A Visit to the National Observatory

After a delicious Peruvian lunch at Lima Restobar in Botafogo, we didn't feel like going all the way back home to Barra, so Geraldo came up with the idea to visit the National Observatory. An advantage to being in Rio with a Carioca husband is that it's a lot easier to find those hidden gems that don't always make the top 10 in tourist guides.

The National Observatory was founded by Don Pedro I in 1827 to study geography and navigation and is one of the oldest scientific institution in Brazil. Presently it is responsible for the Brazilian Official Time and conducts research in astronomy, astrophysics, and geophysics. The entrance to the Observatory is one street in from the "Feira de Sao Christovao", a plain long brick wall with a plaque and a door that leads to an elevator, I wasn't expecting much. As the elevator door opened at the top, what a sight!

The first floor displays antique "scientific" tools in antique cabinets.(a steampunk's dream) These spectrometers, micrometers, seismometers, and other "meters", sextants and telescopes, were interesting to look at, though I had no idea how they were used and no explanation was given.

The rest of the beautifully restored building houses various exhibitions completely in Portuguese about astronomy, ancient navigation, astrophysics, and other scientific topics which was not too exciting, partly because of my lack of scientific vocabulary in Portuguese, but mostly because the exhibits were not very attractive or interactive. I quickly walked through it feeling bad for the hoards of school kids that have slowly walked through these rooms with their teachers droning on and on with only long written explanations on the wall to look at.

The building itself was more interesting than most exhibits.

We headed off outside and walked the grounds which were surprisingly quiet and peaceful. Various outbuildings housed telescopes which were open for the public and do show the stars on weekend nights. As I walked around, it dawned on me that even centuries ago, though it seemed scientists were using "rudimentary" tools compared to today's technology, they had to be very intelligent and were far more knowledgeable that your average jo at the time. These un-computerized instruments were advanced at that time and still function today, but not only that hold a mechanical beauty that no "modern computer" will ever have.

Beautiful grounds with old restored outbuildings

Wood roof and telescope

Beautiful tiles in the observatory

Funny elevator, with the Feira de Sao Cristovao in the background

Back down the elevator, we ended back to Barra with a pit stop in for coffee at La Bicyclette restaurant in the Botanical Gardens where I had the best "delice au chocolat" which didn't taste like condensed milk, as most chocolaty desserts here do, and two, okay, three bites of Geraldo's most delicious pecan pie! Two artisan breads in a bag later and we walked back through the backside of the gardens looking at the old houses and tree lined streets. A prefect end to a perfect day in the city!

An artist's VW

I spotted this on the wall of a house, ah! the days when bread and milk was delivered!