOMETOWNS.

CONSIDERING THEIR REASONABLE FEES