Budapest is not one city, but two — Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube — with Buda being the somewhat wealthier. English is understood almost everywhere, but is often spoken so heavily accented as to make understanding it a challenge. Nonetheless, the locals are intensely proud of their city, and more than happy to share stories of its history, along with the almost inevitable disparagement of the dark period under communism.
There are pan-handlers and beggars in most of the pubic areas. When asked, yes life was hard, and there was little money, but no it was not any better under communism where you could be arrested for begging, because is was illegal to look poor. As one local explained, under capitalism one person worked while three others watched. Under communism, one person worked while ten others watched, because they needed to boast about 100% employment. Being employed, however, didn’t actually mean getting paid.
I won’t belabor the point any more. Just assume that every conversation with everyone I spoke with in the former east-block countries managed to slip in a derogatory comment or two about communism, and you won’t be far wrong.
The old buildings are definitely old, some many centuries so. The stone and brick work is amazing, rivaled only by the metal work that adorned them.
In America, when we want a wall, we set up some forms, pour concrete, and a few weeks later we have a wall. Not in Hungary. Stones are cut and fitted. Many of these edifices must have taken lifetimes to build. Metal and stone monuments with amazing detail are everywhere. I mentioned earlier the pride these people take in their city and their country, and as I tour these structures they are clearly justified in their feelings.