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

Blog

The journey continues.

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/

Welcome to a corner of the internet where Italy, storytelling, and savoring life meet. Whether you’re dreaming of your next trip, exploring Italian roots, or just looking for a more delicious way to live, you’ll find inspiration here. Want the newest essays, travel tips, and recipes before anyone else? They always land first in The Grapevine.


February 14, 2022

The Five Marriage Myths

February 14, 2022/ Michelle Damiani
The Five Marriage Myths

A lot of conventional wisdom about marriage is flat out wrong.

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February 14, 2022/ Michelle Damiani/ 7 Comments
blog, Family
Family
September 14, 2020

Village-Schooled

September 14, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Village-Schooled

Our kids are getting an education the likes of which we dared not dream.

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September 14, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 12 Comments
Family, blog
language, art, kids, Spello
September 06, 2020

What can I say?

September 06, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
What can I say?

No, really. I find myself with writer’s block about how to tell you about our release from quarantine.

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September 06, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
blog, Family
Spello
August 19, 2020

Italian Quarantine, week 2

August 19, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Italian Quarantine, week 2

9 lessons I learned in Italian “quarantena”

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August 19, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 8 Comments
Family, blog, Around the World
Spello, quarantine, Family, Il Bel Centro
August 12, 2020

Italian Quarantine, week one

August 12, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Italian Quarantine, week one

tl;dr: It’s pretty freaking amazing.

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August 12, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 16 Comments
blog, Family
Spello, Family
May 17, 2020

How to Wait

May 17, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
How to Wait

In which Nicolas, at age 14, writes about his misadventures on our Spello stoop.

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May 17, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
blog, Family
kids, Il Bel Centro, Spello
April 05, 2020

Collecting Violets

April 05, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Collecting Violets

Where nature and beauty and foraging and deliciousness meet.

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April 05, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
Family, blog
recipe, pandemic, drink
February 25, 2019

Will the real Santa Lucia please stand?

February 25, 2019/ Michelle Damiani
Will the real Santa Lucia please stand?

Behind Santa Lucia’s curtain stands a real-life town that got under my skin in surprising ways.

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February 25, 2019/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel, Family, books, Around the World
Il Bel Centro, Santa Lucia, The Road Taken
January 08, 2019

Hello, Italian Passports

January 08, 2019/ Michelle Damiani
Hello, Italian Passports

Our big news!

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January 08, 2019/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
Family, blog
citizenship, Italy
  • 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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Cat cafés: come for the cats, stay for…everything else.

The good ones feel like a living room you wish you had—soft corners to curl up in, a drink in hand (ours had free tea and coffee), WiFi if you need it, stacks of manga if yo
As a citizen of two countries, I take my civic duty seriously x two. Voted early in Virginia (VA voter? You can vote early until April 18th! I did it well before the deadline because I thrill to have my voice counted) and am sending off my Italian ba
The thing no one tells you about Japan is that it is an island so overflowing with marvels, it can be overwhelming to plan a trip there. 

My advice? Lean into YOU. What YOU care about. Let that be your guide.

For me, it’s always food, so food
Yesterday’s post about the trendiest coffee of my life got me thinking about memorable cups of coffee. I offer for your consideration:
1. Cappuccino in Turin, where a cup brought atmosphere to a foggy morning
2. A “Snow Monkey Marshmallow
And then there was Tokyo. Being the caffeine-addled family that we are, first order of business was seeking out a trendy coffee establishment. Hence, Glitch. A place that takes its coffee so seriously, you pick a single-origin bean from the canisters
While I was soaking in hot springs and reflecting in temples and wandering the countryside, my husband, daughter, son and son’s girlfriend were skiing! Japan, you are full of wonders.
Much like yesterday’s snow monkeys I am ALL IN on Japanese hot springs! We stayed three days in Shibu Onsen where overnighting in a hotel gets you a key that opens 9 different onsen. Fun, and especially fun to traipse all over town in a yukata
Imagine walking through a frost-laced forest, turning at every rustle in the branches…was that one? Yes, you can spot the furry head resting against a tree down the hill. Then you see another. And another. A mamma carrying her baby, friends cu
An unexpected beauty of Japan? All these tucked away moments to pause and reflect and connect with something deeper.

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”