Last night the sky was clearer than it's been since we got here. The moon was full, too, so I decided to take a walk and get photos. Unfortunately, all the lights on the Széchenyi bridge and Castle Hill and the Royal Palace seem to turn off at 12:30... just as I was about to take some great shots. Balszmák.

So I went back home and still felt like exploring. No roof access, I found out. I followed the stairs down instead of up and came to a gate barring entry to the basement of the apartments. Locked. I was about to turn back, when I saw the key to the gate hanging by a string on one of the iron bars. The next ten minutes were the scariest of my life. I tried the key on the lock, and yes, it sounded like a bone scraping on bloodstained metal. The stairs past the gate curved around on themselves, and the floor I eventually reached was covered with dust. The musty hall was eerily lit only by my camera. Each step I took was very quiet because of the soft floor. The hallway split and went two ways, and looking each way I saw yet another turn and plunge into darkness. And then...!

Then I went up the stairs and locked the gate behind me because I was so creeped out. The whole experience was the beginning of a horror flick where college students get killed in terrible ways while studying abroad. I'll go back soon and take some pictures, if I find the balls to do it.