That's an interesting story mate, thanks for sharing it!
The curtain is gone, but many things haven't changed. Beaurocracy and corruption are still rife, and alot of possible progress gets stunted at the root as the individuals responsible for various projects make sure a large portion of the revenue lines their own pocket first. Workmanship and planning often suffers as a result as managers skimp on material and other costs to make up the difference. It's very sad.
The town I live in is Pecs, about 3 1/2 hours out of Budapest. It was once 'the crossroads of Europe', one of the most influential European trading cities as such, before the three towns of Buda, Pest and Obuda were united to form the current capital city. It was the fifth city in the world to establish a university (in 1367), and has been the home of artists such as Ferenc Martyn, and Viktor Vasarely. It has survived occupation by the Romans, the Avar, the Tartar, and the Turks, and continued to thrive under the Russian occupation (largely due to the coal and uranium mines in the Mecsek mountains).
Today however it is a dying city, with very little work, as all the famous factories (Pécsi glove factory, Zsolnay porcelain factory, etc) aswell as all the mines have been closed down.
The largest current employer is the Finn multi-national electronics company where I work, that employed (up until the world economic crisis...) a large percentage of the state of Baranya's work force (we had over 7,200 employees at one point!). Even the future of this company looks uncertain now, so I've no idea how long I can stay. Be nice to be able to stay till December atleast, though to make it the big 8 years!
In saying this, Hungary is still generally a beautiful country from what I've seen so far, and with stricter control on who in power gets away with what would be a much better place to live.
Evan