3-13 Salvador Brazil

Land ahoy! Up and out early – actually managed to get a machine in the gym (because the tours were leaving at 8, so we knew we’d be able to get in there) – then on to breakfast and out into the heat of Salvador. And I mean heat. It is hot, it is humid and within about 1 minute, both Cathy and Ed are soaked through to the bone. Makes me happy I’m riding in comfort in my little backpack haven.

The streets around the port area are packed with people – it’s the business district, with more banks than anything else, and it’s clogged with people and cars. We find the elevator that takes us up to the old town pretty easily. It’s about a quarter mile to the left of the ship with a cute little market beginning to open up right outside. $0.05 Reals each, and we ride up to the top of the hill where we spill out onto a square with a concert beginning to take place. The old town is a very walkable area, with cathedrals and old buildings to explore. We hit the gold leafed cathedral ($2 Reals each) and wander through the attached halls of the sacristy. The artwork and ceiling tiles are beautiful and would probably hold more interest if it weren’t so doggone hot (yeah, the Bavarian pup is even feeling it now – I am just not cut out for these hot weather climes – give me my snow capped alps please!).


After wandering through the cobblestone streets filled with shop after shop of Brazilian/African artifacts, clothing and trinkets, we run into Andrea and hubby in the main square. We chat for a while, then head off again in search of beer and wine. There isn’t a grocery or mini market in sight. No where. Everyone we ask says we have to take a bus – anything is 20 minutes away – where do these people shop? It’s odd! As we wander we happen upon a nice jewelry store that has these large silver hangers with silver fruit hanging from them (these things are all over and Cathy really wants to know what they are). The owner, a lovely young man who spoke great English, explained these are symbols of African freedom that were given to the slaves when they worked for their masters. When the slave first came to work, they were given the holder (in gold), which depicts birds on each end, to symbolize freedom. Each year the slave worked, she (he only mentioned women, so…..) was given a gold fruit to hang off the holder. Once the slave had worked 15 years, they had filled up their holder and were given freedom. The holder and fruits then became not only the symbol of their newfound freedom, but also the money they needed to set up a household on their own (they could trade the gold in for living money). A great story!

The shop owner also helped up find our beer! As we were leaving, we asked him where we could buy some beer. He negotiated with the internet café next door to sell us beer at a discounted price! Awesome! So not only did we get our little history lesson, we also scored beer for the crossing and managed to handle our emails! Perfect! Because now it is about noon and it is too damn hot to do anything but go back to the ship!

We head back down the elevator, wander through the market – which had cool wooden things – but are too hot to even bother! We trudge back to the ship to cool down – boy does that air conditioning feel good – and head up to the Brazilian buffet for lunch. Sampled all the Brazilian specialties, like beef and chicken skewers (didn’t need to go to the churrasceria after all!), beef stew and shrimps in a coconut/tamarind type sauce. Food is not an issue on this ship (or maybe I should say it is!!). Were offered dinner in Toscana (that’s never happened before) and snapped it up!

Ran to the laundry to do another load (managed to make it before the hordes came back), snoozed while waiting for it to dry, then headed outside one last time for phones and another beer run (got lucky and found a weird little grocery at the end of the “safety” zone –didn’t look like we should walk further away from the ship past this store).

Back on board, we cooled off, hit the gym, then the 2 fers at Martini’s this time. Sipped our drinks until it was time for dinner – then off to Toscana. The bread up there is just too much! And Cathy can’t keep her hands off it – combined with the roasted garlic and the oil and balsamic vinegar, there’s really no need for the real food! We are responsible tonight: Ed gets the shrimp and prosciutto app, salad and roasted chicken. Cathy only has the Caesar salad and lamb chops (everything is delicious!!!). No dessert except for the biscotti that comes after every Toscana meal!

Since it is still so early, we decide to hit the hot tub for a soak. Great night to do it, we’ve already sailed so there’s a nice breeze, and we are alone in the tub. Almost alone on the deck save for the private dinner party being held in the lounge area at the side of the deck. Back in the cabin – we fall asleep way too early! But it’s been a hot and tiring day – and we can’t keep our eyes open!!!

3-12 Second Day at Sea

Another warm and sunny day – too warm actually. Up and out, Horizons, then on the jogging track (do you see a pattern here?) and we are already getting burned. Cathy can feel her ears burning up! Ditched that a little early and headed to breakfast. Washed up and sat in Horizons working on the computer and then doing emails. Lunch was a seafood buffet, very good, shrimps, seafood bouillabaisse, fried calamari, all excellent. Cookies for dessert – good – but not Princess good! Princess still takes the cookie battle! Next off to the Insignia lounge for the daily movie – Michael Clayton. Got there early to get a good seat – front row – and to nab the popcorn! Yes! Popcorn! Awesome!

Great movie. Done by 3:30, back to the gym so we can make Harry’s Zeppelin lecture at 5:30. Before the lecture we hit the Horizon’s bar for 2 for 1 cocktails (every night between 5 and 6), then down to the lounge for the presentation. Harry is a former ABC producer and has offered Oceania his services as a guest lecturer. He gave an excellent presentation on the Rio to Barcelona zeppelin route that existed in the 1930’s. Fascinating!

Next to dinner in the Grand Dining Room. Very nice, Ed had steak poivre and Cathy had swordfish (again with the seafood? This is definitely a record!!). Cookies and petit fours for dessert – not worth the carbs – going without dessert from now on! Freshened up at the cabin and headed upstairs to the deck party. Started at 8:30 when we docked in Salvador, “party” band played all the cruise standards – Macarena, electric slide, etc. Waited for a Brazilian dance show – but the dancers were late (probably an immigration thing, which you’ll hear about more later.) Weather cool enough with a breeze and fun hanging out outside listening to music. Sweet treat buffet of cookies and little sweets and ice cream. Simple and nice.

Before the party however, as we docked around 8:00pm, we were up on deck watching the proceedings – and we saw a group of about 12 people, all with luggage waiting for the ship. Figured these were the poor souls (at least some of them) from Canada whom we knew had missed the ship in Rio due to weather. They were yelling at their friends on board and we could only imagine their relief at finally getting to the ship.

Ship docked, gangway came down, passengers onboard who were going on the $100 Brazilian dance show tour got off, the late arrivals stayed on the dock. A table and chairs were brought out, still the late arrivals sat. And sat, and sat. Don’t know what was going on, but something was holding them up and they were not allowed on board. How heartbreaking! Now it’s getting on toward 10 pm, they are still sitting on the dock (with champagne and drinks and food from the ship, but still!!!) listening to the deck party up above and not being able to board. Needless to say, Cathy is almost in tears thinking about it – the emotions! They were finally let aboard around 10:30 after 2 cars came speeding up the dock, people in black suits got out, conferred with someone on the ship and then “let our people go!!!”

After that excitement– it’s off to bed!

3-11 First Day at Sea

Beautiful day at sea! Not a cloud in the sky (later some pop up on the horizon, but the morning is very clear) and warm. Up and out to Horizon’s for coffee – a fantastic place to wake up while watching the open sea and listening to soft music in the background. (it’s the secret place to get coffee in peace and quiet, but it’s secret only for the first few days – before everyone else figures it out!)

Off to the gym – it was PACKED!! Not a machine available and a line waiting. Blew that off and walked the little jogging track - it was nicer to be outside anyway! Headed off to breakfast after our ½ hour workout, made to order omelets, all the spread you’d want, including eggs benedict (too bad Cathy doesn’t eat breakfast!!!), best part of it all is that the coffee and water (and juice) is served to us at the table. Love it! And it’s real coffee – not that syrup stuff – or if it is syrup, it’s done right, because it tastes great.


Quick shower, then to Horizons for more coffee and pictures of yours truly. Nice to be out and about on deck, the ship is very nice and the staff quite friendly. I think I’m going to like this cruise line quite a bit! Next up is the Cruise Critic party. Harry and Connie (Harry mostly!) got everyone started off, about 30 of us went around the room introducing ourselves, then just chatted. Met Andrea and her hubby who are also sailing the Anchorage to Bangkok Princess cruise in September. Talk about a small world!

Next stop – pool deck. We hung out on one of the Balinese loungers (built for two with plush towels and bolster) for a while – until Cathy started to burn that is! You should see her legs! She had on shorts and it looks like she has thigh high hose on! Too funny – and a very good reminder that sunscreen is a must at all times – even if we’re only out in the sun for ½ an hour or so. Trundled off to the aft deck for lunch. With the breeze it is quite enjoyable and pleasant. Bypassed the buffet today for the hamburgers at the grill. There is a huge variety available, but Ed chose the New Yorker with cheddar and chili, while Cathy had the Texan with BBQ sauce, sautéed onion and jalapeno cheddar. Sat next to Harry and Connie and chatted away.

The rest of the day loomed with 2pm Portuguese lesson, 3 pm Arts & Crafts watercolor beach sunsets (yes, we even went and painted our sunsets. There were a few ringers in the class, so us plebes stayed in the corner and giggled at the outcome! Ed the realist, Cathy the impressionist, me in the middle watching!). Wandered, hit the gym, showered, hung out on the balcony, before dinner drink at the Martini bar, dinner at Polo (awesome as usual, Ed ordered the king cut Prime Rib –and we can not believe he ate the whole thing! It was 32 oz. - bigger than huge! Cathy got the tuna – 2 days in a row for seafood, a new record!). Rolled out of dinner, actually made it to the show – a cute magician who kept us occupied with ring and rope tricks. Then to bed! Fun day at sea.

3-10 Insignia here we come!

