Budapest | Herend Museum | Danube | Vörösmarty Square

Is there anything else Budapest is particularly known for? "Herend's porcelain comes from Hungary, and the Herend Museum is in Herend. It's beautiful china, but it's also figurines. You'd know it if you saw it: animals with patterns on them and beautiful flowers and birds. It goes back to 1851."

How's the shopping scene in Budapest? "I love to stroll down the promenade along the Danube on a nice day, because there are all kinds of kiosks with people selling all kinds of wonderful things - a lot of hand embroidered things and carved items and wonderful etchings. You can bargain, too."

Who would you call the moment you get into town? "István Szabó, who directed me in Meeting Venus. I'd say, 'My Hungarian brother, I'm back in town. When can we meet?' We'd probably go to his favorite restaurant, Rosenstein. I've gone there many times with him. It's real old Budapest, real Hungarian. They have the best fish soup, which is a very typical Hungarian meal. They eat the fish out of the Danube, which is called fogas, a white fish. Rosenstein is in the old part of Pest, in a big old building. It's pretty basic. It almost has a checked tablecloth feeling, but I don't remember if there really are tablecloths."

What's one of your favorite places to eat there? "One would be this wonderful tea shop, Gerbeaud, which dates back to 1858. It's on Vörösmarty Square, and has high ceilings and wonderful glass cabinets full of the most wonderful pastries. You can sit there on the square if it's warm, or inside if it's cold, and have just magical tea and pastries."