Hungarians say that the Danube, as it flows through Budapest, far from dividing the city, brings it even closer together. Budapest, as such, was born in 1873 through the unification of Buda, Pest and Óbuda, but its origins stretch back to ancient Rome.

The first to take advantage of its riverside location were the Romans, who named it Aquincum. After them came Goths, Avars and Magyars — considered the ancestors of today's Hungarians — who arrived under the command of Árpád in 896, followed by Mongols and Turks. It was the Habsburgs, however, who under Austro-Hungarian rule, in the era of Empress Sisi and Emperor Franz Joseph, gave Budapest the imperial character that can still be felt today, despite the near-total destruction of World War II.

As imperial as Vienna, yet far more passionate and vibrant. Someone once illustrated this passionate character through some of its most internationally renowned citizens: Zsa Zsa Gabor (passionate about cinema), George Soros (passionate about finance) and Ilona Staller, alias Cicciolina (passionate about eroticism).