Instituto Cravo Albin

Hi!

This day began very inspired. I went to Urca, one of the areas that I think has this “totally extra-Rio” feeling: it is a beautiful neighborhood, with small and old buildings, that give you a sense of ancient Rio. When I go there, I feel like I’m returning to 30’s/40’s. Besides that, the view is quite amazing - one side shows the Baia da Guanabara; the other has one of the best view of the Sugar Loaf!

I started my day in Institute Cravo Albin, a place I had only heard about, but did not know much what it was – in fact, I only knew that they had some connection with Brazilian music. The institute is located in an old (as it should be!) and very charming building next to the bar Belmonte, right in the middle of Urca.

When I got there, I touched the intercom and they told me to take the lift and go to the fourth floor. I had scheduled a tour with Eduarda, by the way a very nice girl! She left me very comfortable, told me to leave my bags on the table and take whatever I wanted with me, like the camera.

She began the tour in their acquis linked to Brazilian popular music. They have many books, videos and LPs - I found amazing the amount of material! For those who need to do some work about it, it is very worthwhile to go there. Then she showed me some trophies and some photos of Brazilian artists hanging in the walls. This material was donated by the artists themselves.

Soon after that, Eduarda told me a bit of the history of the Institute, which is a civil, non-profitable organization that seeks to help in the research, reflection and promotion of the sources that feed the culture, especially Brazilian music. Even though they usually receive all kinds of materials - even the ones not connected to Brazilian music – their focus is mainly the Brazilian music. The Institute carries the name of its founder and president, Ricardo Cravo Albin, which seeks to save the history of Brazilian music along time, avoiding that items often belonging to collections or personal property get lost while passing from generation to generation.

Then we went to another room where she showed me some relics: a Carmen Miranda’s sandal, a hat donated by Gonzaguinha, a Luiz Gonzaga’s accordion from the 70’s. Next, she showed me how they clean LPs, which I found much more interesting than it sounds…

After that, we went up to the next floor and then I felt that I was somewhere in the past. I entered into a room full of old radios, phonographs and the most amazing studio of an antique radio. She told me that the material came from the radio Mairink Veiga and the Cassino da Urca which, by the way, was very close of the institute. I thought it was all incredible! Best of all, Eduarda even took my picture in the middle of the studio. Later, I saw other items still in the room and in a very big balcony that has the most beautiful view of the Urca.

Going up to a different level of the Institute, we arrived at a very beautiful open space. There is even a small pool and a view that I loved, because its trees cover up the scenery a bit, just enough so that I could see a heart around the landscape looking like a frame for that masterpiece. Is my love for this city to blame?

Then she took me to another room that had an exhibition about André Midani and the recording industry. On the way there, a stair had several tributes to musicians such as Roberto Menescal, Marcos Valle and João Bosco, among others who made presentations at the institute. Getting to the exhibition, she gave me a leaflet with the story of Midani and asked me to sign the attendance book in the exit.

I found the story about Midani very interesting: he was born in Syria but was living in France at the age of three and, because of the Algerian War, he took the first ship out of there and ended up at Rio de Janeiro, where he started his career in music calling the Odeon Records; as he was not fluent in Portuguese, he had his call transferred to the presidency, unbelievably got himself a meeting and finally, in a mixture of luck with competence, he came out employed. 

This made me remember some of those stories of American movies that you don’t believe that can happen in real life. And the coolest thing was to know that he was very important in launching the Bossa Nova, as music for youth, something that didn’t exist before in Brazil - even after that, he focused on the national rock. I became very curious about all of it, so as soon as possible I will read his book, which I found on an site, but only in portuguese - I'm sure it will turn into a movie shortly!

At the exit, I signed the attendance book and she warned me that the exhibition would end in mid-February – still no information about the new exhibition... I want to return there next month to check it out. Oh... they still make some music events there. And if you want to use the space for your event, it’s also possible to rent.

Kiss kiss and good tour,
Tati.


