the face of Hungary today . story and pictures by H Pearce Sales . not much is known in Britain about this great little country which burst into flames and into the news in 1956 and has since been forgotten in the west . so-called socialist realism which at least until lately has created a dull conformity over most aspects of life in communist countries has taken a resounding defeat in Hungary . the traveller can not but be encouraged immensely by this . the artistic temperament of the people is bursting out of a somewhat shabby shell on all sides as a result of 1956 and its uprising . costly and tragic though it was it was not in vain by a long way . a more liberal form of communism emerged . the results of such comparative freedom of expression in the use of colour and in sheer ingenuity in the use of all kinds of materials are delightful and Sandor Patofi , Hungary &apos;s greatest poet , who called his compatriots to launch an earlier revolution in his famous arise Hungary , would have written an even more passionate piece about this silent revolution if he were alive today . Hungary will become the Italy of the eastern bloc if she is not already assuming the mantle . the Bond Street area of Budapest , V&amp;aacute;cintca and Petofil S&amp;aacute;ndor , is crowded at most times of the day with elegant women . this we take as a signpost . although it is foolish to make forecasts in this context we would not be surprised if the Hungarian &apos;s natural bent for original artistic creation will not in time permeate the thinking of all the eastern bloc in even the details of everyday living . the priorities of industrial output are being reshuffled in several countries there and time and talent will soon be given to mass producing those fripperies that make life worthwhile for women and women more interesting to men . except that for most people clothing is mainly of second quality and to them is expensive , and cars and refrigerators and the hallmarks generally of a highly developed industrial society are not easily obtainable , the ordinary people seem to have a considerable vested interest in the present way of life in Hungary today . necessities and pastimes are abundant and very cheap and encourage support for the present regime , the Hungarians never having tasted the riches of the western peoples and having almost always been part of an oppressed and depressed nation . just imagine experiencing a change from fascism to communism almost overnight ! it was not easy for anyone to believe at the time - about a year ago - when the noted scholar A J P Taylor returned from a visit to Hungary , and wrote an encouraging report , that he was not misled while there . this is what he wrote : the solid unmistakable fact is that Hungarians are now pretty well off : I have never seen a greater display of foodstuffs &amp;hellip; there are clothes in every quality , from multiple stores to elegant private shops - in the provinces too : the days of hardship are over . we can verify this . now , at a later date , we can add much that will help the travel adviser who wants intelligently and honestly to discuss this unusual country with prospective tourists . ask any man in the street in London what he knows about Hungary today and he will mention the 1956 uprising and little else . to save face he might mention what he will call the international scandal of that year , that though a huge wave of sympathy went out to the Hungarian people , they were crushed militarily and the west did nothing - as if it could . he might even brighten up and say that he had an idea that they breed fine horses and horsemen . even in the history books of the west , Hungary is pictured as an unhappy country . riches and privilege ruled and a firmly entrenched church was somehow entangled with those excesses while three million beggars , a term often used to describe the population , existed on what they could scrape from a not very good soil . now a welfare state is firmly established and so far the people seem able to express themselves fairly freely in their work and play and are no longer considered mainly as units in an economic machine which has to be pushed along vigorously to meet over ambitious industrial targets though in the end what is produced and achieved is for those same people . the danger of greater control being exercised is still there , though we feel that this excitable people still very much Hungarian at heart would revolt again without question and without considering the consequences if pressure were again exerted . some leading communists confide that the system is now too liberal to achieve quickly enough the kind of results that will impress the children and young people . nevertheless the picture in the mind of western man seriously needs to be corrected . the Hungarian people are no longer poor or oppressed according to their standards . Hungary today judging by our own conscientious observations and pointed enquiry is climbing above its circumstances . if as is likely Hungary becomes the Swiss workshop of the eastern bloc in the highly skilled uses of metal in the communist version of a common market at least a settled and increasingly prosperous period is likely to be written into a history that has had far too many glorious revolutions , occupations and invasions . Budapest , the only city which the Danube actually crosses of the eight countries it flows through , shows few marks of her previous troubles , though only a quarter of her housing was standing after the war , and she lost all six bridges and the row of well-known hotels on the Danube . even during the worst period of the Berlin crisis when the two Mr Ks were shouting across the world there was no tension at all among the people though some strapping young men of the army were sweating it out in exercises in the country . the people went off as usual at the week-end to the Buda hills for hiking and picnics , or wandered around the museums in Pest , or compromised for