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

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/

Here’ll you find trip reports from up and down the Boot, from Turin to Sicily, from Cinque Terre to Puglia. If you want new wanderlust stories delivered to your email inbox once a month, make sure you sign up for my newsletter, the Grapevine. As a special welcome gift, I’ll send you an e-copy of my bestselling novel, Santa Lucia. Imagine that! In a few keystrokes, you’ll be transported to the landscapes, the cities, and the beauty of Italy. No passport required.

October 27, 2020

Alberobello: They're not Smurf Houses

October 27, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Alberobello: They're not Smurf Houses

Our visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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October 27, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 9 Comments
travel, italy
Puglia, Travel, restaurant, food, history
November 02, 2018

Bologna is more than Porticos and Parmesan

November 02, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Bologna is more than Porticos and Parmesan

Learn why Bologna is known as “the learned, the fat, and the red.” And also why it needs to be on your bucket list.

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November 02, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
italy, travel
food, Travel, history
September 06, 2018

At Home in Abruzzo

September 06, 2018/ Teresa Mastrobuono
At Home in Abruzzo

Part of the Local Guide Series, Teresa Mastrobuono leads us in a discovery of undiscovered Abruzzo.

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September 06, 2018/ Teresa Mastrobuono/ 2 Comments
italy, travel
Local Guide, Abruzzo, restaurant, food
August 05, 2018

Dining on a Trabocco in Abruzzo

August 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Dining on a Trabocco in Abruzzo

Dining out over the Adriatic has never been this extraordinary.

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August 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 6 Comments
travel, italy
Abruzzo, Vasto, beach, restaurant, food, wine
August 05, 2018

Ristoro Mucciante in Abruzzo

August 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Ristoro Mucciante in Abruzzo

A DIY restaurant with views for days.

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August 05, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 3 Comments
travel, children, italy
Abruzzo, restaurant, food, hike
July 31, 2018

Trieste? Where's That?

July 31, 2018/ Eyrnn Laurie
Trieste? Where's That?

Part of the Local Guide Series — Discover a jewel in Italy’s northern crown with writer Erynn Laurie.

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July 31, 2018/ Eyrnn Laurie/ Comment
travel, italy
Italy, travel, Trieste, Local Guide, food, Friuli Venezia Giulia
October 29, 2015

To the Adriatic

October 29, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
To the Adriatic

During our summer trip to Italy we realized that Le Marche is like Umbria’s pool. Or at least Spellani’s pool. Almost everyone we talked to had just been to Le Marche, went when we were there, or was planning a trip. Most of those we talked to went to Numana, and so, like true Spellani, that’s where we set our sights.

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October 29, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel, blog
day-trip, Le Marche, food, travel
  • 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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Five years ago today we returned to Spello after the pandemic tossed aside our year-around-the-world plan like a house of cards in a tempest. We were able to hard-pivot thanks to my husband’s clear-sighted pursuit of Italian citizenship by desc
How is it possible we’re moving this tater tot into college in 2 weeks?
Matera: Italy’s comeback queen.

Once called “the shame of Italy” for its cave homes and crushing poverty, Matera is now a UNESCO World Heritage site with boutique hotels tucked into stone grottoes and aperitivo bars where donkeys u
Twelve years ago we were preparing to leave Spello. Lunch with friends, a swim and spontaneous dinner with our landlord’s family, one more reveling at the beauty of the life we built in our medieval village.
As promised, I’m back in Aramezzo! And just came up with the most fun, totally Italian clue! I wonder if you’ll be able to spot it when you read “Making a Killing in Aramezzo” in the fall 🇮🇹 Speaking of, for my Book Club wit
So what’s your favorite gelato flavor?
After the Dolomiti, my family returned home and I continued on to Padua with a friend. What a find! Every corner revealed surprises—a sudden piazza filled with life, a painted arcade, a riot of color. I think many people give Padua a pass becau
I’ve shown you dramatic landscapes, fabulous meals, adventurous moments, the contrast between small charm and towering beauty…but maybe the most awe-inspiring aspect of our trip to the Dolomiti was that it happened at all. I am awash wit

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”