Registration Form:
Site: Instituto Cravo Albin
Visit’s Date: 05/02/2014
Adress: Avenida São Sebastião, 2. Urca.
Telephone:(21)2295-2532/2542-0848
Directions: Using the subway, just get off at Botafogo station and take the subway express bus to Urca, or any bus that passes by Avenida São Sebastião – there are many options, click here to find out more: english or spanish
Working Hours: Monday to friday, from 9am to 4pm, closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
Guided Tour: you can talk to Eduarda.
Entry Price: Free, just schedule a guided tour.
Toilets/drink water fountains: toilet and cold water are available.
Cafe/Restaurant/Convenience Store: no cafe nor restaurant nor convenience store.
Accessibility: not so much, because the building has a narrow stair and to go inside the institute, there are many floors, all of them connected only by stairs, too
Audio guide: none, but Eduarda said she can explain in Spanish and English too.
Lockers and space for stroller: yes, and you can let your things in the table too.
Recommended duration of stay: hum…I stayed around 1 hour there.
Parking: there isn’t one, you can parking in the streets around and at Praça General Tibúrcio (but in this case you will have to walk about 20 minutes to get there, but with very beautiful views)
Camera: You can take pictures without flash.
Air Conditioning: only in the first floor, where the acquis is; the other floors do not have because they stay opened, but they are very fresh.

Museu Provedor Mauro Ribeiro Viegas or Museu da Imperial Irmandade de Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro

Hi!

After visiting the Memorial Municipal Getúlio Vargas, I went lunched nearby and then I went to Museu Provedor Mauro Ribeiro Viegas, the Museu da Imperial Irmandade de Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro.

 

To get there, I took the lift from the inclined plane of the Outeiro da Glória - it is in front of the square where the Memorial is. As the lift went up, I became increasingly estimulated by the view that was opening in front of me ... and falling in love again, of course, because I'm fascinated by this city and each scenery it displays to us when we least expect.

As soon as I arrived, I saw that the museum was closed and a gentleman told me that the guy who ran the museum was in the church, so I went to the church called Igreja Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro. Although small inside, it is very charming, has some gorgeous designs in both sides. A long time ago, I went to a wedding there, but, as the church was full, I couldn’t contemplate its beauty. Differently, when I got there this time, it was more quiet, I could sit, pray and feel a bit of its energy and beauty. I ended up taking some pictures to show here in the blog.

Afterwards I went to the museum. Getting there, I paid the ticket, I received the brochure and could see that the museum was quite small but had some pretty interesting things – for instance, the title of Imperial Brotherhood received in the Second Empire. It was nice to know that other churches also received this title, but the only one that remained was the church of Outeiro da Glória, despite all hostilities it suffered at various times.

Other popular items of great historical value that can be seen there are: invoices for purchases of some events made by them some centuries ago, very beautiful by the way, very different from today's invoices; the term of tenure of the second Empress Amelia in 1829, with the title of Perpetual protective fellowship; communication of the death of Princess Dona Isabel in France, by Count D'Eu; newspapers from Portugal about the death of Dom Pedro II; death certificate and invitation to the funeral, as well as paints of Rio some centuries ago; ancient religious garb and even imperial jewels.

The guy who received me at the museum, Max, who can also be your guide (as soon as I arrived he said to me that if I had any questions, I only needed to ask him), told me many stories about the fellowship. Among them, I chose the one about its foundation: despite the fact that today many still believe in the legend that it was founded by Dom João VI, Max explained to me that the fellowship began before that, when people came together around a small chapel built by Antonio Caminha to the Virgin in the Outeiro. After many difficulties, they finally got the land for the construction of what would be the church and fellowship – and nothing special happened until the regent prince Dom João, among many churches in Rio, chose the Outeiro church due to great devotion to Our Lady of Glory. When I asked him about the churches of Praça XV, he informed me that those churches would be the “so-called” churches of reason, while the Outeiro would be the church of the heart. And this connection between the church and the members of the imperial family continues today in the marriages, baptisms, masses and celebrations of family birthdays.

He also told me about the fellowship nowadays: one of the last to become brother was the current Municipal Transportation Secretary Carlos Roberto Osório. Hildegard Angel, a very popular social columnist, is part of the fellowship. He also told me that to join it, you must be invited by someone from the fellowship and pay an annual fee.

So, I can say that the tour is nice, especially if you can gather more knowledge about the history of Rio with a great view from up there. On the way back, I decided to go down by the Ladeira da Glória, a slope, rather than take the lift down in the inclined plane, because as my grandmother says, "To get down every saint helps, but go up is when the things change”, right? 