Embarkation day! We are up early – walking to the seaside promenade at 6:45 am. Oh My Gosh! The people! Thousands of people out there on the promenade walking, jogging, bicycling. It is just amazing! You would think it’s the middle of the day – not a little before 7 on a Monday morning! And we thought Honolulu had fitness nuts – ha! They’ve got nothing compared to this. Plus – it’s already 80 degrees out. It’s going to be another scorcher, that’s for sure.

Breakfast after showers. Excellent buffet at the hotel, scrambled eggs, sausage, creeps, cheese bread, empanadas (called something else) fresh fruits and cheese as well as cereal and fab rolls (plain an stuffed with banana!). We’re in carb hell – and Cathy simply doesn’t care at this point in time!

Had plenty of time before heading out, so we checked the Internet for email, hit the phone, then packed, organized and were ready to walk out the door at 10 am.

The hotel called a cab for us – we loaded up and got in. The cabbie wanted to charge 1 price, but we insisted on the meter (Eduardo had told us to always use the meter. He said he would get out of cabs if they wouldn’t turn the meter on, so we figured he was the expert and followed his advice.) Well, here we go with the International incident again – mind you – we’re packed in the cab with all our luggage and he’s not really happy we want him to turn on the meter. He even backs up and talks to the hotel doorman – but finally does turn the meter on and off we go.

Don’t know what he would have charged us, but the fare to the port was only 25 Reals, including a tip. Total trip took 20minutes – and we were at the port. No traffic to speak of – so we were quite pleased. (Hint: For all you future Rio embarkation folks, most cabbies drop you at the entrance to a small mall at the port. There are no porters, no nothing, just steps up to the entrance. The port is on the other end of the mall. If the cab continues past the main entrance to the port, there is another entrance about 500 yards away in the front of the building where the buses drop you off and you can drop your luggage. If you can direct the taxi there – you’ll be in good shape. Otherwise – you’ll have to hoot if with your bags around the side of the mall to the porters – as we did! It’s not a bad little walk, but you can avoid it with some quick prep work.)

Since it was such a quick trip, we were inside the boarding area at 10:30. Boarding wasn’t scheduled until 11:00; so we queued up where the port folks told us and waited. People started arriving, and the area started getting crowded, with everyone trying to jockey for better position in the boarding line. Ugh – here we go! 11:00 comes, 11:00 goes. People start grumbling. The restlessness continues, until 11:30 when the boarding process begins for those in wheelchairs and who need assistance boarding (very nice! Take them first!). Except the people around us didn’t think it was nice and the grumbling continued. Finally, everyone else got to get in line and we managed to board unscathed!

Once onboard, the stellar service Oceania is known for began. A light lunch served all day in the buffet, water and tea refills at your table, smiling faces everywhere. Ed and Cathy ran through their strategy – 1) onboard, 2) directly to the pursers for laundry tokens (15 days, 80/90 degree temps, Galapagos exploring/you figure it out!); 3) try to get to laundry (cabin floors locked until 1, drats!) 4) go to 10th floor to reserve our nights in the specialty dining rooms (got all 4 nights as requested plus the first night in Toscana!); 5) hit the library (right across the hall from the restaurant reservations) to score the good books. Phew! Mission accomplished! Now for a quick lunch and our wine and beer for a reward.

After lunch – tried the cabins once more – still no go. Finally at 1, the announcement made, we hurried to the cabin – drats! The key doesn’t’ work. 15 minutes later in the cabin (after running back and forth to the pursers desk). Cathy runs to the laundry – they’re all already taken by the back-to-back folks. So she waits for the washers to become available (had to move somebody’s undies to the dryer – Hate to do that!) But, got both loads going and it’s still only a little after 1! Yippee! Clean clothes at last!

Ran outside to make phone calls – Happy Birthday to Stephanie, Cathy’s now 11 year old niece – then back aboard to wait for sailing. Bags arrived, unpacked, boat drill! Announcement made that we’ll be sailing at 5:30, instead of 3 – ok – no biggie –wanted to see Rio as we sailed, but that’s ok – it should still be light. A little bit later J.R., our cruise director, announced we’d be further delayed because we were waiting for important provisions (he joked it was a sack of potatoes), but the sail away party would continue! That’s the spirit! Party band played, nice breeze on the pool deck, we all wandered around on deck watching the traffic (which was horrendous) and wondering what we were really missing!

Ed and Cathy went to exercise, with J.R occasionally announcing that we were still delayed and they didn’t know how long it would be before we sailed. He said he’d apprise us as soon as they had more information. 8:30 – and still no “provisions”, 6 dock workers and lots of crew including the executive Chef are on the dock – uh oh! We were thinking that maybe we were waiting for a part or something for the refurb that will occur in dry dock after our cruise, hmmmm….maybe it really is the food!

On to a fantastic dinner in Toscana – the awesome bread with roasted garlic and your choice of olive oil (watch our for the spicy stuff – it is really spicy!); appetizers are great as usual – rolled eggplant stuffed with a beef mixture and toped with cheese; caprese salad; minestrone soup that Ed just loves; special off the menu Tilapia with a Brazilian sauce for Cathy (gasp – fish!) and Osso Bucco for Ed. Excellent!

While relaxing after their filling meal, and munching on the biscotti that now comes before dessert, the Toscana chef, Roberto, came by to check on the guests. Ed and Cathy got to talking with him and he told them it was indeed the food –ALL the food for the entire cruise – that was missing. They had been on standby since 2 pm! Since it was a 15 day cruise to Europe, we couldn’t leave without it, we would run out of everything!! Uh oh! Can you imagine those phone calls between the home office and the ship? Where’s the food? We shipped the food? We don’t have the food? I’m looking at the bill of lading right here? Well I’m looking at empty storage bins…….Must have been a fun afternoon and evening!


After rolling out of the dining room, Ed and Cathy went up on deck to watch the proceedings. Six to 10 staff and crew outside; dock workers, all waiting. The Captain comes out, hands on hips, points to his watch! Not a happy man! We decided we should sail – the heck with the food. It could be a spa cruise. We would all lose weight and be fabulously healthy by the end. We might have to ration food, but that’s ok. Lady – 1 french fry for you – no more! You don’t need no more food anyway! Oh – can you even imagine?

Ended up we didn’t need to worry about rationing, finally, around 10:15, here come 3 container trucks! Our provisions have arrived! And now it has to be off loaded.

One of the staff is walking around with a light strapped to his head, so we, and all our new best friends up on deck watching this little escapade, have now dubbed him Miner-guy! Miner-guy inspects the locks and the back of the trucks, then takes pictures of the locks before letting the workers start to unload. It took until 1:00 or 1:30 in the morning to finish! Little fork lifts beep beeping away all night long – and crew hauling and stacking and moving all that food and provisions into the hold at record speed.

We gave up the ghost around 12:30 or so, preferring to retire to the cabin and sleep while our food was stocked below us. Cathy slept that is, Ed stayed up on the balcony and watched until the end of the stocking operation, then fell into a deep sleep in that great Oceania bed!

3-9 Rio Hiking – Tijuca Park

Today we are taking a half day hiking tour to what is said to be the largest urban forest on earth. Eduardo, our driver/guide, picks us up promptly at 8 and we go off to Leblon to pick up another hiker who will join us named David. Eduardo is wonderful and keeps us entertained with historical and geographical references during our drive to the chi chi section of Rio where all the high end hotels are located.

Our hiking mate, David, joins us from Derbyshire, England, and is a great personality. The four of us get along famously as we make our way to the park. We stop at a little gas station for water, then make our way into the park stopping again at a great waterfall at the entrance to the park. This forest is high up in the mountains surrounding Rio – and as the car climbs up the hill, the vegetation gets thicker and thicker, and the birds more plentiful. We park in a lot at the bottom of the trails and sign in with the Park Ranger (everyone must sign in and out – they keep very good track of the traffic on these trails!).

The trek is pretty strenuous – with lots of areas where we are climbing hand over hand up rocks and boulders. There are some rebar supports to use as stepping guides, but mostly it’s a hike/rock climb. The foliage and vegetation is thick and very rain forest-esque. Fortunately, it’s not all that sunny – which doesn’t bode well for our views – but it keeps us a little cooler than if the sun was blazing down.


After about an hour of climbing, we reach the summit at Parrot’s Peak. It’s about 3300 feet in altitude and simply a sheer rock outcropping – nothing more. There are quite a few people up here – lounging about, some with food for lunch, others just enjoying the space. Ed and Cathy, being relatively sissies when it comes to heights stay back near the boulder, but do venture out a bit to get some shots of the forest. I stay comfortably in my pack – I’m not getting out there – no way! They may be sissies, but I’m a full blown scaredy cat – and I’m staying put. If Ed and Cathy want to risk their life out there on the edge – go for it! Just leave the back pack on the ground when you do, thank you! I’m sure Eduardo or David will take care of me.

They all end up climbing even higher, up to the tippy-top of the rocks, where they can just barely see the city stretched out below. Unfortunately it is very misty and cloudy, so the spectacular views are non-existent today. Oh well – nothing much you can do – but it was still an exhilarating hike and experience to be up there! Eduardo took some pictures of us and then we headed back down the rocks and into the forest again.

On the way back, Eduardo told us a lot about how he loves to hike and climb (he actually said he was addicted to it) and that he’s traveled widely around Europe rock climbing, skiing and hiking. In addition to being a hiking guide with Rio Hiking, he is also teaching art at the university and a photographer, painter and sculptor himself. He’s had a show in New York City, but unfortunately wasn’t able to attend because he couldn’t get a Visa. He is hoping now that he works at University, he’ll be able to go to the States if he can put on another show. We hope so too! If he is half as talented as he is personable, this is someone to watch for in the art circles! The hike was great, but Eduardo and David made it really fantastic.

