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 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 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
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
October 09, 2020

To Puglia!

October 09, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
To Puglia!

How a trip to Puglia is like playing hooky.

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October 09, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 4 Comments
italy, blog, travel
Molise, Travel, restaurant
October 08, 2020

Your definitive Italian restaurant manual

October 08, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Your definitive Italian restaurant manual

New language, new rules—it can be hard to navigate Italian dining. But follow my easy instructions and you’ll have the time of your life.

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October 08, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
italy, entertainment
restaurant
November 07, 2018

Walking Bologna

November 07, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Walking Bologna

Walking itineraries to showcase the best of Bologna.

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November 07, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
travel, italy
Travel, Bologna, Italy, restaurant, walking tour, history, Emiglia-
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
  • 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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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
Okay I telegraphed this shot earlier in my “best of 2025” but don’t you think this photo of an octopus fisherman that I took in Polignano al Mare deserves its own frame?
I used to think good wine came with a hefty price tag.
Puglia laughed softly and poured me something dreamy.
Turns out the wines no one’s chasing are often the most generous—and the most drinkable. I wrote about my Puglia wine epiphany in
“WAIT. Rewind that.” ✨ 2025, you were a year.
1. A weekend in Grand Cayman with roving chickens and a kayaking trip to a bioluminescent bay
2. Getting Italian citizenship—an endurance sport with a passport-shaped prize
3. A trip to
It’s hard to regret getting older when it means an epic week of celebrating! A family celebration in San Francisco with my divine niece (and goddaughter, and December birthday buddy), a birthday walk in the woods with my daughter followed by pa

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”