Just back from a two week adaptation workshop in Budapest, where I did some good things and, err, some unmentionable things. Pretty town. Terrible food. Fantastic wines. Hungary is former soviet state, and it shows. Deteriorating, clunky trains are straight out of the 1950s and made in the USSR, though they run pretty strong and regular. Many streets are recently repaved and cobbled, but buildings are clearly crumbling - many still have shrapnel scars from WW-II. The Danube river is a toxic mess and not a soul dared swim in it. Tourism is way up, and everyone speaks English, even the old timers, which is quite the surprise considering the geographic location. And the city is ultra cheap - medium-fine dining was less than 10 bucks WITH wine and service. “Ruin bars” in the Jewish triangle were just fantastic. Ruin bars are bars setup in old buildings that were falling apart, creating a disorienting bifocalled experience of old world charm and Eurotrash. George Soros is investing millions in educational and non-profit institutions. I suspect that, within 15 or so years, Hungary will be more than an important cross-roads for EU eastern development. The catch is culturally (in my short observations), Hungarians do not seem to be very ambitious - indeed, quite passive. They seem to be just going through the motions of every day life in a dull, tedium induced trance. Otherwise, well worth visiting.