Niterói is a municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro in the
southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio
de Janeiro and forms part of the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area. It was the
state capital, as marked by its golden mural crown, from 1834 to 1894 and again
from 1903 to 1975. It has an estimated population of 487,327 inhabitants (2010)
and an area of 129.375 km (80.39 mi), making it the second most populous city
in the state. It has the highest Human Development Index of the state. The city has the nicknames of Nikity, Nicki City and the Smile City [Cidade
Sorriso)].
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| Our ride to Niterói |
Studies by the Getulio Vargas Foundation in June 2011 classified
Niterói as the richest city of Brazil, with 55.7% of the population included in
class A. Considering the classes A and B, Niterói also appears in the first
place, with 85.9% of the population in these classes. “WIKI”
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| Ferry |
Júlia [my colleague] informed us in the other day that she is from Niterói.
She also told us that it’s a beautiful island and a must go attraction for
everyone. So we decided to pay a visit to this beautiful city. Next day [on 28
th
August 2016] I and Razon Bhai took a ferry from the central ferry station of
Rio named “Porto Maravilha”.
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| On Board selfie... |
The ferry station was not far from our hill top apartment. To get to
Niterói, we took the Rio-Charitas catamaran ferry from Praça XV in Centro to
the far side of Guanabara Bay, near the outcrop known as Morro de Pico. From
here one can walk around to the markets and a shopping mall, and find buses or
taxis to the next destination. The return ferry leaves from the center and
arrives back at Praça XV in around 15 minutes.
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| At Niterói |
If bus travel is preferred, or, if Praça XV is inconvenient for the
final destination, then you can take a bus over the Rio-Niterói bridge, from
which, on a clear day, the views are spectacular. The more modern, air
conditioned ‘1001’ buses (761D, 751D and 741D) make stops all over Rio and cost
R$5. However, during rain storms or rush hour, the bridge can become extremely
congested, making the ferry the best option. On our way back we wanted to take
the bus however we could not find the bus stop.
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| Niterói... |
However ferry is much cheaper than bus and it costs around R$2.8.
However we used Rio card given by Rio 2016 Organizing Committee. It was free and we were allowed to use in almost all forms of public transports. Life was much
easier with Rio Card.
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| Niterói from the ferry... |
Also it was very hot and tiring. We walked from one side to other side
of the city. Tried some local street foods on our way back to the ferry
station. As it was very hot we were not brave enough to go to the other part of
the city where the Oscar Niemeyer designed Museum of Contemporary Art is located.
This is one of Niterói’s most famous sights. We decided to visit Niterói with Júlia
again however did not get the time unfortunately.
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| Niterói |
Along the coast, Niterói is blessed with endless, often empty beaches.
Cleaner and less crowded than Copacabana or Ipanema, Niterói’s shores attract a
loyal number of families, students and sports enthusiasts. As well as surfing
and stand-up paddle boarding, extreme water sports such as wakesurfing,
wakeboarding and skimboarding are increasingly popular. However unfortunately
we did not get the chance to experience any of these. Hopefully next time…
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| Colombia House... |
As our dream of using a bus for our return faded we used the same
route. Took another ferry to return to mainland of Rio.
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| Our ride home... |
However from the ferry station we took a VLT [Light rail system built
for 2016 summer Olympic Games.
< To Be Continued >
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