January 1, 2013
“Wow! I am speechless. Never seen a fireworks display like this. Stood on the roof watching hundreds of displays going off at once. Not a hundred fireworks, but hundreds of displays: 360 degrees. The sound was like continuous thunder punctuated with a few M-80’s. The dogs were a bit overwhelmed.”
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“During the day, we dodged water thrown from balconies. Partiers shook up two liter bottles of cider to spray us as we passed by. My hair was a sticky mess by the time we returned to our apartment. It was the same on Christmas Eve. This place knows how to party. I think I have hit my party quota for a while.
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Both Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Montevideo provided us with a sensational fireworks display. On Christmas, we ventured out even though we knew it would mean being thoroughly soaked with water or hard cider. Water was thrown by the bucketful from balconies. Two liter bottles of carbonated cider were shaken and sprayed at anyone passing close enough. Groups of drummers roamed the streets, stopping to perform for crowds of partiers or leading them to another party. Firecrackers sailed a few inches from your feet, and occasionally we were surprised with something resembling an M-80. Even small children threw firecrackers.
On days like this, it is wisest to leave your billfold at home. I never carry a purse here, but I would definitely have left it at home, too.
Everyone was friendly and happy. Both the very young and the quite old joined in. We made lots of new friends in those two days. We were able to sneak out of our apartment to a restaurant still relatively dry. We watched the chaos from a distance. It did not take long for us to be discovered. Soon partiers breached the perimeter and “encouraged” us to join in. Finally, we jumped in, got wet…really wet and had a blast. After traveling around town for a few hours with our new friends, we retreated to our apartment and took a long hot shower. My hair felt so good, I decided a hard cider rinse was not a bad thing.
Me soaking wet!
When it was dark, the most incredible fireworks display lit up the sky. We watched from the roof of our building. You could turn in any direction as one group seemed to try to outdo the other. These were not simple displays, they were fantastic. They lasted at least ½ hour, never letting up. We had never seen such a display. The noise was a continuous thunder. Our dogs are pretty resilient to loud noises, but this was a bit overwhelming for them. The entire city vibrated and, of course, the parties continued into the morning hours.
I wanted to add video of the fireworks…they were incredible, but I am still working out the technical details.