Of my experience, Budapest stands as the most "urban" of the major cities of Eastern Europe. It has been labelled the "Paris of the East," and the epithet is not unmerited. Grand architecture abounds along Andrassy Avenue, leading you to the suitably showy Heroes Square and the central park of Budapest. The city, essentially divided in two between Buda on the west of the Danube and Pest on the east, is a city of contrasts. On the Pest side, one can see the city evolving as tourism and capitalism begin to push Budapest into the 21st century; the Market Hall is sufficient evidence to know that Hungary has embraced Western economic ideals to their fullest extent. Meanwhile, the Buda side, with its beautiful Castle and Gellert Hills, exists in a seeming time warp in which the passage of years has little meaning. St. Mattias Church and the Citadel, on the respective hills, attract visitors for their fabulous views and their particular relevance to the architecture of the period in which they were built. Budapest is very much a city on the rise; stray from the tourist routes and explore the seemy underbelly of this urban renaissance project, you will not be disappointed in what you find.