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

"But now my will and my desire were turned, as wheels that move in equilibrium, by love that moves the sun and other stars" - Dante Alighieri, Canto XXXIII "Welcome to Episode #146: Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy Divina Commedia over many years and completed the work late in his life. He died a few years later in Ravenna, Italy. Many find comfort in his words, “In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost” - Dante Alighieri I contemplate his exile from Florence and his journey as a writer while musing over my own sense of being “in the woods” in recent times and having to forge a new path. It seems his profound words were written for the generations and the centuries that would follow. Yes, there are words that transport and there are some things already written in the stars. Enjoy this episode, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"There is only one way, and that is your way" - CG Jung Welcome to Episode #145: This share is all about reflecting on a recent milestone of seven years of podcasting and sharing stories and conversations about this Italian Love Affair - it has been a journey of living between two worlds and cultivating a sense of meaning from my journeys to Italy and being at home in Australia. I share how my books on Italian culture and living my own version of the Italian dream has been a journey of discovery and illumination over the past twenty years. There is so much that I have been attracted to in Italy that I have made my own over the years living in country NSW with my cypress and olive trees, and yes the dream has been realised without my even knowing it. I talk about the "Values Renaissance" that has been simmering in the background of my own world and how I have come to terms with honouring what really matters at home and in life. It has been a wild journey and a wonderfully spirited process of learning and living.... Enjoy this episode, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

“France had long been at the center of her philosophy. She had made France a touchstone in her writing, in which she alchemised life, love, and food in a literary genre of her own invention” - Luke Barr on MFK Fisher, Provence 1970 Welcome to Episode #144: Today I share why going to Europe for art, writing, philosophy and liberation has been a necessary evolution for many artists and writers. I contemplate my own journey and the many that have gone before seeking stimulation and artistic freedom amongst the avant-garde and the lively cafes of Paris and other wonderful European cities. Artists and writers have gravitated to these places and cultural epicentres for artistic communities, intellectual stimulation, mentors and teachers, and to attract opportunities for their art and writing careers. Enjoy this share, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel, art and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"There is magic in cooking, and in cooking Italian food there is alchemy" - Old World Italian by Mimi Thorisson Since our lives contain multitudes, yes an American poet once said that, I feel to step away from the noise is to disarm the outside influences that are at times necessary and sometimes it is just kind of ridiculous. So the remedy is to open a cookbook and read a recipe and make something beautiful. I am an instinctual cook, I like throwing things together and using what is within reach, but sometimes I do find it quite meditative to pull a book and take some quiet time to wander through the pages, let the pages talk to me. I find this kind of thing quite wonderful and simple. I like reading about the author's philosophy and personal experience, what brought them to share their world of cooking and eating and sharing. I find this rather meditative and inspirational, a balm for my spirit. In these changing times I believe it could be the perfect antidote to the things piling up on top of us. Cook something, eat something, and maybe share it with a friend. Note: The image is from my table, while editing I was baking my favourite Ricciarelli - the Tuscan almond biscuits from the cookbook by Gennaro Contaldo - Gennaro's Italian Bakery... Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"I am reading six books at once, the only way of reading: since, as you will agree, one book is merely a note to another book" - Virginia Woolf Today I share some beautiful moments while reading a few books on my table that have given much pause for thought. So I open a few on the fly and chat about the book, the author and what I Loved about the pages.... Teach Us To Sit Still by Tim Parks A Place in the World by Frances Mayes Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati Intermezzo by Michelle Johnston (August Release) Image - 6th Arrondissement Paris & Me (or it could have been heaven) Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"A soul's journey through this uniquely itchy epoch requires a far more nourishing approach" - Sarah Wilson, This One Wild and Precious Life Sometimes you cannot see the forest for the trees, but that is the writers life. It is a process. And maybe it will all work out in the end. And if it doesn’t work out, well I guess, it is not the end. Today I share some of my trials and tribulation of the creative life and committing to the crazy idea to write a book (another book). Somehow talking about it I come out the other side with a fresh perspective. I also had a nice epiphany straight after so really, thanks for being here! And please feel free to share with me if this episode resonated with you. I am here for the connection Michelle x Enjoy, Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

