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

"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.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 2026  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2026

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.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 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.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 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

A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. 

Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 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

A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. 

Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 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

A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. 

Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"I fall in love with places" - Cy Twombly

Welcome to Episode #126,

While still reflecting on the life of Cy Twombly, I muse over a few artists that have been influenced by Italy (and my artistic process). There is just something about the visual beauty and the history of Italy that seems to impact many artists, writers and creatives. 

I go further into thoughts on the art of Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg throwing his art into the Arno River in Florence after a disparaging critic’s comment, and how artists move forward regardless of popularity or understanding. Generally the people catch up later. For some like Julian Schnabel they hit their stride early.  

Schnabel said, Italy had a “massive impression” on him.  He lived in Milan earlier in his career creating work influenced by place and the landscape. A visit to the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua had such an impact on his psyche he changed the way he painted. You can see this shift in his documentary in Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait. He later purchased land in New York City and turned it into a Venetian Palazzo. Palazzo Chupi is bright pink building and an ambitious manifestation of his own artistic temperament. The visual beauty of Venice influences many of us in varying ways.  

I go on a personal journey on this episode contemplating the life of the artists and my own. Later in the share I muse over the life and inspirations of Cy Twombly, Julian Schnabel, Basquiat and Picasso. 

"blurring, blotching, writing and inscribing were purposely obscured by superimposing" - Thierry Greub on Twombly's painting process

Pentimento .... "Pentimento: a visible trace of earlier painting beneath a layer or layers of paint on a canvas". 

"The word pentimento is derived from the Italian 'pentirsi', which means to repent or change your mind. Pentimento is a change made by the artist during the process of painting. These changes are usually hidden beneath a subsequent paint layer".

Musical Scores by Richard Johnston

Shownotes at MichelleJohnston.life

A Writer in Italy Instagram

Substack - At My Table

Michelle’s Books

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.

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"I am a Mediterranean painter" - Cy Twombly

Welcome to Episode #125:

In 1952 Robert Rauschenberg photographed his friend and fellow artist Cy Twombly standing with a thin notebook next to Constantine’s colossal hand while on holiday in Rome. They were together on a traveling arts scholarship. They traveled extensively for months in Italy and North Africa. 

Five years later Cy Twombly moved from America to live in Rome, Italy.

Cy Twombly (1928-2011) made a life in Rome as an artist. He kept the art world at bay, painting vast canvases full of white space with a trademark style to his work, secluding himself in places like Gaeta, Bassano and Rome. 

Twombly would take many journeys over his lifetime. Moving between places and homes and making art. Twombly’s fascination with ancient civilisations, the Mediterranean cultures, the Greco and the Roman would converge on his canvases. A love of literature and poetry underlines his art. 

This is a story about place, art and history, and how they intersect on the canvas of life. 

Image: Horst P. Horst for Vogue Magazine

Musical Scores by Richard Johnston

Shownotes at MichelleJohnston.life

A Writer in Italy Instagram

Substack - At My Table

Michelle’s Books

A Writer in Italy is about travel and life. A place to share the beautiful travel journeys and the discoveries along the way. 

Michelle Johnston lives in Australia with her family.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

“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....."  Baghdad Sketches, Freya Stark

Welcome to Episode #124:

Today I take you on a journey through a few travel experiences that have a left a wonderful impression on my life as a writer and lover of Italy. 

These are a handful of moments that captured the essence of travel and what I truly appreciate and love about the Italian culture and visiting Italy.

The places that called me on the travel journeys in Italy, that are mentioned today.... The Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Padova, Torino, Sperlonga, Campania, Rome, Lake Garda, Milano….. and Paris

Enjoy x

If you are interested in another kind of rabbit hole, I mention these podcasts along the way....

Art & Love: Peggy Guggenheim Part 1

Art & Love: Peggy Guggenheim Part 2

Moments in Italy: Caffes & Coffee Bars, Turin Italy

Shownotes at MichelleJohnston.life

A Writer in Italy Instagram

Substack - At My Table

Michelle’s Books

Today's end music - 'Chances' 

'Seascapes" for mood music.....

Richard's Music is available on Spotify and Apple Music - Album 4240

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.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show

"There's just something about sitting at a cafe, and the food, and the culture that just, it's not like anything else in the world" - Erica D'Arcangelo

Welcome to Episode #123,

Today I share an enriching and beautiful conversation with Erica D’Arcangelo, host of Pizza Story Podcast. So this is a tale about pizza, family, heritage and Italy. 

Erica’s first book was written in honour of her Grandfathers journey as an Italian immigrant from Abruzzo Italy to America  - A Story about Pizza. She is also an author of a series of children’s books about her favourite subject Pizza.

We talk about many things, family, traditions, values, creativity, Italy, Italian culture in America, Pizza and Erica’s favourite places to visit in Italy, and her favourite Pizzeria in Liguria. 

Listen to our recent conversation Episode #34 on Pizza Story Podcast!

Website: A Story About Pizza

tiktok.com/darcspizza

https://www.instagram.com/astoryaboutpizza/

Shownotes at MichelleJohnston.life

A Writer in Italy Instagram

Substack - At My Table

Michelle’s Books

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 Johnston lives in Australia with her family.

A Writer in Italy Podcast respectfully acknowledges that this work is created on the country of the Ngambri peoples and culture, and pays respects to their Elders, past and present.

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

Support the show