We headed back down to sea level again – taking David to his next adventure – climbing Sugar Loaf mountain. He had never been rock climbing before, and this was a real rock climb – with ropes, etc. We were all hungry, and Eduardo told David he absolutely had to eat before climbing, so he took us to this great little café on a side street leading to the Sugar Loaf cable car station. The café specialized in empanadas – Ed and I shared one cheese and one chicken turnover – and they were scrumptious! Not to mention only 2 Reals each! What a bargain. Satiated and tired, we drop David off, and then we go in search of wine.

We’ve asked Eduardo if he knows any place where we can find box wine. He thinks we might be able to find it in a neighborhood grocery, so we go there. He parks the jeep in the smallest space imaginable (the drivers are crazy here, btw, and the parking is at a premium – how he stuck this jeep into that space, I’ll never know!). The grocery store ended up being a bust, but it was still fun to go explore in an obviously local neighborhood with a beach that was absolutely PACKED with people just around the corner.

After providing us with a couple of suggestions for dinner, Eduardo dropped us off at the hotel with kisses and hand shakes. We were sad to see him go! We could have hung out with him all day – and into the evening. But, alas, he had to go home for a nap, before picking up some other folks after their afternoon tour! So, we hit the room, cooled off, used the facilities, then hit the streets once again – this time in Rio clothes (shorts and bathing suit top!!). This time, we walked the entire length of Copacabana. Phew – that’s a walk! You don’t realize how long it is from the map, but it’s another hike altogether!

We took a detour at a market on one of the side streets – amazing fresh veggies! We were traveling light unfortunately – no camera! Bummer! No great food pictures. But great memories – that’s for sure. After the market, we continued on down Copacabana and found one of the restaurants Eduardo suggested – Shirley’s. It looked fantastic – huge shrimp in a case, but the place itself was teeny – maybe 20 tables – tops. And at 3 in the afternoon it was packed. It was located at the far end of Copacabana so we would have to take a taxi – and there didn’t look to be many other options around if Shirley’s was crowded and we couldn’t get a table. So, we decided that maybe we should look for other options.

We headed back to our end of Copacabana, along the main commercial road, not the beach promenade. People were everywhere, walking to and from the beach, just wandering around on a sunny hot Sunday afternoon. We found a couple of restaurants, but they were far enough away that we worried about walking down the street at night, so we kept on our quest!

Stopped in a farmacia for some basic supplies and got hung up at the cashier when she was trying to ask us if we were going to give her a bill bigger than a 50. Not good! Portuguese is SO different from Spanish – it is next to impossible to understand anything. Fortunately we were saved by another customer who spoke English and translated – but otherwise – we were doomed!

Finally ended up settling on the Boteca Belmonte – what looked like a “sports” type bar on the corner a block from our hotel. We’d looked at the menu a couple times, and it seemed all right – but they actually had someone there who spoke English so that sealed the deal. (It’s amazing what a huge issue the language becomes when you are totally clueless. It’s scary and disappointing and can become overwhelming – especially when you’re a little tired and travel weary!).

So – back to the hotel to shower and rest, then back to the Belmonte. It’s a very cool place – all open air – TV’s around to give the “sports” bar impression. But the coolest thing is that they have these little “pastries” that they walk around with and offer to you. They aren’t free, mind you, but they are only 3 to 4.50 Reals, and they are excellent!! They look like huge muffins, but in actuality they are huge cheese balls. We had a shrimp and cheese pastry – it was delicious – similar to cream cheese with 4 huge shrimps and melted cheddar or something on top. Excellent! Cathy could have eaten those all night – forget about the dinner! (Other varieties included dried meat with cheese, a Neapolitan (who knows?) and shrimp, crab and hearts of palm.

We weren’t all that hungry, so the sandwiches looked like the ticket for us. Ed ordered veggie soup to start – it came in a huge bowl with toasted little bread slices on the side. Yum!!! The sandwiches were pretty big too! About 6” thick – and ALL MEAT. I kid you not. They were incredible. Ed’s sandwich was filled with thick slices of sausage (chorizo like) while Cathy’s was stuffed with Canadian bacon (not really – it was cooked ham – but they called it Canadian Bacon!!!) and pineapple. Awesome. The sandwiches were stuffed to the gills and so were Ed and Cathy when they were done!

Service turned out to be great even though once again, no one understood English and our English speaking waiter wasn’t the one handling our table. He did pop in and out though to make sure we were being taken care of properly. 76 Reals later (the wine was 20 Reals – for ½ a bottle – definitely NOT a wine town!!!), and we were ready for bed. It was a great find – and looking (and listening) around, not another English speaker in the house. We are definitely the vast minority here.

We waddled back to the hotel. Had our beer and wine night cap, then slept for a solid 8 hours!!!

3- 8 Rio de Janeiro

Bleary eyed, but excited to begin the next phase of our journey, we finally arrive in Rio after 3 flights and one plane change. Got through customs and baggage easily enough – and made our way out to the taxi stands. There are 2 ways to get taxis – either outside the terminal, where you pick up any cab available and take the meter price – or hire a taxi inside from one of the many kiosks located outside of baggage claim. The kiosks are reportedly more expensive than a regular taxi, but it’s a non-negotiated fee and you can pay upfront with a credit card. Since the kiosk method was pretty hassle free – and we didn’t want to have to worry about a taxi driver taking us on a tour before getting to the hotel – we booked a cab at the Transcootour kiosk. 80 Reals (at about $1.66 to the dollar, or $48) and we were on our way. It was Saturday afternoon, with very little traffic, so it only took us 20 minutes from the time we were in the cab – to check in at the hotel. Great!

It was actually a very pretty drive to the Augusto’s Copacabana. After exiting the highway, we drove around the lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas – a huge lake that separates Copacabana from Ipanema on the inland side of the coast. The Augustus Copacabana hotel was a great find – we got the room at an extremely affordable rate (88 Reals!) that included breakfast. We were given one of the smaller rooms at the back of the hotel (no view or balcony for us!), but it was still quite roomy and clean – and the A/C worked – that’s about all we cared about! Because – this is Brazil – and where Lima was hot – Rio was hotter!

After freshening up a bit, organizing our bags and changing into suitable Rio attire – we struck off to explore. Culture shock! Coming from Peru, even Lima, we were still in that indigenous kind of style, sort of laid back mood. Snap out of it! This is Rio! And it’s the weekend! We strolled down Rua Bolivar about 3 blocks to the beach promenade and proceeded to walk to the end of Copacabana, taking in the sights. And sights there were!

Beautiful – and not so beautiful – people tanning, drinking, eating, playing volleyball and making sand sculptures. Everyone in a thong – and yes, ladies were not topless – but only just! Cathy was feeling quite overdressed in her capri’s and t-shirt! Ed of course stood out like a beacon in his Galapagos t-shirt, shorts and white trainers! We were descended upon by every hawker on the street! But no matter, we were having too much fun people watching and walking. The beach – or the promenade – was very commercial. Every few yards there was a snack bar with tables, chairs and umbrellas. All selling different snacks and drinks. Coconut water is a big seller here – they just crack open the coconut and give it to you with a straw. Cathy was afraid to try it for fear of the intestinal affects (She remembered once on Survivor when they said that the coconut water was giving them the runs!! No way Jose – not in Rio! Forget about it!).

Interspersed along the promenade – but actually on the beach (in the sand) are food stands with local vendors selling everything from full meals to snacks. They roll up their coolers, set up tents and chairs – and sell all day long. Also along the beach are the sand sculptures. Although not as numerous as we expected, they were still a sight to see – and “see” only! No pictures unless you’re going to pay for them. Of course Cathy snapped a few and got into trouble – as usual. That camera will get her in more trouble!

After walking for a couple of hours and exploring a lot of the beach, we stopped for a beer (no wine – only tinto – or red) and people watched some more. Headed back to the hotel by way of all the restaurants on the city side of the beach promenade. Lots to choose from – but most with hefty prices. Found a great Italian place where we ended up sitting for another beer and a glass of wine for Cathy. Nice outside seating area (everyone has them) and good wine. Made a note to come back later, possibly for dinner.

Headed back to the hotel to relax and shower before making our dinner decision. As it turned out – the restaurant in the hotel had a great menu that night – and was pretty reasonable (we’ve hit the high price part of our journey – no more dirt cheap food and bargaining for prices off the menu!). We ended up staying there and had a great meal of soup, entrée, beer, ½ bottle of wine and more bread than you could ever eat! The waiter barely spoke English (just like most of the people here!) – and it was really fun ordering and trying to figure everything out.

Fell into bed exhausted from too little sleep on the planes and too much walking and exploring on our first day in Rio!

3-7 Cusco to Lima

Nice night in the hotel – good sleep – and we’re up at a decent time for our flight to Lima. No more crack of dawn mornings for us! Yippee!

Alan was right on time to pick us up and the flight was on schedule as well. We land back in Lima just as planned – and it’s just as hot as it was at the beginning of the week. Lovely! Sleeping at the Manhattan with their “air-conditioning”, read: ceiling fan, may not be so easy. Oh well!

We had asked Alan to see if we could arrange a quick city tour of Lima – and Enjoy Peru came through. We had a 4 hour tour with Rosa for $25 each. Great! Rosa picked us up right on schedule and we had a nice little city orientation tour. We saw the City square, the President’s hours, a fantastic church with catacombs – even police dressed out in riot gear with the shields and everything waiting for some protest to begin. South America. Gotta love it – as long as we’re not in the middle of it.