“The large paintings envelop the viewer and invite him or her in, it is an invitation to a self contained world where one can lose oneself and perhaps in the process find oneself. And for all their grandest of scale it is an intimate experience, a world unique to that particular encounter” - Christopher Rothko, Mark Rothko and the Inner World Welcome to Episode #140: In Italy, Mark Rothko (1903-1970) found what he was looking for. On a long voyage in Europe in 1950 with his wife, Rothko found himself in Florence, in the cradle of the Italian Renaissance - Today I share the story about this encounter and the shift in perspective that occurred for his painting, and the places in Italy that opened a new dialogue, a liberation of colour. Mark Rothko is currently on exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. There are three site specific places to see this exhibition including the Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) and the Museum of San Marco (Museo di San Marco) in Florence. Mark Rothko is most known for his colour field paintings, the great abstract artworks that have become iconic in modern art. Today I share about his life, the influence of Italy, and the experience of seeing a Rothko artwork in person (think rapture meets a direct experience of a unified colour field) and why you should go if you can. "Rothko’s art is an invitation. It is a doorway and really demands that you pay attention" - Michelle Johnston Visit: Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi " Rothko’s first encounter with Florence dates to 1950, during a trip to Italy with his wife Mell. He was deeply moved by Fra Angelico’s frescoes at the Convent of San Marco and by Michelangelo’s architectural vision in the Vestibule of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, which would inspire the Seagram Murals painted in the late 1950s—a dialogue that Rothko further developed during his second visit to Florence in 1966. In some of his more delicate works, one can also perceive the influence of fifteenth-century Italian art and, in particular, of Angelico’s fresco technique. Rothko and Angelico shared a desire to evoke a sense of transcendence, a dimension at once distant and profoundly familiar. While Angelico achieved this through the emotional resonance of divine figures in dialogue with earthly reality, Rothko created color fields capable of accompanying viewers into different emotional depths, challenging accepted notions of abstraction and color theory" - Palazzo Strozzi, Florence Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Support the show

"Fortunately for us art and travel lovers, science has caught up with what we have felt inside, what we have experienced" - Michelle Johnston In more recent years the science of ‘neuro-aesthetics’ has given us much to ponder in terms of understanding the importance of art and beauty in our lives. I share my personal experience and sound research on the positive side effects that seeking art, travel and beauty in our lives has on our mental health, neuro-plasticity and longevity. This is a broad topic yet I cite recent book publications and examples on the importance of art, creativity and travel and how there are many positive flow on effects in our lives. Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. Support the show

"Everything had been made honestly, quickly, without frills, but as it should be. It was wholesome, life giving...We had eaten well; we felt well. As we sat in the piazza inhaling our black half inches of double espressi, I felt very happy" - Sybille Bedford, Pleasures and Landscapes Welcome to Episode #138: Today I share some gastronomic highlights from the table in Italy. Italian food has so much to offer, and is a wonderful portal into the culture and the regional dishes. You do not want to miss the opportunity to discover new flavours and specialities of the place you are visiting while traveling. I love the excitement of ordering the cucina classica or something off the daily menu when I travel. Here are a few of many glorious moments that I have savoured along the way... Enjoy, Shownotes - All Places / Restaurants mentioned for today's podcast are here! A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. Support the show

