August 2^nd, 2014. We are on our way to the Museu de Arte Contemporanea in Niterói, and as we are approaching the famous building, notes from a Jimi Hendrix song are coming to our ears. Intrigued we walk to the place where the music seems to be coming from, and as it turns out, a jazz-rock band is playing a gig right at the foot of the flying-spaceship building. The scene makes for an odd combination with the Pao de Açucar in the background! So of course we spontaneously decide to sit down to enjoy this moment of space oddity. The situation is so unexpected and amusing, we would almost forget the purpose of our visit to the area. Nah, not really!

Niterói, the home of nearly 500,000 inhabitants and known for its very interesting museum of modern art, is located across the bay of Guanabara.

The ferry ride to cross the bay is itself worth the trip as you get to catch a magnificent view of Rio and the surrounding moors.

The Museu de Arte Contemporanea was designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who of course is known around the world for having imagined and designed the city of Brasilia in 1960.

Crossing the bay of Guanabara

The bay of Guanabara, beautifully described by Jean-Claude Rufin in his book ‘’Red Brazil’’, is very large. From Copacabana to Itaipu, the bay covers an area of 380 square kilometers. After the bay of All Saints in Bahia, it is the second largest bay in all of Brazil’s coastline. It counts no fewer than 130 islands!

We board the ferry for Niterói at the ferry pier which is located near the Praça 15 de Novembro in central Rio. It is also possible to drive to Niterói by taking the very very long bridge named Punte Presidente Costa e Silva.

In Niterói you will encounter few tourists. This Saturday morning, we find ourselves among a dense crowd of commuters who probably cross the bay back and forth every day, perhaps to go to work or to go visit their families or friends.

The ferry leaves the pier heading for Niterói and makes its way across the bay at a fast pace. The crossing will take only about half an hour.

THE MUSEU DE ARTE CONTEMPORANEA

The Museu de Arte Contemporanea (MAC) is actually located quite far from the Niterói ferry pier, a bit too far for us to walk there. So we will have to take a bus.

We ask a friendly Brazilian woman passing-by for the bus route to the MAC, and although her explanation seemed quite clear at the time she described it, we somehow take the wrong bus! Take the line 47B, she had said. So why did we take line 47? The numbers are close, but the routes are not! So we end up totally lost, stuck in this bus going somewhere in Niterói and we have no idea where. Luckily the on-board ticket controller takes pity on us and points out the exit which is the most convenient in terms of where we are going, or rather the least inconvenient! We exit the bus, and start walking. After a while, the flying spaceship is in sight.

As we are walking towards the odd-looking building, we take our time to study the work of Oscar Niemeyer. It is really an interesting piece of architecture.

This building was totally futuristic when it was designed, and it stands by itself on top of rocks, on a narrow stretch of land surrounded by water, with the Pao de Açucar and the Corcovado in the background. The scenery is really unique and fascinating.

The architect, Oscar Niemeyer, describes his work in these terms: ‘’The land was narrow, surrounded by the sea, and the solution came to me naturally, taking this narrow piece of land as an obvious starting point. From that point on, the architecture opened itself up spontaneously like a flower in blossom. The view over the ocean was magnificent, not to be missed by any means….The shape of the building, I imagined it circular from the very first moment…All around the museum, I created this gallery open to the sea….’’

The concert of 1970’s American rock music, right underneath the flying spaceship, adds a touch of charm to the place. It is fitting, actually, because this music was very modern at about the same time the building was designed in a very futuristic style.

So we walk up Oscar Niemeyer’s circular red pathway to reach the entrance of the museum. As you make your way up, you get to admire the reflection of the ocean into the circular, tilted, glass structure.

Inside the building, the tilted windows all around the building provide a beautiful view of the bay of Guanabara, the Pao de Açucar, and the city of Rio de Janeiro further away in the background. The shining blue lights from the ocean are magnificent.

The museum is currently featuring several temporary exhibitions. We are not familiar with the different artists on display, but we are happy to take a moment to look at their works.

After this experience of contemporary art, and as matter of factt, a rather long morning, we are feeling hungry and start wondering where we could get some lunch in the area. In front of us, not too far, lies the tiny island named Ilha Da Boa Viagem. At the highest point, we spot what we believe are sun umbrellas and we conclude that this must be a nice little restaurant with a terrace overlooking the Pao de Açucar. As we will soon find out, it is not quite what we had in mind.

THE ILHA DA BOA VIAGEM

Starving and eagerly looking forward to a nice, delicious lunch on this small terrace which we are sure we will have all to ourselves, we walk the rugged bridge crossing over a tiny beach to reach the small island. At the end point of the bridge, we are welcomed by a scout chief who tells us that a religious celebration is taking place by the church atop the island. Hence the sun umbrellas, we ask? Yes, exactly, he replies…..

The chief goes on to explain to us that the Ilha Da Boa Viagem, literally the ‘’island of the good journey’’, was discovered by immigrants in 1634. The newcomers settled down and built the small church to bring good luck onto the fishermen and the sailors.

It is a nice, interesting moment of cultural learning, but what about the cozy restaurant we longed for, we ask? Well, we will just have to forget about it, our chief says.

Short of any other option, we walk up the pathway to the church of all sailors and fishermen, and once arrived, we buy from our new friends the scouts, some chunks of a home-made chocolate cake. Simply delicious.

Having enjoyed the fest, in addition to the magnificent sea landscape and the bright-white church, we make our way downhill on a hunt for a place to have lunch at long last. The chocolate cake was not enough, and we are getting really hungry by now.

We hop on the bus, line 47B this time, to go back to the ferry pier. A quick stop at a small supermarket not far from the pier, and we can enjoy a well-deserved little picnic sitting on a bench.

It is time to board the ferry back to Rio de Janeiro.

We will close this very nice day of sightseeing with a walk up to Santa Teresa to watch the sun set. Read all about it in my next post!