Portuguese Courses in Porto

Fast Forward Porto – Accommodations 2019:

Activities:

All the activities are conducted in Portuguese and in English by a guide or by a teacher. Students may need to pay for boat trips, cinema and theatre tickets and dinners.

Sample of activities offered at Fast Forward Porto:

Ribeira:  The riverside Ribeira district is the most alluring part of Porto, a window onto the past with shadowed lanes, grimy cobbled passages and boats at the quayside (now mostly for show, advertising or tourist jaunts).

Jardins do Palácio de Cristal:  These modest, leafy park, named after a long gone 19th century crystal palace, is home to a sport pavilion, gardens and a pond, roving peacocks and a reasonable self service restaurant. But pride of place goes to the new, high tech Bilioteca Municipal Almeida Garrett.

Solar do Vinho do Porto: The finest place in Porto to drink Port wine is the Solar do Vinho do Porto, a posh bar with a river view terrace beside the Palácio de Cristal’s garden. Waiters will help you choose from hundreds of varieties.

Museu Romântico:  Beside the Palácio de Cristal’s garden is the Quinta da Macieirinha, where the abdicated King of Sardinia, Carlos Alberto, spent his final days in 1843.

Sé Catedral:  This fortress of a Cathedral dominate central Porto from its highest hill. It was founded in the 12th century but rebuild a century later and extensively altered in the 18th century. Only a Romanesque rose window and the 14th century Gothic cloister remain from earlier encarnations. Much of the rest, inside and out, bears the baroque stamp of Nicolau Nasoni. Best of all is the upper story of the cloister (rich via a Nasoni – designed stairway), decorated with 18th century azulejos (hand painted tiles) and affording some fine views.

River Cruises:  Several outfits offer cruises in barcos rabelos, the colourful boats once used to transport port wine from the vineyards. Board at Porto´s Cais da Ribeira or Cais da Estiva, or Vila Nova de Gaia’s Cais de Gaia or Cais amarelo, cruises last one hour or more should you wish to see Porto Bridges’ or go to Peso da Régua, in the North of Portugal.

São João:  The most popular area in Porto. Everything is open – windows and doors of cafes, bars, houses and restaurants; tables, chairs and benches line every available space, as squares, cobbled alleys and the riverfront become one giant open-air cafe. The whole night long sees a mixture of people and ages out on the streets. This is the one party that no one in Porto wants to miss.

Estádio do Dragão:  The old Antas stadium – official name Estádio das Antas – was already one of the greatest stadiums in Portugal, but a new stadium has arisen in its place for 2004 European Championship tournament – the Dragao Stadium. The Euro 2004 Dragao stadium is a special stadium with an impressive design. The stadium has a total capacity of 52,000 seats.

Francesinha Festival:  In the beginning of June we have in porto the Francesinha Festival. This festival, with more than 50.000 visitors, is located in Foz do Douro and is the best place to taste one of the Porto’s famous Francesinha.

Fado:  There are many restaurants and houses where you can listen to Fado while having dinner or tasting some Port Wine.

Torre eIgreja dos Clérigos:  One of the best places to get your bearings and your photos of the city is Torre dos Clérigos, 76m-high baroque tower. The Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni designed the 225 step tower and the joining oval-shaped Igreja dos Clérigos in the mid 18th century.

O Palácio da Bolsa:  The neoclassical Bolsa is a splendidly pompous monument to Porto’s past-and-present money merchants. It took 68 years to build (1842-1910) and is now the headquarters of the city’s Commercial Association.

Museu Soares dos Reis:  Porto’s other important art museum occupies the staid neoclassical Palácio das Carrancas. Durig the peninsular war Marshall Soult, the French commander made his headquarters here but was evicted so suddenly by the future Duke of Wellington that he left an unfinished banquet behind. Transformed into a museum of fine and decorative art in 1940, its best works are from the 19th century.

Lello Bookshop:  An Art Deco confection is stacked to the rafters with new, second hand and antique books, in lavish quarters more suite to a gentlemen’s club.

Tiles: Porto has some dramatic tile work. Largest and most intricate is Silvestre Silvestris panel illustrating the legend of the founding of the Carmelite order, covering an outer wall of the Igreja do Carmo. Another church covered in blue tiles-in a traditional style but dating from the early 20th century and undertaken by Eduardo Leite- is the Capela das Almas.  In the entrance hall of São Bento train station several huge works by Jorge Colaço (1930) depict scenes ranging from daily life to historic battles.