The mid-season report from Italy, 2024

Plus the pre-launch of the official Tante Belle Cose podcast!

That’s me and Lenù exploring the fishing village of Pisciotta in late April. Photo credit: Jessica Scranton

Every year, travel trends emerge, and 2024’s theme is clear: The Beaten Path.

Florence, Venice, Rome, the Cinque Terre, Lake Como, and the Amalfi Coast are packed, while the less famous cousins near these always popular places are quiet. The big bus tours are full, as are the cruise ships, straining ports of call all over Europe. The already massive cruise industry is growing, and places like the Cinque Terre are buckling. Add to the mix the return of tourism from China and stir in the power of TikTok influencers, and you get a lot of people going to Florence not to see Botticelli but to wait in a very long line for a sandwich.

Of course, no one visiting these places is trying to hurt them. Instead of movies, people are now drawing on images from social media to inspire their travels. Travel is an opportunity to pursue experiences that make us feel part of something larger, but algorithms don’t have an imagination and serve quantity over quality. But I will always be a champion for the little guy, which is why I am so passionate about the evolution of this newsletter into a podcast, a project I’ve been tinkering with for some time now. Consider this the pre-announcement, as more details are still clicking into place.

There will be two types of episodes.

The first will be unique stories reported from Italy that open up a little world for you to explore. If you want to have an unforgettable experience in Italy, each episode will give you a story you can also experience. Here are just a few that I’m now editing:

• The Family Trees: In this episode, hear the remarkable story of an Italian immigrant in New York who, a century ago, sent money back home to buy twenty olive trees. After losing all contact with Italy, a descendant returns to run a marathon and discovers that those twenty trees have grown into a thriving grove of thousands, with their olive oil now sold across Europe.

• Saint Anthony’s Fire: I will dive into the incredible tale of a small town in Abruzzo where they've been hosting a 40-course feast every January for centuries. When the mayor of this mountain village of 900 residents learned that their cherished tradition was also being celebrated in Philadelphia, he was shocked. Listen in as he meets the owners of Le Virtù and discovers how the feast has become a hot ticket on the culinary scene.

• The Secret of San Domenico's Mummies: In this fascinating episode, I unravel the mystery of the mummies of the Aragonese kings in the Church of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples. Among these royal remains, a mysterious body was discovered, leading to a paleo-pathologic investigation that revealed it was likely that of a very famous person from the Renaissance. Moreover, the body reveals a truly shocking secret that, if confirmed, will rewrite history.

The second type of episode will be travel advice. When I don’t have the answer, I invite my friends and colleagues in Italy to join the conversation.

And so I invite you to send me your questions! The richer and more complex, the better. For example, a friend recently asked me to explain all the pomp and splendor of churches in Rome to someone who is a Protestant and doesn’t understand how all that over-the-top Baroque bling in St. Peter’s aligns with Christianity. It’s a big question I love pulling apart in wild, fun, and surprising ways.

So, send your question to danielle@feasttravel.com. Even better, record a voice note on your phone and send it to me!

Finally, I will turn on paid subscriptions for the first time in nearly three years. I will keep the newsletter and podcast free and available to everyone, but subscribers will receive something special and useful with each episode. For an episode about Rome, for example, I’ll give you the name of my favorite restaurant in Rome, which may be no big deal, but I refuse to share its name or location on social media because…it’s too wonderful. Or it could be a discount code, an invitation to a dinner, or a mini-guide to a place I know and love well. For each episode, I will give you something new and delicious.

The first episode will launch in September and the podcast will be published weekly on all your favorite platforms. However, you must subscribe here on Substack to get the Italian goodie of the week. I hope you’ll join me!