A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life

Welcome to Episode #9 Amalfi, Campania......

Travel Writer and Author Freya Stark once said, “To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit in which the gods may offer it. For this reason your customary thoughts, all except the rarest of your friends, even most of your luggage - everything, in fact, which belongs to your everyday life, is merely a hindrance. The tourist travels in his own atmosphere like a snail in his shell and stands, as it were, on his own perambulating doorstep to look at the continents of the world. But if you discard all this, and sally forth with a leisurely and blank mind, there is no knowing what may not happen to you.”
From the Book - Baghdad Sketches: Journey’s Through Iraq
Traveling from Siena to the village of Amalfi was quite a journey and a fresh chapter of my travels around Italy. Amalfi is ancient, rugged, beautiful and fabulously itself. I loved the bougainvillea cascading on faded architecture; the cacti and the palms and the baskets of lemons and ceramica on display in the village. The days were a world away from my real life yet a delight to share and write about.
Please find Show Notes at:
www.michellejohnston.life
Please subscribe, rate and/or review if you enjoyed this podcast.
Instagram: @awriterinitaly and @theyellowhouse__

About A Writer in Italy Podcast:
Five years ago Michelle Johnston traveled to Italy to create space for herself and her writing. Michelle traveled solo giving herself time to recalibrate after many years of parenting and life in general. Leaving her husband to take care of the family she reconnected with her writing, her art and her love of travel.
The adventure turned into the book and travel memoir...............
In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure

Support the show

“You may have the universe if I may have Italy”
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Welcome to Episode 32:

We are not the first and we will not be the last. The magnetic forces of Italy are powerful luring us from the comfort of our own homes and countries to dream, to ponder, to move, to see, to experience a culture that shows us a beautiful way to live.

It is a sensual life that is deeply layered. Many of us would like a taste of it, a few weeks, a few months, perhaps a lifetime. Italy is a beacon, a radiant beauty that has many of us within its grasp.

‘Italophilia: the admiration, appreciation or emulation of Italy, its people, ideals, civilisation, and culture’.

Last month I shared some time with travel blogger Ishita Sood from her home in India. We talked about everything that mattered in our lives right now in the middle of the pandemic and getting back to la grande bellezza was high on both of our lists. It was a generous and bountiful conversation and one that I will treasure.
Ishita’s website on Italian Culture and Travel http://Ishitasood.com shares the many layers of travel narratives, Italian Authors, books on Italy you should read and much more.

Certainly life in the past few years has thrown us a huge curve ball and we are all trying to pick up the pieces. We may continue to examine and navigate the events of 2020 and beyond for some time. In the meantime we will dream, we will share and we will remember the highlights and the beauty of what keeps us motivated and inspired.

We are committed and we are waiting, but in the short term enjoy this conversation from two Italophiles who could think of nothing better to do than take a deep dive into the beauty of Italy, travel and everything in between.

Enjoy,

Michelle & Ishita

Visit: Ishita on Instagram @italophilia and https://ishitasood.com
© 2021 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life

Music Composed by Richard Johnston, © 2021
Please find all Show Notes and details mentioned at:
michellejohnston.life
Instagram: @awriterinitaly and @theyellowhouse__

Support the show

“Recipes are like stories. Once told then re-told, they become familiar and part of our families heritage. Families would share food and recipes with one another and through this organic process a cuisine was born. Spread a little wider, and this tale becomes regional. There is handmade pasta created without eggs, sources that are meat free and celebrate seasonal vegetables. So now, in each region of southern Italy, there is a wealth of accidentally vegan dishes for you to enjoy” - Nadia Fragnito
Welcome to Episode #55
If you are in the mood to be transported to the dreamy world of Southern Italy look no further than Nadia’s, ‘A Vegan Summer in Southern Italy: Recipes and Culinary Adventures’.
I love this book for not only its visual beauty but its recipes based on plant based cooking, and the traditions of Southern Italy. Food is more than the sum of its parts, it is culture, tradition, place, flavour and that connection between family and home.
Enjoy.....
Visit Nadia: The Vegan Italian Kitchen
Book Share: A Vegan Summer in Southern Italy: Recipes and Culinary Adventures by Nadia Fragnito
Please find all Show Notes and details mentioned at:
michellejohnston.life
You can now Support the Podcast and send your encouragement.
© 2022 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life

Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2022

Support the show

"Now I know why I keep a diary. I am not at peace until I continue the thread into the present. I am interested in analyzing myself, in trying to discover the reasons why I do such & such. I cannot do this without dropping dried peas behind me to help me retrace my course, to point a straight line in the darkness". Patricia Highsmith, Her Diaries and Notebooks
So many writers have taken to the page to transcribe their daily thoughts, to reflect and preserve, to vent, to articulate, to understand, to create. Diaries and journals can be a way to write your life into being, and a place of comfort and joy. Always the diary is a humble companion on a journey, whether you are traveling out there in the world or not.
Here are few of my own humble moments from my travel diaries in Camogli, Genova, Milan, Siena, London and France...
Find all Show Notes and details mentioned at:
michellejohnston.life
You can now Support the Podcast and send your encouragement.
© 2022 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life

Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2022

Support the show