We venture across the water, taking the ferry to the New Jersey of Rio, Niteroi. Niteroi is known for its contemporary art museum, which looks like a spaceship. It is designed by the renowned Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer.  

On the ferry

Passing the Rio-Niteroi bridge, one of the longest bridges in the world.

The Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by Oscar Niemeyer

As we approach the museum, we notice a series of caves carved into the cliff. We decide we must explore them before we go to the exhibit. And so we roll up our pantlegs and cross many perilous rocks to see what lays inside the caves. The first two prove to be shallow and empty. One of them was curiously partially bricked over. 

We continue to the largest cave, getting half soaked by the incoming waves, and find it is inhabited. Someone had been there before us and made it there home. Rent free beachfront property.

Lean to inside the largest cave

The museum from below in cave-land

After the caves we made our way to the sexy entrance of the museum, a curving red ramp. For 10 Real we paid our way ($5 US each). 

I realized only afterwards that I didn’t take any photos of the art. The exhibit was very small… only two floors of art. None of it grabbed me like the architecture of the museum. For me it was the best art there.

As we admired the view, we noticed a very curious island nearby (pictured above). All the buildings on the island were boarded shut and it seemed completely abandoned. There was a bridge connecting it to the mainland and after visiting the museum, we went to check it out.

The bridge was all locked up with chains and barbed wire, but it wasn’t long before we figured out we could just walk across the shallow water to the island.  

The only accessible area was a small house with a bunch of rowboats ties up to it. We climbed out of the water, up the stairs and walked up to a locked gate. There was a man on the other side… an unofficial resident. “Desculpe me,” (excuse me) I said, “Podemos passar?” (Can we pass?)

The man explained that the gate above him was locked tight and there wasn’t a way onto the island. We had spotted a long staircase cut out of the rock on the other side of the island and if we just had a boat, we could reach it. 

“Podemos alugar um de seus barquinho?” (Could we rent one of your row boats?) we asked.

The man told us that it was too late in the day, but if we came back early in the morning we could rent one of his rowboats for 30 Real (about 15 bucks). 

We smiled from ear to ear.

“Voltamos” (We will return)

Stay tuned for our trip back to the abandoned isle off the coast of Niteroi. but in the meantime we’ll visit Ilha Grande, a much larger and more remote tropical island full of wonders…