Fairy-tales and poems and music have been written about the Danube too. One of the most famous waltzes ever written is called “The Blue Danube.” The Blue Danube runs into the Black Sea. The capital of Austria is Vienna. Vienna used to be famous for its restaurants and cooking. Perhaps you have eaten Vienna rolls or been to a Vienna restaurant, even if you have never been to Austria, for we have Vienna rolls and restaurants in the United States too.
The name Hungary makes you think of food, or rather lack of food, but the name doesn’t mean hungry. It means Land of the Huns. In fact, Hungary should not be hungry, for a great deal of wheat for making bread is raised there. Have you ever eaten a kind of hash called Hungarian goulash? It is very highly seasoned with pepper and spices, and some restaurants in our country serve it. In some of these restaurants orchestras play Hungarian music. It is a kind of music such as the Gypsies dance to—slow and sweet, then fast and furious, with a hop, skip, and jump time. In Hungary many of the people are, strange to say, related to the Chinese way back. They are called Magyars.
Have you ever had your palm read or your fortune told? Gypsies are people who wander over the country doing that for a living. Most of the Gypsies come from a country next to Hungary and bordering on the Black Sea called Romania—nowadays frequently spelled Rumania. It is supposed that long ago people from Rome settled in that country and called it Romania from Rome. The language of Romania is still something like the Roman or Italian.