Michelle Johnston

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

Society EN ↓ 146 episodes

A Writer in Italy is about travel, art and life. A place to share the travel journeys and the many 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 like minded souls who share a deep love affair with Italian Culture and the country as a place of beauty and spiritual...

Author

Michelle Johnston

Episodes

La Cucina Povera and the Beauty of Simple Ingredients...A three part episode that begins in the chicken pen 30.10.2020 43:18

“I just think food is so important to us, it is the most important thing we do, so why not enjoy it”...Rick Stein Welcome to Episode 21: This is just me, the real me, the girl that decides to make it happen regardless of the original plan. A garden walk and a podcast recorded in the chicken pen. A little cook up of the stinging nettle I foraged in the garden was the outcome of this spontaneous e...

The Heart of Verona…. The Family Trip - Part 3 27.09.2020 25:22

"Travel is like any other addiction: the more of it you've had, the more of it you need" - Tony Wheeler Welcome to Episode 20: Verona, Veneto The day began with a large yellow Mimosa heart wreath in the middle of the Corso Porto Nuova. And that pretty much sets the stage for a day of exploring the Veneto town of Verona. The star crossed lovers, the myth and the magic of Romeo and...

Venice and the Art of Travel....The Padova to Paris Journey - Part 2 09.09.2020 31:10

"Open my heart, and you will see / Graved inside of it, Italy" - Robert Browning Welcome to Episode #19: Venezia, Venetia - Italy Venice is the icing on the cake and should be sampled at least once in a lifetime or more if you are lucky. Traveling to see this city built on over one hundred islands, linked by bridges and canals halfway between the rising and the setting sun never fails...

Padova, Italy to Paris, France - The Family Trip...... Part 1 10.08.2020 34:27

"We are all pilgrims who seek Italy" - Goethe, Italian Journey Welcome to Episode 18: Padova, Veneto What a sweet thing to create this episode and share our family journey in Italy and France. So grateful for a little Carpe Diem moment late 2018. Tickets to Italy arriving in Milano Milpensa and the fast train to Padova in March 2019 was the beginning of a wonderful adventure. Italy a...

Bringing Italy Home - Part 2 - Accordions, Mothers, Second Chances, Culture, Tradition and there’s Always Italy......From the Armchair at Home 06.07.2020 24:38

Welcome to Episode #17: Bringing Italy Home.. This is a second dose of possibilities of an Italian kind. Over the past few weeks I have been wandering into old books and new ones, and have felt delighted at sitting down to watch the documentaries Made in Italy, Franca: Chaos and Creation and my favourite Italian film I practically had to go on a pilgrimage to get my hands on. It turns out that...

Bringing Italy Home - The Spirit of Place......Books and Movies to Enjoy 26.05.2020 14:44

Welcome to Episode 16 Bringing Italy Home with favourite movies, cookbooks and travel narratives that have kept the spirit happy over the years....So you too can travel from your armchair at home at any given time...... On a personal note I love my books and movies and that is why I am sharing these favourites today.........Just to feed the muse and taste the spirit of Italy through film, travel b...

The Calabrian Homecoming - In Conversation with Josephine Gregoire 07.04.2020 1:26:23

Welcome to Episode #15: The Calabrian Homecoming - In Conversation with Josephine Gregoire..... I have sat on this conversation for a while now and let’s just say it has to be noted that we sat down on a beautiful summers day here in Bungendore, NSW, Australia at Le Tres Bon in Josephine and Christophe’s French Restaurant in late 2019 to record this podcast. It is important to note that at the ti...

Food For Thought: Cooking with Massimo and Friends, and Living the Simple Life 26.03.2020 23:43

Welcome to Episode #14: Food For Thought, Cooking from the Cookbook ‘Bread is Gold: Extraordinary Meals with Ordinary Ingredients’ as a project to see me though this year. I have no doubt it will take me that long......And surrendering to the Simple Life as I know it. Wow, things have changed so fast we barely know what will happen today nor tomorrow. We are in the middle of unprecedented times...

One Writer’s Journey - On Memoir, Writing, Belle Italia and Food for Soul....... 11.03.2020 25:08

Welcome to Episode #13 and One Writer’s Journey - On the beauty of writing and reading Memoir, a homage to Belle Italia and Food For Soul. This share is a montage of sorts and covers a few relevant areas of life in these modern times. 1. Ode to Italy as we brace ourselves for our new reality. 2. Writing Memoir and the Writers Life: A share of tools and creative ways to get writing and enjoy th...

The Good Life at La Tavola Marche - In Conversation with Ashley Bartner 08.01.2020 49:19

Welcome to Episode #12: We kick off Season 2 with a wonderful conversation with the delightful Ashley Bartner of La Tavola Marche, a Cooking School, Farm and Agriturismo in Italy. Ashley and her husband Jason moved to Italy thirteen years ago from New York with a plan to create their own business off the beaten track in the region of Le Marche. With a big dream in their back pocket and hearts...