We drove through the elite part of town, where all the houses were enormous and pretty – and all had barbed wire strung around their outside walls and locked gates. Then back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon. The only down side of the Manhattan is the location when you have time to kill. When you fly in at night and leave immediately the next morning – it’s a primo spot (if you don’t mind no air). It’s 15 minutes from the airport. When you have an afternoon to kill – and you don’t want to sleep – it’s a bit G.U. You can’t really walk anywhere from there – but a quick cab ride will take you to a shopping area with restaurants.

Cathy and Ed went upstairs to try to sleep. Richard and Maggi hung around, watched the local life on the square outside the room and at at the restaurant. At exactly 10:30 – our ride arrived for the airport – and we all boarded the van for our last trip together. We checked in to our separate airlines (I’m already having separation anxiety) then met up after paying our departure tax (that’s a story – every place we went you have to pay to leave! What a great revenue producer!). Ed and Cathy were hungry so they decided to eat at a restaurant off the concourse. Richard and Maggi had a drink with them, but then had a little moment of what Maggi calls as “Stevens’ panic” – and decided to head to their gate. We hugged and kissed and bade them a found farewell and safe travels. Wow – this will be so weird to travel for the rest of the trip without them!

Dinner was great –salad with grilled chicken, beer and wine and very reasonable. Well fed, but not really rested, we headed for our gate. Stopped for a beer and wine at another bar on the concourse – ran into Maggi and Richard on the way to our gate – and then boarded the first of our 3 flights to Rio.

Flights ended up being fine – we slept as much as we could on the Lima to Santiago flight. Bought some water (the cheap stuff – a nice store clerk warned us that Evian was $7 USD, but the local stuff was $1 USD), snoozed in the lounge, then boarded the Santiago to Sao Paulo flight. Again, smooth, we slept a bit and weren’t all that bedraggled when we got to Rio the next morning.

3- 6 Aguas Calientes to Cusco

Morning dawns with haze and clouds on Machu Picchu, but with a few breaks down in Aguas Calientes. Mornings are not exactly quiet here! After a great night’s sleep (the Inti Inn bed was incredible!!!), Ed and Cathy awoke to the sounds of the streets of Aguas Calientes. People talking, bells ringing, and not church bells, but really pealing, loud ringing. After a nice shower, Ed went out to investigate and found that the bells were from the recycling collectors, who obviously ring them to announce they are coming for the pick up. Nice – but loud!

Since Ed and Cathy are early risers, isn’t wasn’t an issue – although they did hope Maggi and Richard were able to sleep through the racket. After a good breakfast – great selection of meats, cheese, pastries, eggs, etc., they checked email, said good morning to Maggi and Richard as they headed to breakfast – then hit the streets of Aguas Calientes. Our original plans to climb Huayana Picchu were ditched for 2 reasons – 1) the cost, and 2) the weather. No sense spending about $100 USD to get up there and see nothing! So we explored the teeny Aguas Calientes town. Cappuccino at a café on the railroad track; explored shops, sat in the Plazas de Armas soaking up the sun that had broken through the clouds and watched the butterflies that were everywhere – fluttering merrily along the streets and through the whole town. We also watched the day trippers roil in for Machu Picchu. Once the trains were in, we hit the market for some cute souvenirs. From the market, we headed out through the residential section of agues Calientes to Inka Terra. This is a huge hotel resort with hiking tails, butterflies and an orchid farm. It’s gated, so in order to get in, you have to be a guest or tell them you want to go to the restaurant. We chose to just take pictures of the rushing river waters from the bridge leading to Inka Terra. We found out later that Maggi and Richard went in and hiked the trails to a stone at the top of the hill that had spiritual significance (of which escapes me right now, but Maggi knew the whole story at the time!!).


Later, back in town, as we wandered around, we stumbled on a local market filled with gorgeous produce and vendors in native dress selling street food. And, lo and behold, inside on the far wall of the market were a couple of clothing stalls with……bras!!!! Of all things!!! Cathy ended up snagging one for $4 USD! It even had exchangeable straps! Wardrobe malfunction solved! Thank heavens – no more exercise bra – while it was very comfy, it wasn’t exactly the look Cathy was going for! This bra wasn’t a perfect fit (trying it on on top of her clothing was a hoot! But it was better than nothing – so in the bag it went!).

Wandering back up Pachacuteq, we stumbled into a fabulous little jewelry store. The nicest owner – he studied the jewelry craft in Cusco then came back here to make his living. His sister lives in the US. We bought a great shaman charm for Stephanie and Huayruros seed earrings for Cathy. The seeds represent good luck. He also gave us 2 Cusco cross necklaces for coming in. Wish we would have gotten his name and the name of the store – which we thought was printed on the explanation of the Cusco cross – but unfortunately was not! Geez!

Lunch time rolled around and the restaurant hawkers are out. At Dulce Gourmet, Carla, the greeter, sold Ed on a 20% discount. She was precious, great personality and turned out to be the right move. Sitting outside, we had asparagus soup and vegetable soup (both handmade to order), then shared a Relleno with Pollo (a monster zucchini stuffed with cheese and chicken). It was an excellent meal. The inside of the restaurant was decorated in an over the top jungle motif. A cute little surprise when we went in to use the facilities.

As we ate, we watched more garbage collectors. There’s obviously a fleet of government paid street cleaners – all in green aprons with gas masks!!! – who cruise the streets looking for trash. It’s no wonder the place is so clean. We also watched the street vendor trade as traditionally dressed women walked up and down the street selling food to the restaurant workers. Once woman had those monstrous corn cobs, another flowers, yet another some ice cream in little cups. Great local atmosphere in the middle of tourist town!


Back at the Inti Inn, Cathy changed into her new undergarment and we all met up with Maggi and Richard. The hotel will deliver our bags to the station, but we choose to take them ourselves (we have a little bit of luggage separation anxiety now). We’re way early for the train – so we hang out (inside and outside the station). Boys have beer, Maggi and Cathy wait for the train, because here again, there are no glasses of wine, only bottles and they don’t want to buy a whole bottle, knowing they will on the train. Lines start forming early, we figure the last one on strategy will work since it’s all reserved seating, and hit the train at 3:20. We’re all sitting together this time, so it’s easier for Maggi and Cathy to shard the bottle of wine while we all watch the spectacular scenery rush by.

Virtually everyone on the train gets off at Ollantaymbo – so we all spread out for the reminder of the trip. We get off in Poros, which saves us an hour of switchbacks on the train, and will get us back to Cusco by 7 pm. Alan is of course, right there waiting for us. As we head through Poros to Cusco, we watch as a storm rolls in from the mountains. Lighting and thunder like you’ve never heard, the n a deluge of rain and sleet! By the time we get back to the San Agustin hotel, the sleet was a ½ inch thick in places and the rain kept coming. We had asked Alan for restaurant recommendations, but ended up going to Panaka again since it was right across the street. We loved our lunch there and figured we’d love dinner too.

We ran through the rain and sleet to the courtyard of Panaka – the doors were shut tight and we had a moment of panic thinking they were closed, but our waitress from our previous visit was right there - she unlocked (yes – unlocked!!) the doors and showed us in. We were the only people there again – they had to turn on the space heater for us! Once again – fantastic food (not that we can remember what we had – but it was all good!). Other diners came in later, so we didn’t feel as bad. Back to the San Agustin for a last drink at the bar and then up to bed for a hopefully good night’s sleep.

3/5 Back to the blog – Afternoon & Evening in Aguas Calientes

After a full day, we were all in need of a rest! We headed off to find the Cultural Center to confirm ticket prices and hours, then to find the hotel. Along the way, we go turned around (thank you Mr. Bus Office man for giving us the wrong directions!!!) and headed way far up hill – PS maps aren’t the best in Aguas Calientes! Richard and Maggi split off, wanting to find either a drink or the hotel so they could rest. Cathy gave them the hotel coupons and moved the bag receipt to the passports (yeah, that’s a clue for later!!), then we headed back down the hill to the main square – finding the center easily enough and getting our bearings in town.

Aguas Calientes, sometimes called Machupicchu town, is a funny little ramshackle town built along the Rio Aguas Calientes where it meets the rushing Rio Vilcanota. Catering exclusively to tourists, every space available ion the north side of the Rio Aguas Calientes is a restaurant, mini market or souvenir shop. Hawkers stand outside their restaurant trying to tempt you with their menus and special deals (you can tell it’s the slow season – no one is sticking to the printed prices). On the other side of the river, the south side of town is more residential (read: local) and ends at Inka Terra – the largest hotel (and the poshest) in town. There isn’t’ a lot to do besides relax, shop at the stores or huge market set up around the train station, visit the hot springs for a dip or explore Inka Terra with their orchid farm and walking trails. Still, the town exudes a backpacker kind of charm that is really quite appealing.

Ed and Cathy found the Cultural Center easily enough (at the bottom of the hill they had just climbed!!) and confirmed opening times, etc. Heading back up to the hotel, they found Richard and Maggi sharing 2 for 1 beers and joined them at the “Lookout” restaurant. Sufficiently quenched (you’ll see I got to get in on that fun too!!!) we all headed up to the Inti Inn to reclaim our baggage and check into our rooms. (This is where the ticket comes in! Being the obsessive compulsive person that she is, Cathy went nuts trying to find the stupid baggage claim ticket. She knew she originally put it in the hotel voucher binder, but moved it and couldn’t find it anywhere. Smart Bleaders will remember it’s in the passports, but those were at the front desk during this little ticket panic. Of course, they didn’t need them – the porter already had the bag and was just going to give it to them, regardless of the ticket – but it was an interesting little panic attack there in the lobby! Time for a refreshing shower and BIG glass of wine I say!)