the parks or swimming pools of the mile long St Margaret Island in midstream between Buda and Pest - the city has 500 parks . they were however all anxious freely to discuss the situation and were upset mainly because the socialist nations were not being considered in the west the powerful and progressive forces that was their due in the counsels of the nations . they were as fearful of the situation as is mankind everywhere . the greatest charge on the material plane that western man makes against socialist systems is that spreading wealth to the ultimate extent and controlling everything tends as we intimated in our introductory remarks to bring conformity and dullness . but one tends not to consider the spirit of some peoples to overcome this or that personal gain is not the only incentive that mankind responds to . and whatever virtues the Hungarians may lack it is certainly not a shortage of spirit . consider their history ! after the first stages of socialisation , and when it becomes normal and accepted and the party and government feel safe , individuality tends gradually to come out and bloom again throughout human society and especially so in those countries where communism was born of war and was not adopted initially by choice . but it may take a long , long time . Hungary is a case in point and examples at random come to mind . her new architecture is attractive , imaginative and colourful and invites comment . whether flats or shops or restaurants , there is a marked individuality . at an international football match in Budapest in the presence of a visiting premier , Mr Kadar , and a benchful of important party members , there was no communist or patriotic paraphernalia . even recorded cha cha chas were played during the interval and an advertisement trundled round on the back of a lorry for a local leg show . her new and refurbished hotels and restaurants are refreshingly different in furnishings and approach , even the uniforms of the staff , though conforming to that simplicity that is good taste . her motor coaches are among the most attractive in the world with unusual touches in colouring , shape and seating . her stores and shops , the best of which incidentally are as full of goods as anywhere in Europe , show promise of that elegance with showmanship that is the hallmark of the western city , though many of the small presumably private and struggling shops are pitifully inadequate to the eyes of a Londoner . her tourist literature is bright and original and always has its quota of pretty girls , and her publications generally are of a high order . she has many attractive daily papers and a host of popular periodicals . even her posters are quite unlike anything one would expect in a communist country . and one would hardly dare suggest that her musical life conforms to any except the Hungarian way . gipsy music is still exhilarating and sad in turn and beautifully played everywhere . although Liszt can be quoted as being accepted internationally , Bartok and Kodaly , who understandably are worshipped here , are only just about being understood or appreciated anywhere else . and art is quite non-conformist enough for the average taste . a modern painting in my bedroom at the Royal Hotel would in London have been considered imaginative and certainly not photographic . the teenagers there could hardly be called conformists either . they are dressed as are their western counterparts . some of the girls sported silver sugar loaf or beehive hairdos and almost all seem at some time to parade with many frilly petticoats to umbrella their skirts or appear to have been poured into skin tight slacks and sloppy jumpers . they are most attractive . the boys wear longish jackets and tight trousers and are well scrubbed . but imagine our surprise when on an old brassy and romantic excursion boat cruising down the Danube with a full capacity of family life - from grandmothers to tiny tots - the many teenagers rocked and rolled to the strains of the songs of Perry Como and Cliff Richard played on the ship &apos;s relay system . we later learned that they loved such western pop singers , laughed at the cinema with Terry Thomas and Jimmy Edwards , and shed a tear for Norman Wisdom . though Budapest is a fine city with many attractions for the traveller , and the Hungarian countryside with its great carpets of maize is pleasant , the Danube bend part of the country being the most beautiful she has to offer - a car ride for several hours on a summer evening being a most agreeable pastime - and of course there is the wonderful natural feature of the lake at Balaton , it is the people in Hungary who impress one and who make the traveller feel it is good to be here . Budapest , which as yet has few new or modernised hotels but takes about 150,000 tourists a year , mainly from the USSR , has much attractive night life . it is possible to stay around drinking , talking and being entertained until 5 a.m but seldom if ever will the tourist become a victim of the malicious malpractices of night life in the west . the Hungarians are very honest people and the seamy side of humanity is seemingly kept at bay . in many ways it is not easy to be dishonest in a communist country . souvenirs for instance are nearly always a problem for the traveller . here in Hungary prices are fixed for everything . whether you go to the luxury hotel shop or the small place near the market makes no difference . this is a very acceptable fact for tourists . the personality of the Hungarians somehow overawes the material attractions of the place . no more is this evident than during one of those hot summer evenings which seem to occur frequently in Budapest . young couples canoodling away in corners are to be seen everywhere , and bring understanding smiles from passing strangers . parts of the city with its great and rather gaunt wide streets and squares are attractively lit , and aided by the shop windows seem to draw the inhabitants from far and near . 