Whats On

“Assuming you've got a good pair of walking shoes in which to trek up and down the steep hills of the historic center, most of Oporto's major monuments can be reached on foot. Presiding over the whole scene is the Sé Catedral, with its Gothic cloister and gorgeous 18th-century tiles, which dates back to the 12th century. Next door is the Bishop's Palace, a white grand Baroque facade punctuated by gray curlicue stone window frames. It almost takes precedence over the church itself

Before taking the inland route down the hill, step out onto the upper level — now used for pedestrians and the city's metro — of the Dom Luis I Bridge, built by one of Eiffel's disciples, to get a bird's-eye view back to the hilltop medieval city and the remnants of its 14th-century fortifications.

The streets that fan out behind the cathedral are home to many of its best-known shops, including the Lello Bookstore, in a marvelous neo-Gothic building. Brace yourself with a coffee at the grand Art Nouveau Café Majestic before tackling the 225 steps of the Torre dos Clérigos for yet another breathtaking view of the city and river.

Also not to be missed is the vestibule of the São Bento train station, a monument to the Portuguese love affair with painted tiles (there are 20,000 of them there). Farther downhill is the Igreja de São Francisco, in which someone appears to have detonated an explosion of carved and gilt Baroque ornament inside a decidedly more austere — but no less impressive — 14th-century Gothic church

After expanding into new neighborhoods for much of the last century, Oporto is in the midst of recolonizing its most romantic neighborhood, the Ribeira, as the arcaded warren of former bacalhau warehouses along the river is known. Near the Casa do Infante, the former home of Portugal's favorite son — the 15th-century maritime explorer Henry the Navigator — and now a museum of city history, you'll find a cluster of clothing stores like Favela Chic and Shade, selling pan-European hipster wear to Oporto's modern progeny.

Stretching in both directions from the Praça da Ribeira, the rows of weathered tile-clad buildings almost appear to be holding each other up. Above the omnipresent laundry drying on the balconies, women in floral housedresses lean over the railings and watch city life stroll, sail, cycle or just drift by. Down at street level, stylish interior design shops line up next to Internet cafes and intimate wine bars.

(…) Another reason to venture out into the new city is the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art by the Pritzker Prize-winning Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. It plays host to exhibitions of cutting-edge international contemporary art, and the museum shop stocks some of the best of Portuguese design, like the boldly architectonic silverware of Ana Fernandes.

But the city's newest architectural gem is the even more recent Casa da Música, which opened in 2005 with a Lou Reed concert. Mr. Koolhaas's design looks like a faceted meteorite that slammed into an otherwise tranquil neighborhood of broad boulevards. At the top-floor restaurant Kool, the Italian chef Augusto Gemelli makes culinary waves with his original takes on authentic Italian fare, like rigatoni in a tomato sauce tempered with the sweetness of grapes. However multifaceted Oporto has become, it hasn't forgotten its vinicultural roots. The Alto Douro wine region is itself a Unesco World Heritage Site, and 2006 marked its 250th anniversary as a demarcated wine region, making it the oldest designated wine region in the world.

A trip upriver — be it by boat, car or helicopter — reveals a landscape of steep hills terraced into vineyards and dotted with centuries-old quintas, as the wineries are called, most of which are open to the public. At the historic Quinta da Pacheca all grapes are pressed by foot in old granite tanks, and visitors are invited to join in during the harvest in September and October.”

From The NewYorkTimes

Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized in Porto, Portugal. Giving space to big screen productions, to auteur films and to experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from cinephiles to more popular spectators, with an annual average of 110,000 film goers. In its 27th edition in February 2006 the festival

From Wikipedia