The Inti Inn, located on the main pedestrian drag of Pachacuteq is small and charming, but not exactly quiet! Virtually all the rooms are centered around the staircase, so early and late comings and goings are easily heard and can be bothersome. The rooms are small, but sparkling clean and efficient –with the BEST bed since the Marriott! A cute little pizzeria is located downstairs, with “a bar” that is really only a counter where you can order beer or wine and take it to a table! Very accommodating service and reception – for the price – it was fantastic.

After the long day in Machu Picchu, the fearless travelers decided to meet of drinks at 7:30 then head out to find dinner. Ed and Cathy were ready early (what a surprise!) and they went off to explore a bit. On the way up the hill form the hotel, they found a cute little place called “the Sexy Cafe”. Inviting sets of armchairs sitting outside the café called to them,. They sat for a drink, watching two little 6 or 7 year old boys play with a water bottle and listening to the river rushing down the hill a few yard away. (Cathy ordered wine of course, and after a few minutes, one of the girls who worked in the cafe went running down the street. A couple minutes later, here she comes back up the street with a bottle in a brown paper bag! Obviously there was no wine and she had to go buy it! Too funny!!! Turned out to be quite good – and quite a good pour!!)

After their drinks and the complimentary popcorn (I’m liking this place!!!), they headed back to the hotel to pick up Maggi and Richard. Now off to find dinner! We all journeyed back down the hill to the main square, looking at menus as we went. When we approached the end of the square, we were accosted by 2 restaurant hawkers. Both restaurants had 2nd floors which looked really neat, so Ed haggled with one of them (Valle Sagrada) and managed to get free wine, beer and 18 Sole meals for each of us! (anything we wanted on the menu except cuy was 18 soles – what a deal!). Like I said, you can sure tell it’s not high season! The Valle Sadgrado turned out to be an excellent choice, not only for the food (Trucha for Maggi, Alpaca for everyone else) but also the atmosphere. First of all, we swore that they were cooking all the food upstairs in an apartment because family members (including a young girl with a baby on her hip) kept coming and going from the 3rd floor, most of the times with food. Then Maggi and Richard became enamored with a cat that was laying on a light on the roof opposite us. Richard began taking picture after picture at Maggi’s behest. Then Ed started helping with the pictures. When Richard realized he could get a better picture from the bathroom, both he and Ed went in to get ht shot, leaving Maggi and Cathy in hysterics in the restaurant. More wine and beer, more laughs, and pictures. The total bill was 161 Soles or about $54 US. Can’t beat it!

We walked back up the Avenue Pachacuteq to the Sexy Café for an after dinner drink. Sat inside on two futon type sofas for more canguil – and a pathetic attempt at chess. American Rock still playing, open air breeze through the café (but not too cold); good wine, beer and company. An excellent way to end a spectacular day in Machu Picchu.

3/5 Lunch and Afternoon in Machu Picchu

Through our tour package with Enjoy Peru, we had lunch tickets for the Sanctuary Lodge Restaurant. The lodge is located right outside the Machu Picchu entrance gate (It’s the only place to stay actually at Machu Picchu, and rooms go for $500 and up a night! Ummm, Aguas Calientes is looking really good to us!). As we were walking out of the entrance gate, who did we see? The Celebrity tour walking into Machu Picchu! What a coincidence! We thought they’d been there and already gone a few days before, but the couple we said hello to said they’d been in Cusco for 2 days! Small world! We couldn’t figure out why they were arriving so late, though, but whatever! We were having a blast on our own little tour – doing what we wanted, pretty much when we wanted!

Lunch at the Sanctuary was really quite good – a buffet so you could have your fill of a huge variety of salad starters, sliced roast beef with aioli, olives, and later cheeses; hot items included chicken, beef and trout as well as a suckling pig on the carving board. Definitely enough choices and enough to keep us going for the afternoon. The restaurant is bright an airy (well, it would be in the sunshine) with huge floor to ceiling windows around the perimeter for a great view of the mountains where we sat. (The only down side was the entertainment – a band that we’re sure was very good, but very VERY loud and a little annoying after a while!) As we began to eat, the skies opened up. It is the rainy season after all, and the weather here is showing it. We sat the rain out, eating, drinking coffee, water, tea, and watching everyone slowly leaving the ruins, either because of the rain or the train. Good move on our part! But we felt sorry for our Celebrity friends who had just entered the park. Bummer!

We developed a strategy to ride out the storm in the restaurant. At 3 pm (when lunch was over) we would make the go/no go decisions. The rain kept coming, falling in sheets, then letting up, then pouring again. We asked on of the waiters if he thought it would stop – he looked out and said it would stop in 1 hour. We figured he probably knew what he was talking about so we headed out into the still raining skies at 3 o’clock precisely. Ed bought a poncho to cover the back pack (started out at 3 soles, but then ended up at 5 – guess inflation hits as it gets wetter). He donned his bright green poncho once inside the gates which set Cathy off into a laughing fit – he looked like a huge green elf – particularly when he put on the little peaked hood. Maggi and Cathy laughed so hard they couldn’t even get a picture off in time – probably a good thing in retrospect! Ed wisely opted for his own rain jacket hood – which definitely improved the look.

Even through the rain, we knew we had made the right decision. First of all, the rain, mist and clouds gave the ruins a totally magical and mystical feel. And secondly, the crowds had also magically disappeared. There may have been maybe 500 people still exploring the site, but it’s so huge, we almost felt as if we were all alone. A completely different feeling than the overcrowded, overrun atmosphere of the late morning/early afternoon. We climbed to the guard house, searching for the sun house trail, just in case we decided to come up for sunrise (yeah! Right! Ha!). As we climbed up, up, up to one of ht highest points of the site, the mist kept flowing around us. At once engulfing everything so that you felt as if you were floating in the peaks of the Andes with noting anchoring you to the ground – then gradually – or swiftly – moving away to reveal the spine tingling enormity of Machu Picchu.

We stood at the Guardhouse gazing down upon Machu Picchu for quiet some time. Alternately snapping photos and taking moments to reflect on the enormity of what was accomplished here. Words can’t really describe the actuality of standing atop the gigantic ruins of a society so intelligent and strong, yet so shrouded in mystery. In the 1400’s, how did they know to build this? How did they figure out the incredibly sturdy trapezoid architecture? Why did they choose this spot (beyond trying to avoid rock slides)? How did they move these rocks? And why did they abandon and disappear completely form Machu Picchu less than 100 years after they built it?

We contemplated all this and more as we watched the weather flow around the Machu Picchu ruins (Cathy, Maggi and Ed from the precipice beyond the guard house, Richard from a safer distance back behind it!). Soon the rain (as promised) stopped, but the clouds continued to swirl giving an ethereal feel. We climbed down from the Guardhouse and wandered aimlessly here and there trying to absorb everything we could. As it became later and later, we knew we had to leave, but truly hated to do so. The peacefulness, serenity and sheer power resonated inside us with every glance, touch of rock and step along ancient paths. Not to be totally sophomoric, but it truly was a day we’d never ever forget!

Now for the technicalities (if you’re not going to visit Machu Picchu – skip on to the next section!): Machu Picchu is a tourist destination, plain and simple. We visited in early March, the rainy season, the slow period, and we were overwhelmed with the number of people there. In high season (June, July and August) there are 3 times as many people visiting the ruins (Editorial note; ACK!!!). The busiest times are between 10:30 and 3:00 when all the day trippers visit. If its possible to spend 1 or 2 nights in Aguas Calientes, its worth it. Arrive on the morning train, spend the first day in Aguas Calientes, visit Inka Terra (a beautiful hotel with orchid garden and hiking trails) or the hot springs, then spend the entire 2nd day in Machu Picchu. You can go up to the site as early at 6 am (the first bus leaves at 5:30, gates open at 6), then catch the sunrise. You’ll have the place pretty much to yourself until around 10:30, then you can just grin and bear it until around 3 when the crowds move out and head back for their trains. Pack a lunch (plenty of people do, and some hotels even supply box lunches) then find a spot to sit and reflect while you eat – or eat at the Sanctuary lodge or the snack shop outside the main gates. Whatever you do, it will be well worth your while to explore Machu Picchu without the crowds. (In March ’08, there were no multiple day visit discounts, 122 Soles per person, per day; 6 USD each one-way for the bus up to the ruins.) As I said earlier, tickets to Machu Picchu are only available at the Cultural Center off the main square in Aguas Calientes, and they only accept Soles. Bus tickets can be purchased at the bus station using US dollars.

3/5 Cusco to Machu Picchu

We are up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 for a 5:30 pick up to make the Vista Dome at 6:05. Yikes! I’m hating us right now! Bad night in a small bed – and Cathy isn’t in much of a Machu Picchu spiritual mood. Breakfast is good in the hotel – meat, cheese, eggs, rolls, cereal – and awesome coffee. It’s coffee extract! So you just put as much syrupy looking coffee extract in your cup and then top it off with water. Cathy is much happier now – she can make her coffee just the way she wants! Brilliant!

5:30 – Alan is right on time – out in the van he gives us our marching orders. He hands out our tickets (train and Machu Picchu) then tells us we will meet our guide Aldo at the station. We whip right to the station – there’s no traffic this time of the morning. Porters take our bags (we’ve all left one bag at San Agustin – heck – we have bags spread over the whole of Peru by now!), we meet Aldo. He gives us further instructions – here’s the map, here’s how you get to the buses, once off the train, leave your luggage with your hotel, DON’T go to the hotel, get on the bus, be at Machu Picchu by 10:40. Bus is ½ hour, there are facilities at the entrance to Machu Picchu, you’ll only have 10 minutes before the tour leaves. Don’t be late. He’s not going to be with us on the train, we have to do this on our own. The pressure!!!