Kiss kiss and good tour,

Tati.

Registration Form:

Site:  Museu Provedor Mauro Ribeiro Viegas or museu da Imperial Irmandade de Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro

Visit’s Date: 04/02/2014

Adress: Praça Nossa Senhora da Glória, 135 - Térreo – Glória.

Telephone: (21)2557-4600/(21)2225-2869/(21)2265-9236

Directions: Using the subway, just get off at Glória station, or any bus that passes by Praça Luís de Camões or maybe Rua do Russel – there are many options, click here to find out more: english or spanish.

Working Hours: Tuesday to Friday, from 9am to 12pm and from 1pm to 5pm; and on Saturdays and Sundays, from 9am to 12pm; closed on Mondays.

Guided Tour: you can talk to Max.

Entry Price: R$ 2,00.

Toilets/drink water fountains: there is one toilet in the room next to the entrance of the museum; about drink water fountains, they said it is behind the building, but I didn’t find it.

Cafe/Restaurant/Convenience Store: There aren’t any cafe nor restaurant. Regarding the convenience store, they have a glass cabinet in the hallway to the museum with some items for sale, as lockets, postcards, key chains and ribbons of Nossa Sra. da Glória. 

Accessibility: limited, because the lift of the Outeiro da Gloria Inclined Plane is accessible to people with limited mobility, but the street has paving stone, then it is more difficult to access, and there is a step between the street and the floor of the building which gives access to museum that is on the ground.

Audio guide: none, but Max speaks English. 

Lockers and space for stroller: none, not necessary because you can enter with all your bags. 

Recommended duration of stay: hum…I believe something around 1 hour.

Parking: there isn’t one, but there are vacancies on the square of the Memorial and in the street called Rua do Russel, near the NGO Viva Rio.

Camera: I couldn’t take photos inside the museum, the pictures inside are the ones that Max sent me to put in the blog.

Air Conditioning: yes, and works fine.

Memorial Municipal Getúlio Vargas

Hi!

Last week was pretty hectic, I went to several new locations and the first one was the Memorial Municipal Getúlio Vargas. I left home and took the subway, I was heading to Glória station. The station is well signed, and it was pretty easy to identify the right way to my destination according to the information I had. So I went to Russell Street, where you can also find the NGO Viva Rio http://vivario.org.br/.

Once out of the station I saw one old man carrying his purchases and I asked him where was the Memorial - since he said he was just going near there, I just followed him. To exit the station, one must simply go to the left, toward Praça Luís de Camões. We were talking about many stuffs and he confessed he has been living there for 25 years, very near the Memorial, but he had only been there 2 times. I told him this is something very normal, because we tend to think there will always be another opportunity to visit... but we let time pass untill one day we realize that we did not enjoy enough the places we have at home. We traveled to know others places, but ours owns are left unknown... 

The memorial is simple but very interesting. It is a tribute to Getúlio, a former president and dictator of Brazil, so it seeks to portray him as a major political and I don’t intend to judge if he really was or not. However, I thought it was cool to see some of the history of our city through the political history of Getúlio Vargas. The memorial is well structured; it has large screens with images and stories of those days in both English and Portuguese. It was interesting to find out that the construction of the Avenida Presidente Vargas torned down 4 churches and more than 500 buildings. 

Anyway, I just thought that a few desks made the Memorial look a bit abandoned, since they were with the lights off, making it difficult to read some texts which, by the way, were only written in Portuguese. 

The air conditioning system is very slow there and, as we are now in this period of insane heat, it was hard for the first 20 minutes ... after a while I was getting used to it. 

There is no need to pay for nothing, just sign their attendance book. The security staff is very friendly, the security girl even told me about cafe and bookstore that used to be there, when I asked about the books displayed on a desk. But when I asked her to take a picture of me, she said she couldn’t: the security firm rule forbids them to hold any objects that don’t belong to them. I thought it was cool of her explaining that to me, and I just took selfies in this visit. 

At the end of the exhibition, I enjoyed the opportunity to read the two most important letters written by Vargas, the letter will and the farewell letter. There is also an area in the memorial center that I will let you go and discover for yourselves! 