"Happiness is a byproduct ultimately of being in right relationship with your own soul” - James Hollis Welcome to Episode #137: There are places in Italy that are so beautiful they make you want to weep. When life occasionally does not go to plan, sometimes you just need to throw the cards in the air and do something for yourself. When circumstance and fate isn’t favoured, here and there it is best to make a distinct move that alters everything. This is for those needing a permission slip. Italy changes you, opens you and makes life colourful. Travel is a marvellous gift to the self especially when you feel stuck or frustrated or burnt out from being on the wheel of life. Today is for the ones who need a permission slip or a reminder for the journey ahead. I like this quote by Frances Mayes, “Why not, in middle age, remember Dante’s dilemma: What now to do in order to grow?” - A Place in the World. Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"Italy, you win!" - J.J Martin, Mamma Milano Welcome to Episode #136: Today I share some inspiration from the book Mamma Milano by J.J Martin. J.J Martin is a visionary, creative and designer that lives in Milan. She moved to Italy many years ago and later started her fabulous fashion empire and lifestyle brand La Double J. Today is just some musing over this beautiful book, making a life in Italy and her vibrant world of colour and flair. If in Milano you can visit her beautiful world on Sant’ Andrea in the Quadrilateral della Moda - the fashion zone of Milan. Enjoy, Michelle x Image from the Book "Mamma Milano: Lessons from the Motherland" Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Support the show

"In Milan, one feels at once the charm of a great city and the sweetness of Italian life" - Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) Welcome to Episode #134: Today I share some fabulous things to do if you are on a budget or just a savy traveler and why Milano should not be ignored. It is one of the most charming and underrated cities in Italy and very beautiful too. So I want to share my favourite things to do for free and what to eat. There is so much to do and see, from the fabulous historic trams to wandering the Navigli Canals to hanging out on the high street in the fashion district, the 'quadrilateral della moda' in Milan just to appreciate the aesthetics on offer and the wonderful architecture. Milan is sophisticated and beautiful, yes, but it is not a gate keeper. It is a city of family's and students and has a great vibe. Is more casual than you think and I felt right at home there. The food is excellent and the aperitivo scene is all happening. Milan is vibrant, kind of cool and lots of fun and you should definitely make time to explore this great northern city of Italy. Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"Italians strongly believe that being surrounded by beauty is beneficial to a happier life" - Riccardo Illy Welcome to Episode #135, Milan is a city of Art, Design, Architecture, Innovation and Commerce. It is full of great art and history. And a wonderful place to discover more about Italian culture. Here is Part 2 on some of the fabulous places you can visit in Milan Italy - Da Vinci’s Last Supper and suburb Museums & Villas. I also include some history and detail about the many places to visit while in the city of Milan. Enjoy, Michelle x Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel, art and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"All I wanted was time" - Tracey Emin, Strozzi Gallery Documentary Welcome to Episode #133 Today I share a travel story for International Women’s Day about a glorious art and life moment in Florence from 2025. There are beautiful things that happen along the way that stay with you. I reflect on my experience and joy while walking in the Centro Storico of Florence and discovering that there was an exhibition of Tracey Emin's work on that week at the Palazzo Strozzi. It had been a long time since I had seen her work and remembered her brilliant exhibition in Sydney in the early 2000s. Today I honour Women and Art and the creative genius of Tracey Emin. I describe the effect of seeing her work in real life as "subtle and profound" and always significant. When you see Emin's work in real life you don't forget. You remember everything. These days the Palazzo Strozzi has some wonderful exhibitions - Mark Rothko opens next week and more recently there was Fra Angelico. So make time to see what is happening at The Strozzi Gallery if you visit Firenze. And they have a nice cafe downstairs too that you can enjoy in the renaissance court yard. Enjoy, Michelle x A Florentine Cafe & Musings on Women and Art in Italy Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"The let them theory is about freedom" - Mel Robbins, Let Them Theory Welcome to Episode #132, I wanted to share this personal story of something that shifted in me in a great way to create an expansive and special experience while traveling in Italy I thought might be helpful for other people on their travel (and life) journeys, particularly if solo traveling. Enjoy this share, Michelle x Book: Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins MichelleJohnston.life for the Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. Support the show

