What the web says about Porto 30/05/2008

Never been to Porto, Portugal, the so called capital of the portuguese north?

It’s about time to come and visit, and if you’d like to gather a first impression about Porto, there are already some very cool places on the Internet to visit:

• Better than words, you’ll find here excellent pictures of the streets of Porto.
• Another picture blog about Porto with some words in Portuguese.
• And a somewhat sad and abandoned image of Porto.
• Here you can see 360º pictures of some interesting locations in Porto.
• Take a look here of the local beaches! (Also in Portuguese).
• Even though it is written in Portuguese you’ll find here interesting adresses in the city.
• You’ll also need some Portuguese for this site with bars and events in Porto.

The Book Fair – Feira do Livro 23/05/2008

You are a bit bored, the weather isn’t quite what you’d expect from a town in the south,… well that’s normal, as it has been a tradition to have rainy weather when the Book-fair opens to the public.

So instead of hanging around in Cafés (which you should anyway…), just go to Palácio de Cristal and visit the Fair. It´s free and all major Publishing Houses are there presenting their books. This year’s writer is, Germano Silva a writer of Porto with deep knowledge of this city; who knows, you might get into a nice chat with him!

Until the 10th of June there will be all sort of Events and you can buy cheaper Books ( discount of about 10 to 50% – if they are the book of the day). Open every day from 15:30 to 23:30.

The student’s week: Queima das Fitas 08/05/2008

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Portuguese students have a tradition, which started in Coimbra (1919), of celebrating the end of the academic life by burning “queimar” the laces “fitas” representing the near finishing of their studies. As time went by the celebrations extended to all the students.

The biggest Queima das Fitas is held in Porto, having become a festivity of the whole city, it envolves as many as 350 000 students and a high number of locals. It starts Saturday night with a “serenata”, where Fado is sung with fervour and the students’ bags wave in the air making  the attached colourful laces to flutter.  The highlights of this week are on Sunday the blessing of the students’ bags, the parade on Tuesday, everyday in the evening at the Queimódromo there will be concerts and at the end of the week a bull fight for beginners (with cows ) and a gala ball for finalists.

Take a look at the events for this week at the website of the Queima das Fitas 2008 .