This was a former bank before the war, one of the fancier buildings in town, covered in glass windows with a glass foyer and revolving door at the front. Hard to believe that now. Having been wrecked during the war it became a notorious snipers tower home to mercenaries and random sickos who would pretty much shoot anything moving in the streets below.

Everyone I spoke to had suggested a visit. Strictly speaking it’s boarded up and you’re not permitted to enter but there are some ways in and people clearly turn a blind eye hence the wooden ladder to get over a wall!

I visited with Hannah, a Kiwi I’d met (the Australasian kind, not the ornithological type). We’d been told not to go alone and not to go at night as you don’t know who’ll be in there. It did all seem a bit creepy and it was weird wondering through not knowing who you might meet in there, although the likelihood was that it would be people like us. Once in, the building is gutted and most of the walls are adorned with graffiti and street art. The pictures can do the talking.

Not having a good head for heights, I wasn’t a fan of going up the stair case as it had no walls and there were sheer drop to the side!

The views got better as you went up

Once on the top floor there was a metal ladder you could climb to get onto the roof. When I popped my head over the top there was another guy up there but he was just there taking photos.

The views from the top were amazing but there was no getting away from thinking about what the high view points had been used for in the recent past

Not sure whether a smile was appropriate!