Rome, Italy “If you have no faith in me, have faith in what you see” (Cinema Paradiso) 21.12.2019 28:20

Welcome to Episode #11 and the Eternal City of Roma. This is the final chapter of the book share In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure and Season 1 on the podcast A Writer In Italy. What a journey it has been. These last days wandering around Rome from Piazza to Piazza sipping cappuccino and people watching in Piazza della Rotunda were full of delight and spontaneity. The travelers...

Amalfi, Campania Continued.....Walking adventures in Positano, Minori and Real Life 09.12.2019 34:13

Welcome to Episode #10 Amalfi, Campania and the joys and discoveries up in the terraced hillside of Pogerola, Italy. Certainly this recent podcast had me juggling the creative life and the realities of living in Australia at the end of 2019. However, I was more than happy to share the days in Amalfi and pages from my book ‘In the Shadow of a Cypress’ in podcast land..... Amalfi was a collection...

Amalfi, Campania.... “There’s nothing like a fountain and a magnum of French champagne to put you right again” - Under the Tuscan sun (film) 20.11.2019 40:59

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...

Siena, Tuscany and the Adventure Continues..... “The Bees, you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you” (Stealing Beauty) 31.10.2019 57:57

Welcome to Episode #8 Siena, Tuscany Book Share: In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure. Chapter 6 and the Italian Adventure continues.....After wonderful days exploring Florence and Fiesole to a sweet journey through the Tuscan Countryside to Siena by rail. Returning to Siena after many years it was wonderful to be sitting and sipping a cappuccino staring at the beauty of the Palazzo...

A Conversation with Food Writer, Cookbook Author and Photographer Emiko Davies about Italy, Books and Family. 08.10.2019 1:02:47

Welcome to Episode #7: A Conversation with Cookbook Author, Food Writer and Photographer Emiko Davies about Italy, Books and Family....... I had a lovely time over coffee at Tilley’s Lyneham on a chilly winters morning in Canberra chatting and getting to know Emiko and all of the wonderful details about her three cookbooks and how she started as a Food Blogger in Florence, Italy. I very much enj...

Florence, Tuscany: "I have drunk deep the wine of Firenze: I've warmed both hands before the fires of Botticelli and Michelangelo", Tea With Mussolini......and the Italophile as a way of life. 17.09.2019 55:30

Welcome to Episode 6: Florence and Fiesole...... Book Share: In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure. Chapter 4 and the adventure of seeing Florence again after many years, staying in the hill top town of Fiesole, visiting the fabulous Santa Maria del Fiore, The Uffizi Gallery for the Medici Art Collection and the Strozzi Gallery for the Picasso Exhibit. The journey of an Italophile a...

Assisi: The Spiritual Heart of Italy 17.08.2019 30:45

Welcome to Episode 5: Assisi, Umbria Book Share: In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure The adventure continues in Cortona and a visit to Assisi, the spiritual home of Italy's patron Saint, Saint Francis. A beautiful day unfolds exploring the Basilicas and the cities artistic treasures. The magic of Assisi leaves its mark and many fond travel memories of the landscape, the cuis...

Episode 4: Cortona, Tuscany........."Terrible Ideas hmmm, don't you just love those?"....Under The Tuscan Sun (Film) and the Creative Life 28.07.2019 44:51

Welcome to Episode 4: Cortona, Italy Book Share: In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure Chapter 3: "Terrible Ideas, hmmm don't you just love those?"..........Under The Tuscan Sun (film) This chapter is an exploration of Cortona and shares the joy of spontaneous travel as events unfold over a day in the beautiful Tuscan town of Cortona. Food, wine and a visit to Villa Br...

Umbria, Orvieto "I have a great talent for perseverance" and Happy Messy Life. 15.07.2019 40:31

Welcome to Episode 3: Orvieto, Umbria Book Share: In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure Chapter 2: "I have a great talent for perseverance" My House in Umbria (film) This chapter is the beginning of my adventures around Italy on Trenitalia and has me musing over my time away from family and life as I know it. A few days here has me falling hard for the landscape, the archi...

Chapter 2: Rome: Take the Gun, Leave the Cannoli or Buy a Ticket to Italy, Take a Risk 02.07.2019 21:38

Book Share: In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure 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 tur...

Chapter 1: "Take the Gun, Leave the Cannoli or Buy a Ticket to Italy - Take a Risk" 18.05.2019 38:50

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 love of travel. The adventure turned into a book........... In The Shadow of a Cypress: An Italia...