Do not forget to take a photo with the head of the Getúlio in the square, ok? There is a plate with a great phrase: "I get out of life to enter into history", and a small plaque explaining that the memorial is a tribute of the Rio de Janeiro’s city hall. 

Lastly, I discovered that the large screens with stories and photos of the Memorial can be found on their website on the virtual exhibition, but only in Portuguese. 

Kiss kiss and nice walk!

Tati.

REGISTRATION FORM:

Site:  Memorial Municipal Getúlio Vargas 

Visit’s Date: 04/02/2014 

Adress: Praça Luís de Camões s/n. - Glória.

Telephone: (21)2557-9444/2245-7577

Directions: Using the subway, just get off at Glória station, or any bus that passes by Praça Luís de Camões or maybe Rua do Russel – there are many options, the local map and click here to find out: english or spanish.

Working Hours: Tuesday to saturdays from 10am to 5pm, closed on mondays ans sundays.

Guided Tour: none.

Entry Price: Free admission, just sign their attendance book. 

Toilets/drink water fountains: toilets are very clean but there isn’t any drink water fountains inside.

Cafe/Restaurant/Convenience Store: none. 

Accessibility: Is good, they have a wheelchair that assists individuals with disabilities to go down in the stairs. It is only necessary to turn on the ringer located left of the stairs.

Audio guide: none.

Lockers and space for stroller: none, not necessary because you can enter with all your bags. 

Recommended duration of stay: hum…I believe something around 1 hour and a half.

Parking: there isn’t one, but there are vacancies on the square of the Memorial and in the street called Rua do Russel, near the NGO Viva Rio. 

Camera: I could use with flash inside the museum without problems.

Air Conditioning: yes, but it’s slow, so in the beginning I felt hot and I only got better after 20 minutes.

Museu da República - Palácio do Catete

Hi!

First of all, I would like to apologize the long delay between posts here. It happened because of all those little things that keep messing with my plans... So let’s get things done! This visit was made in two parts. Firstly, I only went around the Palácio do Catete, by the gardens, lake, cave and cafes. This was so delicious that I was crazy to go back and finish the visit, and I did that the following week.

The garden of the Palácio do Catete is well maintained and a great place to spend some time, wind down and relax. There you can find old people reading their newspapers, parents enjoying a relaxing time outdoors with their children and others just taking a break at lunchtime. The funny thing is that I loved that space as soon as I got there, and later I found out that my mother and I used to go there a lot together, when I was much younger – so young that I didn’t even remember that! I immediately decided that when I have children of my own, I will take them to do the same, give that continuity to it, walk, play and run around there with them.

There is a movie theater with the capacity for 75 people. Unfortunately I didn’t go to the movie there, but one day I will! In the garden I also found a space with a free exhibition, which I found interesting - its theme was "The Faith that moves" and showed the pilgrimage of devotees in thanksgiving for a granted request. Still, at the entrance, there was a phrase that touched me deeply: "I leave the house alone, but I never walk alone". I thought a lot about it these days in my journey alone to the museums and other unknown places.

Near this exhibition, there is female and male bathrooms and water drink fountain, very close to the garden. After doing the visit to this exhibition, which is located in the garden, I went to the café where I didn’t see any sandwich or brownie or pie, just a cake that looked pretty tasty. The Café is behind the cave which, by the way, is pretty cute. I decided to take some pictures from above the cave and, while I was there, I saw some tamarins appearing and I could keep watching them jump from tree twig to tree twig. It was a quite delicious and relaxing experience!

Focusing now inside the Palácio do Catete, there you find the Museu da República, my main target. At the entrance, I realized, by watching some foreigners ahead of me, that the attendants only speak Portuguese. I don’t know if that’s true for all of them, because I saw different attendants in the two times I visited. Anyway, they tried really hard and in the end it all worked out - thankfully there are displays showing the ticket price, opening hours and more informations at the entrance door, in Portuguese and English, and also in the counter above the audio guide.

Since I wanted to enjoy the museum the best possible way, I rented the audio guide for R$ 5,00 - it was definitely worth it because it has information that is not written anywhere, not even in the items displayed by the museum, being a supplement to what is shown. The only problem is that many numbers are out of order and some are not shown in the visitation rooms. But if you are careful enough you can find the numbers: for instance, on the third floor, that shows the phases of the Republic, only the first room shows the number for the guide - in the following rooms, I just followed the next number and it worked.

