FELIZ ANO! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Had to make a quick decision yesterday on a replacement camera at that quaint Mexican shop called WalMart. Today's photos are a mix of the old Kodak and the new smaller/lighter/rechargeable Samsung --- can you see any difference? I can, in the night colours.

Lots of buzz, and some sprinkles, in the air yesterday. Techies rushed to set up the fireworks display on the main walkway ---- astounding how close the crowds will be to the firing tubes, maybe 10 feet away, on the other side of the fence!! Nearby, locals disguised as a mermaid, an archangel, chess players, and Ironman worked the passersby for "tips". How much can you make posing uncomfortably all day long??

Watched a bit of the Times Square festivities on TV, happening 2 time zones ahead of us. Then out for a real eye-opener on a balmy night. The most festive street scenes I've since since Carnaval in Rio a long time ago! Block parties with video screens, families picnicing on sidewalks, raunchy outfits worn like bait for other night-trawlers. Brassy Mexican music screamed out before, during, and after the midnight fireworks. Too much tuba! If only they had let the cathedral bells ring in the year all by themselves.

But the fireworks literally blew your mind and body. Tens of thousands of us rung the firing line like huddling by a winter fire. The 30-minutes of explosions hit your chest like a drumskin, booming over and over like dance music. The starbursts were directly overhead, not a "safe distance" away in liability-plagued countries. Wow wow. Some of the stuff went sideways into the crowds, but no one ran. It was like being inside the firestorm. Fantastic new bits too, like the shock-and-awe ground blitz scorching the iconic PV arches. A really really exciting Happy New Year, except it's spelled out in flares F-E-L-I-Z  A-N-O   2013!

Back home through throngs of guys 'n dolls showing off their packaging. More street parties, with a mix of young-old, gay-straight, men - women (sometimes a combination of all of those!!) Today it's pouring rain. The whole town needs the rest today, how about you?