Your extra effort was certainly worth it and produced stunning results.
The comments of the photographic veterans are well deserved imho - though your response regarding that -
cough - "lamp post" gave me a chuckle!
Thanks for including the pics of the Metro Rail. It looks like it would be a good way to get around the city. Quiet and clean (unlike some of our rattling, smokey, diesel buses. Though, to be fair, they're probably better than they used to be. These days, they would mostly have to conform to the rules about vehicle emissions, etc. But I still don't think they would fare too well in a "beauty contest" against Huston's Metro Rail.)