Michelle Damiani
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  • Spello Visiting Umbria Travel in Italy Around the World
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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

Travel in Italy

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 alpine lakes to sun-drenched coastlines, this is where you’ll find stories from my travels across Italy—the hidden corners, the unexpected delights, the journeys that stay with you. Want new wanderlust in your inbox once a month? Sign up for The Grapevine.


January 10, 2026

A woman alone in Bari's fish market

January 10, 2026/ Michelle Damiani
A woman alone in Bari's fish market

Walking Bari alone led me to its fish market, street food, and daily rhythms—an intimate look at food, sound, and life in Puglia.

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January 10, 2026/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
italy, puglia, food, travel, blog
Food, Travel, Puglia, bari, markets
December 07, 2025

Roots of Puglia

December 07, 2025/ Michelle Damiani
Roots of Puglia

Dive into Puglia’s heart—winding through storied caves of ancient ceramics, tasting centuries-old olive oils, and sipping bold Primitivo, this region blends history, art, and flavor like nowhere else.

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December 07, 2025/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
italy, puglia, travel
Puglia, Travel, wine, ceramics, olive oil, Food, winery
December 11, 2023

Seven Reasons to Add Turin to Your Bucket List

December 11, 2023/ Michelle Damiani
Seven Reasons to Add Turin to Your Bucket List

Got a trip to Turin planned? Lucky you.

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December 11, 2023/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
italy, language, Piedmont, travel
Turin, Torino, Spello, Food, win
January 24, 2021

A new perspective on Venice

January 24, 2021/ Michelle Damiani
A new perspective on Venice

How a beloved children’s book changed how I think about Venice. With loads of recommendations to help you enjoy even an off-season visit to La Serenissima.

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January 24, 2021/ Michelle Damiani/ 6 Comments
italy, blog, travel
Venice, Veneto, Travel, Italy, Food, restaurant
October 19, 2020

Mangia Pesce in Gallipoli, Puglia

October 19, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Mangia Pesce in Gallipoli, Puglia

How Gallipoli takes the Italian concept of “mangia pesce” and turns it into a lifestyle and an art form.

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October 19, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 15 Comments
italy, blog, travel, language
Puglia, Travel, Food, restaurant
October 16, 2020

Five days in Torre Chianca, Puglia

October 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Five days in Torre Chianca, Puglia

I bet you’ve never heard of Torre Chianca. Will you want to go there after reading this post? Let’s see….

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October 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 11 Comments
travel, italy, blog
Puglia, Food, restaurant, Travel
August 05, 2018

Stupidly Speechless in Abruzzo

August 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Stupidly Speechless in Abruzzo

How I lost my breath and found it again in Abruzzo.

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August 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 6 Comments
italy, travel, blog, children
Abruzzo, Travel, Food, Sulmona, Celano
  • 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.

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NOT ONLY will October’s Book Club with a View go to Umbria, but also Florence (tour is full, but let me know if you want a spot on the waiting list!). I wonder if you can guess what’s on our reading list 🤗 PS, you’re gonna see this
So excited to return to Umbria in October, this time with our Book Club with a View! The trip filled soon after I announced it in January’s Grapevine (check my link in bio to not miss a trick), but let me know if you want more information or a
This snowstorm is the perfect time to begin my dozenth book. What, dozenth isn’t a word? As someone on her dozenth book, I feel like we can also use it as a verb “I am dozening” “I’ve dozened.” I stand by it! Dozen
From the top of the Boot, to the tip of its winsome heel, and everywhere in between…what I love about Italy is the layers. Of history, of humanity, of color, of rock. Glorious, isn’t it? Photos 1) Spello 2) Dolomiti 3) Polignano a Mare.
Twenty year old me, backpacking through Europe. When Keith snapped this photo in the alps thirty-plus years ago, we had no idea how prescient it was.
A pandoro is a star-shaped, vanilla powder sugar dusted, cake/bread hybrid traditionally from Verona. It’s buttery and rich and the perfect way to ring in a new year! Have you had your 2026 pandoro?
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

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”