Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/
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Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Around the World

Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

From Southeast Asia to the Canadian Rockies, from Provençal villages to the wild coast of Australia—these are the stories gathered along the way. If you want fresh wanderlust delivered monthly, sign up for The Grapevine and come explore the world with me.


February 15, 2021

Sledding in heart of Switzerland

February 15, 2021/ Michelle Damiani
Sledding in heart of Switzerland

Who knew that mountain fun could be had in Switzerland, even for non-skiers?

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February 15, 2021/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel, blog
switzerland, travel, sledding, winter
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Michelle Damiani

Website for Michelle Damiani, author of Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, the funny and heartfelt memoir of an American family living in Spello, as well as Santa Lucia, a page-turner set on the Umbria border. 

Rumors. Romance. And more than a little espresso.

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Bari doesn’t hide everyday life indoors.
Curtains instead of doors means the intimacy of daily routines spills onto the street. You hear the chime of forks on plates, a TV on in the background. Laundry hangs on a rack in the road. The whine of
Okay I telegraphed this shot earlier in my “best of 2025” but don’t you think this photo of an octopus fisherman that I took in Polignano al Mare deserves its own frame?
I used to think good wine came with a hefty price tag.
Puglia laughed softly and poured me something dreamy.
Turns out the wines no one’s chasing are often the most generous—and the most drinkable. I wrote about my Puglia wine epiphany in
“WAIT. Rewind that.” ✨ 2025, you were a year.
1. A weekend in Grand Cayman with roving chickens and a kayaking trip to a bioluminescent bay
2. Getting Italian citizenship—an endurance sport with a passport-shaped prize
3. A trip to
It’s hard to regret getting older when it means an epic week of celebrating! A family celebration in San Francisco with my divine niece (and goddaughter, and December birthday buddy), a birthday walk in the woods with my daughter followed by pa
Those olive trees turned this 53-year-old woman into a pigtailed girl after too many days of rain.

I swear, winding through the Pugliese countryside felt like wandering straight into a Scottish fairy tale—dark, mystical trunks heaving over the
Most people who come to Grottaglie in Puglia for the ceramics studios. But when you travel with @max_brunelli of @ciaoandiamo , you are sure to see MORE. Before we walked to the shops, we stepped down the stairs of a local ceramic artist who one day
This year, skip the stress and borrow a page from Italy 🇮🇹 Celebrate on Christmas Eve, savor dinner, soak in the quiet glow, and let the season be more about meaning than perfection. Simple, joyful, beautifully Italian ✨ head to the link in my bio
Matera got under my skin again—five years later and the Sassi still feel like walking through a dream you’re not entirely sure you’re ready for.

This place does that. One minute you’re climbing a sunlit staircase, the next yo
It’s here! My brand-new gift guide for Italy Lovers 🇮🇹, created for anyone who dreams in espresso foam and drifts through life imagining they’re strolling a sun-splashed piazza.

This year’s guide is all about slowing down and sav

A trip to Italy is better with language basics! Here’s my recommended course to learn Italian and make your trip fantastico!


Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”