The museum is very beautiful and well maintained, with original material yet. It is quite interesting to imagine yourself going back in time, imagining the president at the ministerial lounge on the first floor, with the government folders on the table or large parties given in the great halls of the Palace on the second floor, and even get a little bit inside the world of Getúlio Vargas and the history of the Republic on the third floor.

At the end of the tour, I went to a store that is on the side gate of the museum, in the passage which gives entrance to the garden. There, I found an interesting book about the museum for R$ 15,00. I suggest you to buy it before entering in the museum and take it on your visit. There is also a drink coaster with an old photo of the museum, but I thought it was a bit expensive for such a simple drink coaster: each for R$ 9,00, so I just bought one as a souvenir. Moreover, there are books about Getúlio Vargas. If you want to, it is also possible to buy museum postcards for R$ 0,50, in the cafe near the cinema ticket office.

So I think the museum is a very nice ride, but I think some things could be improved: at least some fans in some rooms should have fans, because the first and the third floor have some rooms with windows closed and no ventilation, then I felt a strong heat and saw that others visitors were also suffering like me.

Another point that should be improved is about informations: even though I do not think it is bad, it definitely could be placed in better locations. Instead of the entrance door, the information should be on the counter where you will buy the tickets – this would make life easier for the employees who do not speak English. Also, a rope for the security guy to open when the visitor showed the ticket would be a nice addition, because I saw three foreigners entering directly and the desk girl trying to call them back, to pay the entrance ticket. But I am not sure if they were trying to be smart or just distracted, since one of them, who spoke a little of Portuguese, said that they were students and asked for a discount. After that, they asked if they could pay in another currency – at this time, I thought to myself I should ask them where they come from so that I went there to visit and pay in reais.

Another point that could be improved is related to the book: I think it could be sold in the store as well as at the museum entrance. Or at least they should put some pictures of the book at the entrance of the museum to let people know that it exists and go to the store to take a look – in my case, I only discovered its existence because I was looking for a souvenir, so I asked for it in the shop. Just like the postcards, they should be closer to both the entrance and the exit of the museum.

And finally, the museum should have a cool website also displaying information such as the time, what 's going on in the museum theater and other things, such as guided tours and information about the camp.

But I can say that I was positively surprised by this museum, it offers ample green space and at the same time a lot of history. And I could still carry home some souvenirs of my visit...great!

kiss kiss,

Tati.

REGISTRATION FORM:

Site: Museu da República

Visit’s Date: 22/01/2014

Adress: Rua do Catete, 153 - Catete.

Telephone: (21)2558-6350

Directions: Using the subway, just get off at Catete station, or any bus that passes by Rua do Catete – there are many options, click here to find out more: english or spanish.

Working Hours: from Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 4:30pm and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 2pm to 5:30pm, closed on monday.

Guided Tour: none.

Entry Price: R$ 6,00. Free admission to the general public on Wednesdays and Sundays and Free admission for children under 10, seniors over 65 and groups of public schools, and discount ticket for students.

Toilets/drink water fountains: toilets and drink water fountains outside the museum, only near the movie theather and in the garden.

Cafe/Restaurant/Convenience Store: café behind the grotto and near the movie.

Accessibility: not very accessible, it is possible to visit the first floor of the museum with help to get there, but there is no elevator nor accessibility for the others floors and is possible to go around in the garden.

Audio guide: yes! In Portuguese, Spanish and English, the cost is R$5,00 (five reais).

Lockers and space for stroller: there are lockers in the museum

Recommended duration of stay: hum…I believe 2 hours for the museum in a calm visit and 1 hour at least for the garden, the café and the shop.

Parking: there isn’t one, but there are vacancies on the street behind the building and private parking nearby: gEpark in Largo do Machado 54, and Praia do Flamengo, 200; and Estapar in Largo do Machado 19/21, 23, and Praia do Flamengo 154.

Camera: I could use without flash in the museum.

Air Conditioning: none, in some rooms there are fans, but at least the second floor, with opened windows, is more fresh.