Lent excess before Lent begins. Some of the most famous are the Carnival of Barranquilla, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Carnival of Venice, Cologne Carnival, the New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Rio de Janeiro carnival, and the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The day immediately preceding Lent is variously called Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"), Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday. Sometimes, it is the peak of the pre-Lenten festival, while sometimes it is largely occupied with preparations for Lent. The observances vary from culture to culture, and even from town to town. Originally, in Lebanon and Syria, the last Thursday
Rio de Janeiro Light Rail 28-km network will open in stages by the end of 2017. It is estimated that when the entire network is at full capacity, it would be able to eliminate 60% of buses and 15% of automobile traffic circulating in the city centre. Rio de Janeiro Light Rail Rio de Janeiro Light Rail () is a modern light rail system serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The system is among several new public transport developments in the region ahead of the city's successful bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Its official name is , the initialism "VLT" (which stands for , literally