spello — Writing with Italy at Heart — Michelle Damiani
Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books
  • Blog
  • Spello Visiting Umbria Travel in Italy Around the World
  • Gabe's Blog Food and Drink Books and Movies Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching
  • About
Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/
kenny and friends ilb.jpg
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/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Chronicling our return home from a year in Umbria and the preparations for our around-the-world journey.

January 29, 2021

Of bread and sugar

January 29, 2021/ Michelle Damiani
Of bread and sugar

The only one of my posts that should come with a warning label: Don’t attempt to read while hungry

Read More
January 29, 2021/ Michelle Damiani/ 8 Comments
spello, umbria
Food, spello
Share
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • 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.

Get Santa Lucia, a novel set in Italy, FREE by signing up for my monthly newsletter, The Grapevine. Recipes, travel tips, and free wanderlust stories delivered right to your inbox.

get book!

Follow me on Instagram!

In 2017, I did one of the best things I’ve ever done in my whole life. I held a fundraiser for International Neighbors (a local agency that provides support to our refugee community) designed around the power of breaking bread together. I recru
I gotta say, after 3 days in Jerome Arizona, I have half a mind to set a new cozy mystery in a 19th century mining town. Old west vibes, a messy but fabulous medley of characters from foreign lands (Croatia, Ireland, Scotland, China, Belgium, and Ita
Kind of a profound experience to bring our three generations to a historic sight like the Tuzigoot pueblo.
“Making a Killing in Aramezzo” is off to my editor! What does an author do when a manuscript leaves her desk? First up, laundry. Then more laundry. I am seriously behind in laundry (and emails). And then I’ll have a meal that’
As the weather warms, I have a profoundly important question for you. Aperol, Campari, or limoncello spritz?
Do you believe that the same person made both of these renderings? A drawing of “swallows” (which my children call “squali”, Italian for sharks, for some reason the Italian word has stuck in our brains and we pull it out more
One of the beautiful things about visiting a place more than once is you can capturing it in new ways. Venice’s colors are so inspiring, it never would have occurred to me to photograph her in black and white, but on our last visit, I got more
Between Spello and Assisi lies Monte Subasio, a bald mountain composed of pink stone that gives both cities their characteristic hue. It’s a fascinating mountain, in that it seems like fifteen landscapes stitched together, Frankenstein style. T
As the weather warms, my thoughts turn towards the arrival of swallows in Italy. How I loved watching their morning show as I sipped my coffee. Fun that now, as spring arrives, the bulky socks come off and the swallow tattoos around my ankle also get
Umbrian artist Norberto was known for his tiny, hooded monks wandering vast landscapes. Each image is humble, timeless, and full of contemplative whimsy. Inspired by Norberto’s work, when my son was seven he created his own tribute, an attempt

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”