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/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • 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/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • 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/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • 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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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”