March 10, 2025
RIO DE JANEIRO - Day 2 - ASH WEDNESDAY
Today we started exploring the area across the bridge from downtown Rio, called Niteroi. It's a lovely suburb area with fabulous beaches and views of downtown RIo. We hired an uber driver to take us around. First stop the Museu de Arte Contemporanea or MAC, which was closed, Luckily I was only interested in the outside of the building - not the art inside. The building sits up on a hill perched over the harbor like a spaceship. The winding entry is best seen from above, hence I borrowed the above image from the web. The build was designed by Oscar Niemeyer. The rest of the photos are mine and show the surrounding beaches and great views of downtown Rio.
Next just a few minutes away we went to Camino Niemeyer - a strange deserted looking place with odd buildings hard to figure out there use. Architect Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer's work is everywhere in Brazil. He lived from 1907 to 2012 and worked until his death at 104! He is considered one of key figures in the development of modern architecture. He is best known for design of civic buildings for Brasilia, a planned city that became Brazil's capital in 1960 ( and is shaped like a giant airplane) and he was also one of the architects that collaborated on the United Nations headquarters in NYC. He loved exploring with the possibilities of reinforced concrete, as shown below with Camino Niemeyer.
We then went back into the City, as I was trying to find a church giving out ashes at noon, which seemed a popular time for masses, per the web. We went to the City's Metropolitan Cathedral de Sao Sebastiao but alas, it was quiet. Saint Sebastian is the patron saint of Rio de Janeiro and this church is the seat of the Rio's Archdiocese. It was perfect to add to our tour of unique architecture. The outside of building resembles a mayan temple or pyramid. It's considered Modernist architecture, and was built from 1964 to 1979 by Architect Edgar Fonseca. While I didn't find it very attractive on the outside, the stain glass inside and hanging crucifix was impressive.
We went back out at after 5pm, to part take in two scheduled block parties. One was themed "the end of Mardi Gras" and the other was a shout out to legalize marijuana. Oddly this second party ended right next to the Metropolitan Cathedral. And this time mass was going on and I was able to go. The priest put the ashes very high on my forehead, to accommodate my face decorations! I am guessing they have seen all kinds of characters over the years!
