WHAT YOU WILL SEE:

Vienna, Austria
City of music, cafes, waltzes, parks, pastries, and wine -- that's Vienna. Vienna is a true cosmopolitan center, where different tribes and nationalities have for centuries fused their cultural identities to produce the intriguing and often-cynical Viennese.From the time the Romans selected a Celtic settlement on the Danube River as one of their most important central European forts, "Vindobona," the city we now know as Vienna, has played a vital role in European history. The ambience of the city is ornate and frothy: white horses dancing to elegant music; snow dusting the opulent draperies of Empress Maria Theresa's monument; lavish decorations filling the interior courtyards of outwardly severe town houses; a gilded Johann Strauss among a grove of green trees; the voluptuous music of Richard Strauss; the geometric impasto of Klimt's paintings; the stately pavane of a mechanical clock. Magnificent, magnetic, and magical, the city beguiles one and all with Old World charm and courtly grace. It is a place where headwaiters still bow as if saluting a Habsburg prince and Lipizzaner stallions dance intricate minuets to the strains of Mozart -- a city that waltzes. Like a well-bred grande dame, Vienna doesn't hurry, and, as you saunter through its stately streets, marveling at its Baroque palaces, neither should you. Explore churches filled with statues of golden saints and pink-cheeked cherubs, wander through treasure-packed museums, or while away an afternoon in one of those countless meccas of mocha (the inevitable cafés), you will feel lapped in lashings of rich, delicious, whipped cream -- the beloved Schlagobers that garnishes most Viennese pastries.

Prague, Czech Republic
Viewed from high atop Vysehrad, the 10-centuries-old citadel at the city's south end, the ancient city of Prague hugs the hills rising from the river Vltava. Rows of steeples stacked on onion domes pierce the sky, earning Prague the name "The City of a Hundred Spires". Prague has stood the test of time. Here, the last 1,000 years of triumphs in art and architecture have collided, often violently, with power politics and religious conflicts. While Prague's rich collection of Gothic, baroque, and Renaissance buildings has stood stoically through all the strife, the streets and squares fronting the grand halls have often been the stages for tragedy. The well-worn cobblestones have felt the hooves of king's horses, the jackboots of Hitler's armies, the heaving wheels of Soviet tanks, and the shuffling feet of students in passive revolt. In the years since November 17, 1989, when Prague's students took to the streets to help bring down the 40-year-old Communist regime, the "hundred-spired city" has enjoyed an exhilarating cultural renaissance. Amid Prague's cobblestone streets and gold-tip spires, new galleries, cafés, and clubs teem with young Czechs and members of the city's colony of "expatriates." New shops and, perhaps most noticeably, scads of new restaurants have opened, expanding the city's culinary reach far beyond the traditional roast pork and dumplings. Many have something to learn in the way of presentation and service, but Praguers still marvel at a variety that was unthinkable not so many years ago. The arts and theater are also thriving in the "new" Prague. Young playwrights, some writing in English, regularly stage their own works. Weekly poetry readings are standing room only. Classical music maintains its famous standards, while rock, jazz, and dance clubs are jammed nightly. The arts of the new era -- nonverbal theater, "installation" art, and world music -- are as trendy in Prague as in any European capital, but possess a distinctive Czech flavor. All of this frenetic activity plays well against a stunning backdrop of towering churches and centuries-old bridges and alleyways.

Budapest, Hungary
One of the great cities of Central Europe, Budapest embodies all the elements of the region's peculiar and rich cultural legacy. Poised between East and West, both geographically and culturally, Budapest stands proudly at the center of the region's cultural rebirth. It's easy for Budapest to play with light in the manner of an elegant lady trying on her jewels, for everything looks good. This is a vibrant city: it throbs with life morning, noon and night; visitors arriving from other countries get the feeling that something interesting is happening round every corner. Budapest's extraordinary atmosphere can be felt everywhere. From old women selling boxes of raspberries in the heart of downtown Pest, cars careening by on all sides, to young boys playing soccer in the green foothills of Buda, where the air is fresh and clean, this city and its people will take you in and hold you tight. Budapest is a remarkable and wholly unpretentious place. Explore it fully. Even more exceptional is the perfect contrast between the right and left banks. Buda is built upon hills, the feet of two of them - Castle Hill and Gellért Hill - almost stand in the water. Facing it is Pest, as flat as a pancake. It's the country's cultural, political, intellectual, and commercial heart -- and it teems with cafés, restaurants, markets, and bars. Hungary is famous for its medicinal spas, and Budapest alone has some 14 historic working baths. The Continent's first underground railway was built here. Hungary's oldest academic library, the University Library, is to be found here. It is the location of Europe's largest synagogue. It is the only capital city in the world where there are more than one hundred hot thermal springs. There are no other cities of comparable size anywhere where visitors can explore dripstone (stalactite) caves in the middle of the residential districts. Budapest offers breathtaking Old World grandeur and thriving cultural life. Situated on both banks of the Danube River, the city unites the colorful hills of Buda and the wide, businesslike boulevards of Pest. Much of the charm of a visit to Budapest lies in unexpected glimpses into shadowy courtyards and in long vistas down sunlit cobbled streets.