We head off, show our passports and board the train. It’s a lovely little coach that seats 50 people, facing seats with a table in between. We were B43, 44, 47 and 48 – across the aisle from each other. We had a cute little Peruvian couple who snuggled and cuddled the whole way up to Machu Picchu. Didn’t speak a word of English – so we smiled a lot at each other. Maggi and Richard had two women who were part of another group and who kept trying to change seats to sit with the others. It’s all assigned, and even though there were empties – you couldn’t change. Turns out the empties get filled at Ollantaytambo – but that’s coming up later. Right now, we’re barely awake, but happily off on the train anticipating our Machu Picchu journey.

The first hour of the 4-hour trip mostly consisted of navigating the 4 switchbacks that take you up the mountain above Cusco. The views are fantastic as the train continues to rise above the city. We pass house after house with the dual oxen on the top. We learned yesterday that these Oxen are traditionally used for good luck. At New Years, the residents take the oxen and put them in the middle of the dinner table. They put little icons inside the Oxen that represent what you want or are going to do in the next year to wish for luck. Like a miniature suitcase if they are planning to travel, or a bride and groom if they are planning to marry, etc. Then they replace the oxen on the top of the house for good luck. A really neat little tradition!

After reaching the top of the mountain, the rest of the trip is virtually downhill and goes by in a blur of fabulous scenery, little mud block built towns and the occasional isolated farm. Service on the train is precise and methodical. First, the table setting is laid – red clay type coffee cups and juice glasses, plates and silverware. This takes a while. Then there is a pause in service, the train stops at Poroy for additional passengers, and the service begins again. There’s a choice of coffee or mate de coca, a plate of cheese and ham and turkey slices, bread (coca, wheat, sweet) and tres leches for dessert. It’s a great snack and fun watching the whole process unfold! Keeps us occupied for at least an hour!

There are still empty seats and some of the passengers are getting antsy and want to move, but our next stop, Ollantaytambo takes care of that. The train is definitely sold out, and as we pull in at 8:25, we see a score of people waiting for the train. This stop is in the heart of the Sacred Valley and a great way station if you want to explore all the little towns and ruins throughout the valley. If we ever come back, this is where we’d like to stay for a day or two.

The journey continues on, and we finally reach Aguas Calientes a little before 10 am. We have our instructions from Aldo, so we leave the train and walk into the madness – people everywhere! A couple of hotels in the station, and after a little disagreement in the terminal, we head out toward the bus station and find more hotels, the Inti Inn among them, right outside the gates to the station. We drop our bags (with our fingers crossed that they will be there when we get to the hotel), get our receipts and head toward the bus. Getting to the bus is work – the artisan’s market is set up at the station and you must wind your way through it to get to the bust stop. It was actually kind of fun to try to work your way through the maze of fake alpaca sweaters and obligatory tourist junk. None of the shopkeepers were overly aggressive – so it wasn’t very obnoxious – just funny to try to get out of the maze, like rats looking for the cheese!

The bus stop is little more than an office on the corner of the street and a guy standing there with a sign telling you to buy Machu Picchu entrance tickets first before you board the bus. (A good tip to remember – they may or may not sell tickets at the entrance to Machu Picchu. They do sell them at the Cultural center in the main square of Aguas Calientes – the hours are very convenient – quite early and late every day. One other caution – where ever you buy the tickets – they only take Soles – no US dollars, no credit cards. In March 2008 it was 122 soles for an adult ticket or about $43 USD at that time).

We all got in line and made the next bus! Off we go! Up, up, up, on a dirt an mud switchback road. 30 minutes of incredible vistas, watching the town of Aguas Calientes get smaller and smaller in the distance while the huge peaks of the Andes got closer and closer. As we turned one of the last corners, Machu Picchu rose majestically off to our right. The day was a typical rainy season day – cloudy, foggy, sunny, rainy – just wait a minute and it will change. In a way it was even better than a sunny day s it gave an even more mystical feeling to this ancient Inca ruin.

Off the bus, we meet Aldo at the stairs to the entrance gate. Split into two groups, English speaking and Spanish, we head up into Machu Picchu with Wagner, our English speaking guide (Aldo has the Spanish speaking tour). We entered the ruins below the original main gate, wound our way around a couple of storage houses, and found ourselves on an little landing overlooking the whole of the lower Machu Picchu. Our first complete view of the ruins – and it was astounding. A little crowded, which made the view a bit disappointing, but still amazing as we gazed out over one of the 10 wonders of the world. Wow! We are really here!!! How cool is this?

The next 2 hours were very informative as Wagner detailed the highlights of what is believed about Machu Picchu. He showed us the three sections of the city – Urban, Agricultural and Religious. He explained the significance of the Sun Palace and how the windows were placed in exactly the right position to get he Sun on the equinox and solstice. He walked us through the Palace of the Condor and gave a great intro into the Shirley Mclaine “theory” of energy at the Ceremonial Rock (suffice it to say – it’s pure Shirley! Energy rising from the rock, yada, yada, yada).

The tour ended after walking to the far side of the ruins, seeing the entrance to Huayana Picchu and listening to Wagner explain the trapezoid building theory the Incas used. (This is the same discovery discussed in the Cusco city tour – building at a small angle so that the buildings withstood earthquakes. Basically, anything that wasn’t pillaged and deconstructed by the Spaniards is still standing today due this remarkable architectural style.) It was about 1 o’clock when Wagner pointed us toward the exit. We decide to go ahead and eat lunch now, then come back in after most of the crowds left the site (most people had to leave on the 3:25 train, so we hoped the site would be less crowded by the time we finished lunch).

3/4 Cusco City Tour & Dinner

Another guide showed up and walked us over to the Qorikancha Convent of Santa Domingo where we would start our tour. Romulo was our guide –and he proved to be very informative and humorous. We wandered through the convent, looking at pre-Incan objects and various sacred rooms. This convent is an example of three different periods of architecture – pre-Incan, Incan and Spanish. We learned how the Inca’s developed a unique style of building – the trapezoid. They would build structures with wider bottoms and narrower walls – which made them extremely sturdy and virtually earthquake proof. They also set the stones together with an interlocking mechanism that further improved the strength of the structure. The tenacity of this unique building technique is evident from the damage wrought by the earthquake of 1950, which brought down most of the Convent building, except the Incan built areas.

After this fascinating lecture and tour, we left the convent and walked around the Convent to board our buses down below the back lawn. The size and scope of the convent can be seen from this angle – it’s huge with a beautifully landscaped lawn. On the way to the buses we bought some bar type candy. We started calling it our granola bars – they were quite good – don’t know what they were made of – maybe Quinoa and honey? But they were tasty and helped keep our energy up during the next couple of days! (We hoarded them!!).

Next stop on our tour was the Cathedral on the main square, Plaza de Armas. This place was magnificent. Huge, built over an Incan temple (everything seems to be built over an Incan temple!), there were altars upon altars, Gold leaf, fantastic sculptures, huge parishioner areas and choir rooms. Plus, a statue of a black Jesus which is very unique. The whole thing was a really stunning example of religious architecture. And we got an earful about the Opus Dei convention of the current Catholic church and how one of the local archbishops who is revered in the community for his good works cannot be buried in the church due to some issue with Opus Dei. Politics. Always politics.

Back on the bus we head up to the beginning of the Sacred Valley and Sacsayhuaman (pronounced like Sexy Woman). This place marks the beginning of what remains of the Incan “house of sun” (not a fortress as the Spaniards originally thought). As we pull up (with all the other tour buses), there is another and daughter opposite the entrance with llamas. Everyone rushes to take their pictures –for the first time without paying! The mom is in traditional dress and it’s a great photo opp! We just took pictures from the bus, wanting to get into the ruins in front of another large group. We troop to the entrance, which is little more than a gate with people standing in front of it. We proffer our tickets and they punch a hole in the Sacsayhuaman box (the tickets are cool – they are for virtually all the museums and ruins in and around Cusco. Each location has a photo creating a border around the outside edges of the ticket which is hole punched when you enter. Neat souvenir!

Dating back to the early 1400s, the Sacsayhuaman structures are built into the hillsides of the Andes and look like a slithering serpent from above. All the stones are perfectly placed together with no mortar, just fitted together in a way to withstand the winds of time. The rock structures are said to form the head of a puma – the body and tail of which are Cusco when seen from above. So I ask you – did the Incas do this on purpose? And how would they have known the shape, size and placement? They certainly wouldn’t have been able to see it from the air in the 1400’s. Some of the stones are said to weigh over 140 tons. How in the world did the Incans move them? Place them? Figure out how to place them exactly right so that they wouldn’t be disturbed all these centuries later? Astonishing! Just more mysteries that add to the sheer mind boggling scope and size.

The weather is turning cold and dreary now. There is rain in the air – and we are all bundling up as much as possible. The wind whips through Sacsayhuaman as we wander through many of the different plateau levels while heading back to the bus on the other side of the ruins. What must it have been like to live here in the 1400’s? What did the Spanish Conquistadors think when they found these structures? We know that they raided these sites for the stones and took them off to build their own structures in Cusco (this is a recurring theme virtually everywhere we go in the region – stones being carted off from Incan temples and structures to build the churches and monuments that now stand atop original Incan land). But what must have gone through their brains at the site of these massive stones so perfectly placed? It is all a little much to take in – and we’re not even to the main event of Machu Picchu yet!

