Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Around the World

Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
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    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Gabe's Blog
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    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
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October 04, 2016

Southeast Asia Pries Open our Horizons

October 04, 2016/ Michelle Damiani
Southeast Asia Pries Open our Horizons

How a trip to Asia can redefine your boundaries, and your understanding.

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October 04, 2016/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel
Thailand, Laos, Vietnam
October 03, 2016

Markets in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos

October 03, 2016/ Michelle Damiani
Markets in Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos

Exploring the markets in Bangkok, Hanoi, and Luang Prabang

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October 03, 2016/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, markets
October 09, 2015

Normandy, France

October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Normandy, France

Normandy is burnished like copper, like calvados in a glass, like sedge wound around a ripened round of Livarot. Simple in appearance, but sfumato in resolution. It is no wonder Monet painted in Normandy.

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travel
France
October 09, 2015

Pre-Paris

October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Pre-Paris

Sometimes the universe messes with the best laid of plans.

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October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel
France
October 09, 2015

Tapas, Tapas, Tapas

October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Tapas, Tapas, Tapas

I'll be quite frank. Tapas are really one of the best parts of visiting Sevilla. Because they are tasty, sure, but also because of how marvelous the experience is.

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October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel
spain
October 09, 2015

Flamenco! in Sevilla

October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Flamenco! in Sevilla

Andalusia is the birthplace of flamenco music and dance, and therefore going to see flamenco was a priority for our trip to Sevilla.

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October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/
travel
October 09, 2015

Savoring Sevilla

October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Savoring Sevilla

Sevilla is a moveable feast, a feast for the senses. The air smells of oranges and incense and garlic, and something indefinable that is probably tapas cooking at the neighborhood bar—tapas that you can purchase with just the change in your pocket.

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October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel
spain
October 09, 2015

History in Andalusia

October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
History in Andalusia

Besides tapas and wandering and churros and wandering, we also enjoyed some historical sites during our stay in Spain. It's interesting to me how some of those really spoke to me, to all of us, and some were interesting but did not move us at all.

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travel
spain
October 09, 2015

Three Days in Brussels

October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani
Three Days in Brussels

Three days in Brussels is simply not enough.

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October 09, 2015/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
travel, Around the World, blog
belgium, Travel, Food
  • Previous
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    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Gabe's Blog
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    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
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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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First stop in Italy…Venice! My husband, eldest, and I flew from Bordeaux and waited for my youngest’s flight from Dublin (my daughter arrived the next day from Houston, for our family trip to the Dolomiti), then we dashed to our Venice a
Last photo from France before we hop over to Italy (but I do have a reel coming about epic seafood experiences centered on Île de Ré). I wonder if you’ll miss my French photos as much as I’ll miss posting them?
The nice thing about needing a stopover somewhere in France to break up a drive between two friends’ homes is it allows you to discover gems like Cahors, a medieval market town with great food, a great market, and great life. See my stories for
When you speak twenty words of a language, it’s a major triumph when you crack a joke. At this tucked away restaurant in Cahors, I decided on the menu shown, awed that the meal would cost as much as a sandwich back home. When Keith ordered, he
You can imagine the dreams I had the night we spent in this castle.
Do I love a market? Mais oui.
Just two cozy mystery writers wandering Narbonne, plotting murders while choosing cheese to refill the supply I already depleted.
If a trip to Pau is in your future (and it should be, this city at the feet of the Pyrenees has a worn-in elegance and unstudied grace that makes it a total winner), stop in at the tourist office for Pass Gourmand tickets. With the tickets you get a
Traffic jam, Pyrenees style.

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”