March 11, 2025
RIO DE JANEIRO - Day 3 - THURSDAY
Today we went to the Royal Portuguese Reading Room or the Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura.
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Next we went to Sao Francisco de Paula Church which was very theatrical on the inside - reminded me of an opera house more than a church with bulb lighting and private balconies overlooking the altar. I asked and it was built as a Catholic Church!
After visiting the church I walked with Callie ( friend of Scott's visiting for 6 weeks) to a public health clinic to see about getting her a yellow fever vaccination. It was pretty easy, no cost, we waited 10-15 minutes and all she had to show was her passport. Now she is all set for adventure into the Amazon! Good to know, and we got to see another part of the city along the way!
Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July! Here on the Odyssey we celebrated in the SE Asia Sea on our way to Tioman Island, Malaysia . We have such a talented and dedicated group of residents here, they put together a fun hour of things to celebrate and embrace a lot of what we collectively love about the USA. Even our residents from other countries - Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany , etc. joined in the fun! ( I lent my flag below for decorations)
Vihara Avalokiteshvara Graha or Guan Yin Temple is near 500 Lohan, so we also toured the grounds of this large Temple complex. It's dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy and is one the tallest brass statues of her in SE Asia. She is just over 55' tall, coated in 22 carat gold and is surrounded by scenic dragon fruit plantations. The tile work is intricate and textured with great details. The whole place is very tranquil and calming for meditation and prayer.
500 Lohan Temple or Vihara Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was the most interesting place we visited on Bintan Island . It features 500 hand sculpted, life sized, distinctively expressive statues of Buddhist disciplines (Lohans) surrounding a tranquil courtyard. They are arranged symetrical, in an arc and it's interesting how some pop out, as you look down the rows. The statues were crafted by artist in China from 2010 to 2017 when the temple was inaugurated; no two are alike.