St. Louis

I really liked St. Louis. It was like a hotter, more humid version of Birmingham when Birmingham still had lots of quality music clubs before the council started closing them all down. Because of the overpowering humidity the evenings had a rich colour and scent to them and everyone spent a lot of time outdoors. The dilapidated part of town that the hostel was in was full of shared rear gardens, shared wooden external staircases and bars playing amazing blues music in little outdoor courtyards nestled amongst the abandoned warehouses down by the post-industrial zones. They were all full of people just sitting out, talking, drinking, watching the glow bugs etc. A bit like Digbeth but with far more on offer. Then in the downtown there were real fancy bars and clubs full of very elegantly dressed attractive young people with lots of cash...a lot more classy than Brum’s Broad Street.

Here are a few photos of the hostel I stayed in that give an idea of the rich hazy colours of the humid downtrodden little place. Although the haze at the hostel may well have been produced by the ageing hippy’s spliffs.