Budapest, briefly

I'm supposed to be covering Eastern Europe, so I flew to Poland. I was paying the taxi at my hotel when New York called and told me to go to Budapest. I flew there the next day. The only thing I saw in Poland was the Soviet exhibition center glowing through the sheer curtains of my hotel room all night.

It is nearly identical to the Soviet palaces in Shanghai and Beijing, and, I'm sure, elsewhere in the world.

It was my second visit to Budapest, so I knew my way around town a bit. I stayed at the Royal, which is where the movie producer Alexander Korda lived in his early years. I didn't like it so I moved to the Interncontinental on the Danube. The hotel is less luxurious, but the view from the window was lovely.

This is my view of the Hapsburg palace on the Buda side of Budapest. I met the prime minister in the parliament building and saw Saint Stephen's crown, orb, scepter and sword beneath the great dome. It is a unique country, eager for recognition but easily overlooked.