You can't escape the influence of the Habsburg dynasty even today when you visit Vienna or Budapest.

If you hop on a tram in Budapest and cross various city districts, they are all named after Habsburg rulers.

Coming up, we'll hear how the most important family in European history left its stamp on what you see today.

The Habsburgs conquered these lands not through war but through marriage.

Understanding the differences between Britain and America sometimes requires a little gentle ribbing.

Things really are quite a lot bigger here, physically bigger, and it doesn't just stop at the size of the United States.

Lawrence Brown tells us what was lost in the pond between the U.S. and the U.K.

And here how learning a bit of Arabic gives you an inside track on the people you'll meet in Morocco and Egypt.

And Cairo likes to... Cairians are very proud of calling their city Umadunya, which means mother of the world.

It's all just ahead on Travel with Rick Steves.

Hey, I'm Rick Steves. In my latest book for the love of Europe, you can savor Europe's most exciting experiences and sights through a hundred of my favorite travel stories.

Imagine hanging from an alpine ridge, dancing at a Turkish circumcision party, and swinging with a bell ringer in a medieval church fire.

You can order your copy of for the love of Europe at ricksteves.com.

How do you really get to know another country? And what does it take to appreciate another culture on a deeper level than as a tourist?

Coming up today on Travel with Rick Steves, Travel writer Zora O'Neal tells us how her difficulties studying the Arabic language led her to North Africa and the Middle East.

Taking up local slang and jokes opened up a whole new insight on life in Morocco, the Gulf States, Egypt, and Lebanon.

Or you could marry someone from another country and move there with them.

Englishman Lawrence Brown fell in love with an American from Indiana. They married and moved back to the American Midwest.

It didn't take long for Lawrence to recognize that a lot of memos that might explain the differences between Britain and America must have gotten lost in the pond.

The host of a popular YouTube series that contrasts life in the US and the UK joins us in a bit as well.

Let's open the hour getting acquainted with the most important royal family in European history.

The Habsburgs defied the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their rule united Central Europe and reached to Spain, Asia, Africa, and all the way to the Americas.

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