scsteinbrecher

Did you ever wonder about how much stuff gets "processed" in one day on a cruise ship? Well, we had a chance to do a "behind the scenes" tour of the Star Princess on our trip and we learned some very interesting things.... The Star Princess is not Princess's largest ship; nor the smallest, but she is pretty big. At almost 1,000 feet long and 109,000 registered gross tons, she holds a crew of 1,100 and another 3,100 passengers. She burns about 39,000 gallons of bunker fuel every day (About 4800 tons for our entire trip -- and her tanks hold 750,000 U.S. gallons -- Internet reads that bunker fuel is about $600 per ton, so a fuel bill of about $2.9 Million for the trip), makes her own fresh water (but stores 750,000 ... read more

Today is a very bittersweet day…. It seems just like yesterday we sailed out of San Francisco Bay aboard the S.S. Scurvy, and all too soon we are setting sail back to America. How can one explain the experiences we have encountered over the past 40 days? Not possible. As always on these extended trips we take, we realize what we write for our friends and family are just a compilation of thoughts and memories, but in no way can even come close to the feelings we have in our souls as we remember all of the beautiful places, friendly people and exciting cultural exchanges this tremendous opportunity has afforded us. As we close out this final post to our blog, we leave you with this: “NEVER go to your grave thinking at the last minute, ... read more

We knew we were in for an adventure when we got to the train station and walked into the waiting room. The chairs were comfortable c hairs, think of a Lazy Boy without the retractable foot rest. We sat down and waited for our train. Apparently word has gotten out amongst the Condor staff that the Steinbrechers require their own bus for their luggage as we rode over from the hotel in our own 10 person bus. We purchased a bag just for souvenirs and assorted things…so now we are up to four bags and counting. We had hoped to leave South America with only two but you know the TUPAS stores just have a way of calling out your name! We met our Australian friends and boarded the train and found out we were sitting ... read more

Spoke with the hotel staff last night and got the drill on the weather here. During the rainy season it is clear and blue in the mornings, with the rain beginning about 1300 – 1400, getting heavier and lasting for the remainder of the day. So we got to the ruins site early and were able to take a leisurely hike of the ruins, taking a million photos, exploring the various areas and with only about 15% of the touristas that were present yesterday. The only place we were not able to get to was the very top of Wayna Picchu (the tall, pointed peak you see in all of the photos), because it takes forever to get through the line for a pass and actually climb the peak (very limited access), we had a train ... read more

We honestly do not know how to write this day’s blog, or even what to say, but it was not about the day in as much as it was about learning about an amazing culture that existed many years ago. We studied about the Mexican, Central and South American Indians in school, but Steve slept through most of high school…. The Incas are a fascinating and incredibly talented culture, who had engineering, architectural and agricultural skills that rival anything we have accomplished today, especially given most of the ruins we are visiting came during the final 100 years of their cultural apex, prior to the Spanish invasion. What we will find tomorrow at Machu Picchu has us both very excited. We spent the day with our guide and driver in the Sacred Valley region of Cuzco ... read more