Benedetta imagined Portugal as a country facing out to sea, with a historical legacy imprinted on the stones and faces of the people. She was expecting small towns, decorated with tiles, tall, narrow houses, with lots of people and tourists exploring the streets. She had seen some photos of Porto, the Ribeira district and its coloured houses, where the city seemed to vibrate with a joyful spirit. Above all, she felt like getting lost wandering the streets, listening to Portuguese being spoken and discovering the views over the river.

But the reality exceeded expectation. “Northern Portugal is a 360° place: there is everything a traveller could want. Something for those who are more contemplative, for those who are adventurous and for those who like pure city life."

Porto was a surprise. In Castelo do Queijo she saw the sea as she had never known it before. An ocean that was wild, impetuous, full of energy from far away. Walking in the Ribeira, on the banks of the Douro, and seeing the city with its bridges, hills, wine lodges and the Torre dos Clérigos in the distance, set all of her senses in motion. Porto is perfect for people who love natural and artistic cities on a human scale.

Ribeira




Palácio da Bolsa




Torre dos Clérigos


Casa da Música


Museu de Serralves


Vila Nova de Gaia


Matosinhos


Leaving Porto, the Sketch Tour moved inland in Northern Portugal. She liked Guimarães, a small city surrounded by green areas, with a nostalgic atmosphere and a medieval flavour.







In the Douro Valley, travelling along its banks of terraced vineyards, famous all over the world, she was inspired by a dramatic landscape.



Finally, she was enchanted by the Foz Côa Archaeological Park, a place that must not be missed if you love archaeology, but equally essential for those who feel the expressive power of Palaeolithic art. “(...) visiting Foz Côa was an extremely important experience. It is the place where the whole expressive and communicative artistic path of humankind was born. A place that can be regarded as an art sanctuary.”

Benedetta Dossi is an Italian artist, a member of the Urban Sketchers community, with whom she shares her drawing experiences from her travels.
One of the things she really likes to do is to create and sketch travel diaries. In Asia and Europe, she has drawn many cities and natural places, describing her experiences through art, getting to know a lot of people thanks to the Urban Sketchers community, doing volunteer work and often repaying hospitality with her drawings.
She expresses herself with bold lines and swift colours. She likes sketching buildings, people, cars and environments as if they were in constant motion; this is in order to capture the present but also something of the past and the future, to create a sense of momentum and tell a story through art.

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