Monstrous Carbuncles'R'Us

I like to think that I have travelled the world a few times over and seen most of what there is to be seen, but until yesterday I had never come face to face withe the centre of our second city. Been underneath it on the train more times than I can remember, and driven past it on the motorwayequally often, but I had never actually gone nose to nose with the Bullring, so to speak. Until yesterday.

And boy is it an ugly place. I like a good piece of urban architechture, but some how Birmingham city centre fails on every level. The area was notorious for riots in the mid-nineteenth century, with notable vandalism of property. It seems this is still commemorated in the architecture of the day. Anyway, breathtakingly hideous and as they say in the Michelin guides: vaut la visite.