The desert of Aspen, Colorado

The last time I visited Aspen, I got food poisoning in some restaurant, near the famous Hotel Jerome where I stayed and thought I was going to die.

Today, a dozen years later, I can't recognize Ute City, aka Aspen, Colorado! The buildings have become larger and have lost their 19th century's charm.

The tiny Victorian houses are dwarfed by these huge constructions (with still more going on) and appear less visible than in the past. Luxury brand stores are so common place that the “little, local guys” seem to have been displaced forever.

To make matter worse, everyone we saw was lamenting the lack of people and activity in town on this early Saturday evening of “Cinco de Mayo”.

True, the town fell like a desert. An expensive, pretentious and unwelcoming desert at that. Too bad!