from high up gellard hill, you get a sense of the layout of the city. the danube river, buda on one side, phest on the other. hungary's capital literally divided in two. literally a crossroads of worlds. >> which is which? >> if you look down, you're in buda. if you look up, you're in phest. >> he's a budapest born poet and performance artist. >> according to the myth i was brought up, if you are in buda, you're in europe and the other side is asia. this is the border of the roman empire, originally. this big river. >> right here. >> yeah. >> why didn't they cross? >> the other side is flat, it's hard to defend and there were all these tribes that were vicious and not as civilized as the romans believed they were. >> they've all been here, the celts, the romans, the mongols, the ottoman turks. all had their way or tried. all left their mark to one extent or another. ♪ then mid-19th century, the curious, seemingly improbable austro-hungarian empire. this is when the city came into its open, fueled by untold wealth, accumulated power, and ambition. archit