Next on our sacred valley tour is Pukapukara, a large red fort high above the valley. This was the entrance to the Inca trail in the 1400s. It is thought that a market was held here, where the Machu Picchu inhabitants would come to trade wares with those living in and around Cusco. Anyone going to Machu Picchu would have to pass through this area on their way into the Andes.

Tambomachay is our next stop – in the cold and now the drizzle. Here there is actually a little guard house with facilities – well – bathrooms that none of us have the courage to use! These ruins are located a few thousand yards up a hard packed trail. At the end of the main trail are the baths – three levels of running water where ritual baths were taken. Because of the stonework, it is commonly thought that these baths were reserved for higher nobility. It is also here, right past the baths, that the actual Inca Trail begins. Although most treks begin past Ollantaytambo, hearty soles can leave from here for a trek (longer than the typical 4 days trail hike) over the highest peak at 4200 meters, on their way to Machu Picchu. No thanks – not that the hike and the views wouldn’t be worth it – but sleeping out for 4 days – nope – not even a remote possibility.

Last is Q'enqo. This is a temple dedicated to the puma, which has a special meaning to the Inca people as it represents “power”. It is said that the Puma was a symbol of self-leadership in those times. This temple gets its name because it is a labyrinth, with stones placed in a maze, and a cave meandering under the temple. We walk through the cave in the wet and the cold, and Cathy steps in a big puddle. Not so good with her water shoes on – even with socks. Ick! Outside of the cave/tunnel, there are spectacular views of Cusco and the Andes.

Now, it’s finally time to head back down into Cusco – we’ve whet our appetite for what we’ll see tomorrow in Machu Picchu – and we’re ready to relax a little before our big Cultural show and dinner tonight! But of course, there’s one stop left! Shopping!!! How can there be a tour of any sort without shopping? We stop at an artisan’s outpost, right near Sacsayhuaman – amazing! Well, it wasn’t that bad, really. Lots of Alpaca – sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves, you name it. And jewelry and figurines. It was a nice store, but the prices are still pretty high for Alpaca – so we all passed on that. Richard did find a beautiful necklace however, and bought it for Maggi! So all was not lost!

Back into town, we all hop off at Plaza de Armas and wander around the main plaza a bit. It’s getting dark and cold, so we don’t dawdle too much, but head back to the San Agustin – a 10 minute walk at best. Rested and refreshed, we meet downstairs in the lobby at the appointed time to rendezvous with Alan for dinner. We figure we’ll be going with the rest of the group, but no, it’s just us. We get dropped off at the Don Antonio restaurant. Alan walks us in – confers with the maitre’d and we’re seated at a nice table towards the back. Good views of the stage, but not so close that it’s overwhelming.

The place is packed – and not just with the requisite tourists, there’s a huge group of locals celebrating what appears to be an elder gentleman’s birthday. 40 or 50 people – a lot of them young men (with no dates) in suits. Business? Family? Both? They were toasting and crying and celebrating. It was quite fun to watch. Dinner was a buffet – that was out of this world. Huge salad buffet with anything and everything you could imagine. The huge, corn on steroids with a great mustard type sauce, regular salad, beet salad, meats, alpaca carpaccio (which we were told not to eat), bread, you name it. Also had a table for olives, cheeses and those damn addictive corn nuts. Then the main event – quinoa soup, alpaca, trout (which is very salmon-ish here), rice, beans, and yes, even cuy! We finally get to have cuy (that is guinea pig for those of you who aren’t familiar with Peruvian cuisine)! And it’s GOOD. This was marinated, and already cut up into pieces, so we didn’t have to deal with looking at the poor thing on a skewer. That helped a lot! It was disturbing with the little bones though, gotta tell you that – but overall Cathy, Ed and Richard enjoyed it very much to their surprise! (Of course I’m cringing because if they could put that cute little guinea pig on a spit, I’m betting they wouldn’t have any problem sticking me over the fire. I’m happy hiding out in my little pack pouch and making sure I don’t end up as the main course somewhere here in Peru!)

All during the gorging, the show has been going on. It’s actually quite good – with traditional dances and costumes. The music is interesting, and not overpowering from our seats. Even though we were all hesitant, and not really much into the idea of this, it turned out to be a great evening – entertaining, fantastic food, and great people watching! As usual, beer is included, wine is not, so we wait for the check and Maggi goes to smoke. Nicotine fix handled, check paid, right on schedule in walks Alan – and off we go to the hotel again. Alan gives us our marching orders for the morning: 5:30 in the lobby for our transfer to the train station. Maggi is hating us, we know, but – hey – it’s Machu Picchu. It’s the Vista Dome, it’s a once in a life time thing. Yeah, she’s still hating us!

Quick night cap, and all the sleepy heads hit the hay!

3/4 Lima to Cusco

Well, it’s morning. Not much sleep but we’re up and ready to head to the airport. A quick very odd breakfast (just beverages and sandwich roll looking bread, nothing else), and we wait with our luggage downstairs. Since we’re only going for 4 days, we’ve left our big bags here at the Manhattan and will pick them up when we return on Friday.

At precisely 6:45 a big old bus rolls up – and here comes our tour guide – we hop on the bus (it’s huge!!! For just us – that’s it – no one else – too funny), and off we go to the airport. It’s much quieter there this morning than last night. We trudge over to the Lan counter and try to get boarding passes from the electronic machines. No go.

We’re in line to wait for a desk agent when we spy the departures/arrivals board. Every Cusco flight is either late or cancelled. Ah darn! Weather is just dogging us (pardon the pun!) on this trip. It’s typically bad in Cusco in the mornings and the evenings, but we were hoping to avoid any potential delays. If it gets too bad, and we can’t get in today, it messes up the entire Machu Picchu trip. Ack!

After standing in line forever (turns out the computers were really, really slow), we finally get our boarding passes and check our luggage. No word on our fights, so we go through security and around to the gates. Well, we’ve found the crowds! The ticketing area may have been quiet, but that’s because all the people are down here waiting for those delayed and cancelled flights! It’s packed – and it’s hot!

We all trooped back upstairs to find coffee and actually snagged seats at the coffee café, trying not to moan about our weather luck. Fortunately, the weather cleared and all of a sudden ALL the flights were called to board. It was a mad house with about 4 Cusco flights all going at once. We managed to board our plane, take off and arrive in Cusco only 15 minutes late. Bravo!

The flight over to Cusco was smooth and the scenery tremendous. Flying through the Andes was spectacular when the clouds cleared. Huge peaks covered in snow, beautiful valleys. Then circling and landing in Cusco – just a narrow valley in the middle of the Andes– much less developed than Quito – but similar in the airport approach and landing.

The airport was a mini madhouse because all 4 flights came in at once. We collected our bags and headed out into the bedlam. We see an Enjoy Peru sign – but then lost it. Wandered out of the airport proper and searched the parking lot but couldn’t find the sign again. Finally, after about 5 minutes, Alan, our guide in Cusco, came back and found us. He had picked up another group, taken them to the van, then came back for us.

No problem! In the van we go – and off into Cusco. Driving from the airport we see all sorts of local life and architecture. There is a large market near the airport, but it’s not exactly in the tourist part of the town, so we know we won’t be going back there. Which is a bummer, because it looks like something that could be fun – or dangerous – take your pick! It’s another quick ride into town. Alan deposits us at the San Agustin hotel with instructions to wait for him in the lobby. He has to check in another group at another hotel, then come back for us. We fill out our paperwork for the hotel, have coca tea (because now we are REALLY high up there in the altitude) and wait for Alan. The hotel is very nice, with a bar (where we are waiting), full restaurant, great little sunken lobby area with a fireplace and comfy round sofa seating, and free internet.

Alan arrives back, explains our schedule, tells us to take it easy this morning to get acclimated to the altitude and to meet back in the lobby at 2 for our city tour. He recommends a little restaurant across the street called Panaka for lunch. We all settle into our rooms – on the 3rd floor – but really the 4th because we have to take the elevator to 3 then walk up a slightly sloping stair case to our rooms. Really cute little place!

Back on the streets, we head to Panaka. It’s located way in the back of a courtyard – you really have to look for it. There are signs for a pizza restaurant and a nightclub that can confuse you! It’s an adorable place with a very high skylight covered ceiling. Oddly morose and macabre statues line the back wall, which is rough stone. Other than that, it’s bright and cheery with traditional tablecloths and runners, and the staff is incredibly friendly. We aren’t very hungry, and we’ve been told to eat light, so we all get soups – which are individually made for us. The drinks come with their own little individual table – they set the table down next to us and leave the drink bottles (water, wine, etc.) on it! We also have traditional Cusco bread – all of which is excellent!

We arrive at the hotel with time to hit the powder room and loiter around outside waiting for the tour where we see a vast array of street life. Richard gets his picture taken with two women and their llama! Cathy snaps a great picture of a man walking down the street with fox skins on his back. Wow! Back inside the lobby, on the walls, there are signs telling you where to stand for an earthquake – as well as a great sign with hands covering a face – see no evil? I don’t know…but it was cool enough to take a picture!

3/3 Quito Cloud Forest Tour & off to Lima

Ed and Cathy are up and out early this morning. To the gym (Cathy is over the altitude sickness), packing and breakfast, then out to wait for our tour of the Cloud Forest and Orchid Farm. Celebrity has flown the coop, the guest desk is gone, there is no one around to ask questions. We go to the concierge to confirm our flights and transfer to the airport.