“The meaning of the river flowing is not that all things are changing so that we cannot encounter them twice but that some things stay the same only by changing” - Heraclitus, The Cosmic Fragments Welcome to Episode #131, Today is just some musing over art, philosophy and life while I get started on my projects for the year. Be prepared for many tangents and a casual monologue on life and Italy. As always, a beautiful stream to float down. Every book and side note is in the show notes or you can read the transcript too. Michelle x MichelleJohnston.life for the Shownotes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"Around the middle of the fifteenth century, not so long after the first written references in Europe to cards of any kind, an artist named Bonifacio Bembo painted a set of unnamed and unnumbered cards for the Visconti family of Milan", Origins of Tarot, Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self Awareness by Rachel Pollack Welcome to Episode #130, Did you know that the roots of tarot have their beginnings in the north of Italy at the height of the Renaissance. The first playing cards emerged in the courts of the noble Milanese families and became a popular card game for entertainment and play. The Visconti Sforza, Bolognese Tarochini and the Minchiate Tarot cards were commissioned by the aristocratic families to be hand painted and designed by expert artisans. Played as a game called 'carte da trionfe' the tarot was purely a trick playing game in the height of the Renaissance. Today I discuss the Visconti and Sforza alliance in Milan, Cosimo de Medici patronising philosophers to transcribe the Corpus Hermeticum, the time of Renaissance Magic, the shift in art and philosophy, the move toward the mystical traditions and how the tarot eventually evolved into that of cartomancy, esoteric practice via secret societies and occult practitioners in England and France in the 18th and 19th centuries. To now be tethered to the mystery traditions and used as form of divination, fortune telling and spiritual practise. I also share a few personal revelations about the tarot system along the way. And lastly if you are in Italy it turns out there is some serendipity to this episode I discovered while writing my show-notes you can visit the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo (a quick train ride from beautiful Milano) for an exhibition that is on until June 2026, that covers the last seven hundred years of tarot. If only a patron would come calling to me! How I would love to see this exhibition! Enjoy this Episode x MichelleJohnston.life for the Show-notes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston A White Chalk Production A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. Italy has many attractions - art, design, architecture, history and the wonderful food culture. Michelle shares her love of books on Italy and the places and regions that have inspired her along the way. Michelle started 'A Writer in Italy Podcast’ to share personal stories and the love of books on Italy that would lead to beautiful conversations with people and like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual renewal. Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family. © 2026 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026 Support the show

"A book can never disappoint you" - Cinzia Ferri Welcome to Episode #129: Just a little rumination about books and life as the new year arrives! Enjoy x The Substack Post that inspired this podcast: A book can never disappoint you! MichelleJohnston.life for the Show-notes A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston © 2025 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025 Support the show

“Bologna was unique in championing the professions of women. The home of Europe’s oldest university, which has supported female students since the thirteenth century, the city considered women artists integral to its development” - Katy Hessel, The Story of Art Without Men Welcome to Episode #128: Bologna is one of those places that has that quintessential Italian feel. A medieval city with wonderful heritage and a place where tradition and conviviality are maintained. Many people love to visit for the food and there is a lot to say about the glories of the table in Bologna. I went there for art, food and wine and found myself lured by the beautiful porticoes that dominate the city and a significant visit to Santa Caterina. There are UNESCO World Heritage sites and al fresco ambience like no other. I often wonder why more people don’t visit this city. It has so much to offer in terms of the magic of travel in Italy. Visit Bologna MichelleJohnston.life for the Shownotes and Visuals! A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston © 2025 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025 Support the show

"Live the journey as faithfully as you can" 💥James Hollis Welcome to Episode #127: A notebook from Bologna led me to contemplate the profound effect that Italy has had on my psyche these past few years. The journeys and the moments that have awakened a lively contemplation. I share my story of healing through the ups and downs and how Italy made everything sing. Michelle x Episode #127 🎙️ Life, Travel, Ischia, Jamie's Pizza, Naples & Procida Shownotes at MichelleJohnston.life A Writer in Italy Instagram Substack - At My Table Michelle’s Books Musical Scores by Richard Johnston © 2025 A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025 Support the show