On the first day of Esperienza’s In the Steps of St. Francis springtime trek through Emilia Romagna, I began to question my training. My feet pounded. My breathing grew deeper. Then we stopped at an ancient monastery. As we admired its crumbling courtyard, the caretaker emerged from a low stone doorway bearing a tray of cookies and bottles of wine. I was revived.

On the final full day of the In the Steps of St. Francis tour, our group gathered in a private room around a large table at the Michelin-star restaurant Da Gorini. We were there to celebrate our shared achievement—hiking 75 miles over 5 days—with an eight-course meal. We met the charming chef. The food was astoundingly clever and delicious. But what stays with me most is the laughter, easy conversation, and the realization that we had become our own warmhearted community.

“I couldn’t have made this hike without you,” one of us said.

On a recent summer evening in the charming town of Forlimpopoli, Esperienza founder Anna Bonavita was presented with the Marietta Ad Honorem award by the distinguished Casa Artusi Foundation, on behalf of Esperienza. The award recognizes Esperienza’s promotion of small Italian villages among Americans, through our immersion tours dedicated to the appreciation of Italian cuisine and its rural roots.

“For me art is a space where shame has no place. Only by leaving shame and other powerful negative emotions  behind  can I talk to others in a powerful way.” — Fiorenza Pancino

This is the credo of Fiorenza Pancino, the 2024 Esperienza artist in residence from Italy. She was born near Venice, but has lived and worked in the city of Faenza* in Emilia-Romagna for over 20 years. She is deeply passionate about ceramics, which she says — not unlike her — is sensitive to sudden changes in temperature. However, she also uses other media, such as videos, photography and materials, like paper and fabric, in her artistic endeavors.

“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow.” 

—Pico Iyer

Wise words from the famous essayist Pico Iyer.

I recently took the “In the Steps of St. Francis” tour with Esperienza, and I feel, to borrow Iyer’s word, extremely invigorated.

Our small group hiked from one spectacular hilltop town to the next, tracing ancient trails through the Apennines. It was a journey through Emilia-Romagna on foot—the way countless humans traveled before us. With each step, I felt more connected to the land, its people, and curiously, to myself. Moving slowly—with trekking poles in hand instead of phones—I noticed more, reflected more, felt more.

In honor of National Poetry Month, we invite you to enjoy the poems below, shared by Luigi Cappella in our online event in March.

When I began imagining Esperienza in 2017, I consulted a friend of mine who was an expert on small business development. He thought the non-profit would have no future because only people like me want to go to rural Italy. And in his opinion, there were very few of us…

Seven years later, there is small but growing community of curious, caring, compassionate people who are embracing a new way of traveling. Not only do they want to stay in touch and come back to Romagna, they are inspired to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others.

One of the gifts of our travels together is the opportunity to create connections with each other and the people we meet. Sometimes the connection inspires action. Such was the case with one of our travelers in the spring of 2024.

It is July 2024 and I am in Minneapolis for an art residency. How does this happen?  Above all thanks to Anna Bonavita of Esperienza, who in 2022 brought a group of American collectors to my studio in Faenza.

Once again, the multi-hued fall leaves are pirouetting in the air and it is time for reflections. For me, Thanksgiving is the best of all holidays, and at Esperienza, we have so much for which to be grateful.

The floodwaters have receded, after historic flooding in Romagna in May 2023. But the work will continue for months, and years to come.

Thanks to the contributions of our generous followers, Esperienza has been able to send financial support to a variety of organizations and individuals impacted by the damage, as they work to rebuild and restore their community. We offer here a summary of the ways in which our funds will help.

My name is Elena Campacci. I am a woman and mother and daughter; a woman farmer, basket maker and educator. I believe in dreams and in the Earth. I believe in human relationships. I believe that daily actions done with the heart – respecting and listening to all that is alive – can really change the world, first within us and then around us.