As we wait outside, wondering if Celebrity will really show up (we booked through the Celebrity tour folks, not the Marriott, so we weren’t exactly sure what we’d actually get), another couple – Marty & Lynn from Devon, England) join us. The Celebrity guy is there and he is calling our bus, so off we go with our tour guide, Gabby (not Javier unfortunately, but we tried!) for a two hour drive northwest of Quito into the mountains and valleys of the Andes. We take the Pan American highway past Mitad del Mundo and keep winding our way through the beautiful, lush countryside.

We reach the Orchid Farm in 2 hours. It is a little misty and wet from the rains (it is the rainy season after all) as we walk through the farm and look at the different varieties of orchids bred there. There are tons and its very pretty, but unfortunately, it’s not the best time/season for orchids. A lot aren’t open yet or are just very small. However, there are miles of trails through the forest here, which is just as big a draw as the orchid farm. You have to be fairly agile, though, as it’s a rough walk in a lot of places. There are rocks, rocky steps that climb steeply up some hills, plus narrow bridges with no hand rails. It’s beautiful back in the forest though, with lovely waterfalls and great rainforest foliage.

We’re a little rushed here, though, because we want to make sure we are back at the hotel by 4 or 4:30 at the latest. Since we are flying out that evening, we want to make sure we have enough time at the hotel to organize and get to the airport. Quito traffic is legendary, so the guide makes sure we see the orchid farm “rapido” (as she tells the orchid farm people) so we can move on to our other tour stops.

We hop back on the bus and head to the Mindo Butterfly farm – another ½ hour to 45 minutes away. Mindo is totally ecotourist – it’s an enclave up in the mountains with lodging and restaurants and a small town obviously devoted to tourism. Once past the town, the road turns into a bumpy, muddy track that runs for 2 or 3 KM before arriving at the Butterfly farm. Not good for the bladder or for bras – as it turns out! Cathy has a wardrobe malfunction as the bus bumps along the uneven road – her new bra (first time ever worn was on this trip) snaps. The plastic clasp has completely broken and the thing is hanging uselessly at her side. Great! So for 4 more weeks she’ll only have her one good “night time” bra? With no time – and really no place – to shop for a replacement. Joy!

We arrive at the butterfly farm without any other mishaps – and some of us run to the facilities! The butterfly farm is really neat – thousands of butterflies just floating around and enclosed space. There are all sorts of colorful types of species, the most spectacular with what looks like eyes on one side of their wings, and electric blue coloring on the other. It’s wonderful.

Next, back down the bumpy road, to lunch at Sachatamia lodge, where we have a spectacular view of the rainforest along with hundreds of hummingbirds (15 different types of birds, some iridescent), that feed there at the lodge. Excellent lunch in a beautiful setting. Salad with apple, hearts of palm and corn, tossed in mayonnaise (really good!) and then Fish or Chicken. Nice facilities to (always a plus!). Back on the bus, it takes us 2 hours to get back to the hotel. Luckily there is no traffic, so we end up back at 3:30. We all split up for our separate relaxation. Ed and Cathy go up to the Exec lounge for beer/wine and internet – plus snacks that tide them over until the flight.

Time for the transfer to the airport, and it goes off without a snag. Traffic is really bad now though, so it’s a little tougher getting to the airport. But once there, we check in, pay our departure tax of $40 each and head to the gate. We’re there a bit early, so we have a drink at the bar. Plane is schedule for 8:55, they board early and actually push back early. Wheels up was actually at 8:55! Amazing!

Arrive in Lima on time, grabbed our bags and headed out of security/customs/passport control. Richard got stopped by the customs Green light/Red light, but made it through the extra security check easily. Then it’s out into the total madhouse of the Lima airport. To call it a zoo (at 11:30 at night mind you) was an understatement. There were so many people – it was amazing. We found our tour operator, Enjoy Peru, waiting right outside customs and they whisked us off to the Manhattan Inn. The hotel is only 15 minutes from the airport – and this is why we chose it. We have such an early flight to Cusco the next morning, we didn’t want to have to drive 45 minutes to the hotel (which are in a more touristy area – but too far from the airport).

The Manhattan Inn was very clean, but very basic. They also claim to Air Conditioning, but all they have is the “big machine on the roof” – i.e., rough translation: ceiling fan! Oh well, that’s what Ambien is for – coz it’s a little toasty here in Lima. At least there is a bar downstairs where the guys got beer and the girls shared a bottle of wine (only bottles here, no glasses).

Off to bed for a couple of hours to catch our early Cusco flight.

3/2 Return to Quito

A sad morning – we’re up and out; credit card imprinted, email list picked up, breakfasted and in the Discovery Lounge at 8:15. Team Zodiac along with Maggs & Barb make it on the 2nd to last zodiac and waved goodbye to the little ship we called our home for the last week. Some were happy to go, others not, and it was a quiet ride.

Once on the pier, the queue –or a better description would be the “mob mentality” – began. We were waiting for the buses – obviously scheduled for 9 am. As the 2nd to last zodiac, we arrived around 8:50, so the first group had been waiting in the growing heat and humidity for a while. The first bus arrived and Ed, Cathy, Maggi and Richard managed to hop on board and stand in the back for the 5 minute ride.

It’s now 9:15 and we’re at the little open air terminal for a 12:15 flight. Huh? 3 hours here? We’re told that we will get our boarding passes in about 45 minutes and then be taken to the lounge. Ok, no big deal then, there were some little shopping stands to while away the time and – thankfully – it was overcast. So no blaring sun to make it unbearable. And that’s a good thing, because of the rain overnight, the airport waiting area (which is all open air with benches) was flooded with at least 2” of water in some spots. Oops! There were people pushing the water out the doors with squeegees and brooms and also scooping it up and dumping it into buckets.

10:00 comes. 10:00 goes. We’re all getting hotter and limper in the humid heat. 10:30 comes – a little activity, but not much. Finally at 10:45, the boarding passes arrive. We queue, organized by the deck on which your cabin was located, and get our passes. Now to the lounge right? Where there’s air conditioning? And there are reportedly beverages? Uh, no. But we were told we’d be taken there in a few minutes. At 11:00 we were lined up and led to Security, only to be turned back by the Security/passport control guys. Finally, around 11:30 we were allowed through to the gate area – a big holding pen with benches, ceiling fans and little breeze.

So, what’s up? We see people coming from the Lounge to other flights. One of the naturalists had said the lounge was shut down this week for some reason, but he didn’t know why. A little investigation and we soon found out from the employee manning the lounge that – no – the lounge was indeed open, but we weren’t allowed in because Celebrity had not renewed the contract which had expired last week. Reportedly, they did not renew, are you ready for this? Because it was too expensive. WARNING>>>>>here comes a rant!

TOO EXPENSIVE? Please, please tell me you are kidding me and someone just made a big mistake. Because, here you have a group of people who have just spent a whole heck of a lot of money to go on an admittedly fantastic trip – but one that was more than pricey – and you won’t pay for them to use a VIP lounge? And you don’t tell your staff, who are just as confused as the passengers, because they kept telling us that we’re going to the lounge! And you have it written – yes – in writing – in your own cruise documents that the passengers will have access to the lounge in the airport? This is Celebrity (well RCL) at their finest. They expect the passenger to pay full dollar for their services, and they then feel they have the right to nickel and dime that passenger! And it only gets worse! (Oh, please don’t get me started on the condition of the Galaxy! One of our favorite ships, btw, but it is bordering on the disgusting due to lack of maintenance – I found it hard to sit on the couch it was in such icky shape – and let’s not even talk about the stateroom door that was held together with masking tape!)

Ok, so finally, the tires, hotel and thirsty hordes get on the plane – at least its got the air blasting so there’s some relief there. We get underway to basic airplane food – ok – no biggie – it’s food – whatever – but wait – for beverage service, no wine. What? The plane round-trip’s with only Celebrity people on Sunday – are you trying to tell me that those 90+ passengers that just came over this morning (big emphasis on MORNING!) drank all the wine? On their 9 am flight? I think not. Then to add insult to injury, we land in Quito and there is no one there in baggage claim to meet us with instructions. The documents handed out when we left weren’t exactly clear and a good number of us thought Celebrity handled the bags. We didn’t think we had to claim them or anything. Well, as it turns out (after we had to go outside, search down the Celebrity representative and ask), we did have to get our bags, then leave them to the side for transfer to the bus.

So we are really feeling appreciated now! Cruise is over, sayonara baby! On to the next whales who are already on their first excursion! Not a very pleasant taste to leave in your mouth – it really did put a damper on the excitement and value of the trip. Fortunately, the rest of the evening went well (with only a little misunderstanding). We got the first bus back to the hotel – and had the option to go to the market to shop – for an hour. Not even worth thinking about it – so we headed back to the hotel to get organized, repack our bags and relax a big before dinner. (Here’s the misunderstanding part – not very good information on the dinner service. We did get to choose our meal as usual, but we were told dinner was at 7 or 7:30. Huh? We questioned it, but that’s what was said. We just figured the farewell dinner was like the welcome dinner, we all show up en masse, share tables, etc. It wasn’t. We could go anytime we wanted between 7 and 11, with as many or as few friends as we wanted. This from the maitre’d at the restaurant! Wish we would have know that earlier – then we wouldn’t feel bad about telling Myrna and David dinner was at 7 and having them rush. Just another little irritant.)

The dinner itself was great – no complaints there. Food was excellent, huge pieces of beef or fish, both with wonderful sauces. Wine and beer flowed, we took pictures with the Richmond contingent at another table, Pedro and Eliana too, then said goodbye to all. Headed to our respective rooms for a good night’s sleep on dry land (although moth Maggi and Cathy were still moving with the ship – the last two nights were really amazing!!!).