Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books
  • Blog
  • Spello Visiting Umbria Travel in Italy Around the World
  • Books and Movies Food and Drink Gabe's Blog 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/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • 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/
    • 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.


October 26, 2020

Modernization and Mass Production are not the same thing

October 26, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Modernization and Mass Production are not the same thing

How I gained a whole new appreciation for olive oil at Frantoio Filippi.

Read More
October 26, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 5 Comments
travel, blog
Umbria, food
September 16, 2020

Wild Asparagus and Me

September 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Wild Asparagus and Me

How a single stalk of wild asparagus can be ever so much more than that.

Read More
September 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
blog
Spello, food, neighbors
July 23, 2018

How to Host a Spritz Party

July 23, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
How to Host a Spritz Party

Aperol is an Italian apéritif that tastes lightly of citrus with bitter undertones. Learn how to turn Aperol into a cocktail that will elevate your afternoons, and how to turn that cocktail into a party.

Read More
July 23, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
blog
food, drink, life, party
  • 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.

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!

What nobody tells you about Japan is even when you’re too early for cherry blossom, there are plum blossoms. Plus, Japanese gardens are glorious with no blossoms at all.
As a person who grooves on food and connection, the Omicho Market Tour and Cooking Class offered by In Kanazawa House was one of the most satisfying and delicious experiences I had in Japan. Our guides Naoko and Kazuko (tagged in stories) introduced
Remember yesterday when I mentioned the Japanese alpine town that taught me how fall in love with sake? That town is Takayama. Known for sake, Edo era architecture, and a kind of beef so excellent that my husband, after an entire meal of steak and su
I wasn’t sure how I’d take to Japanese sake culture considering I, you know, wasn’t a fan of sake.

For those who need a refresher, sake is one of the many ingenious ways the Japanese make use of their most abundant crop—rice.
The most important word in a foreign language…

“Thank you” is polite. “Hello” is excellent.

But to my mind, if you want to connect, learn the word for delicious. 

In Japanese, it’s oishi. 

When I said “o
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

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”