Traditions are a ray of light in the darkest of days, as if to remind us that our hope is always concrete, daily, and domestic — and that we create it with our own hands, together. At this time of the year all over Italy there are handmade presepi (Nativity scenes) and in every kitchen in Romagna, families are making cappelletti in brodo, the symbol of Natale.

The formal recognition of Italian cuisine by UNESCO for its cultural legacy to humanity was announced just a couple of days ago. It made news around the world, and a big celebration is in order, especially during this holiday season.

As for me, there is no cuisine like the Italian! My appreciation for it has roots deep in my past, and it has the faces of extraordinary people I was fortunate to meet….

As we celebrate this season of gratitude I am writing to share something very rare with you: two poems written by students from Esperienza 2025 Language immersion program. I believe both speak directly about the transformative possibilities of our presence in Romagna. 

Exhilarated and grateful—that’s how we feel upon completing six exceptional fall tours in Italy. We’re excited about the experiences we’ve had and will soon share with other travelers. And we are grateful to all the people who made these tours a success, from the great people who entrusted us with their vacation days, to our dedicated guides and the Italians who gave us an authentic look at their lives. We enjoyed culinary and hiking adventures, immersive language learning, and our first-ever Sicily pilot trip. They all reflected the heart of Esperienza—authentic connection, discovery and joy in unexpected details.

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.

If this land will soon raise its head from the mud, it will be due to the many volunteers who are working tirelessly to rebuild what has been lost. According to estimates by the Region of Emilia-Romagna, there are at least 3,000 individuals who have stepped forward, to which are added 2,000 volunteers from the Civil Protection and various associations. But these are only those who have “registered” as volunteers, through municipalities and groups.

Today, as I write, Romagna is on its knees. After two years of extreme drought the month of May has brought almost 2 feet of rain (500 mm) two big flash floods. The towns of Faenza, Cesena, Forlì, some parts of Ravenna are under water, as well as smaller municipalities and even the arcades of the Via Saffi in central Bologna. The devastation is massive: electricity blackouts, telephone lines out of order, trains haywire, all leading to the anguish fueled by the isolation of entire areas.

Fifteen years and a lifetime ago our family of five—my wife, our three school-aged children and I—lived in Italy. It was our la dolce vita period. That experience reawakened a love for many things—family, simplicity, beauty, adventure, and notably, all things food-related. Upon returning to my American home, even as I resumed a conventional career and lifestyle, I was changed. Among other things, I spent more hours creating in the kitchen, relishing every moment. I was even inspired to enroll in a formal culinary arts training program. Life continued, enriched.

This is dedicated to the people of the mountains around the town of Santa Sofia at the border of Romagna and Tuscany. Don Zanchini, a young man who had just been appointed parish priest of Pietrapazza, tells us about his first Christmas in the remote mountain parish almost 100 years ago…

How can a piece of cloth, even if it is natural linen, beautifully stamp-printed in an ancient tradition, mean so much to a person? Well, let me tell you.

During our Ravenna tour we met the contemporary mosaic artist Marco De Luca in his studio. We expected to be impressed by this highly respected master, yet the time spent in his studio left more than a lasting impression on us. Perhaps it even changed the way we look at art objects and artists. Modest and reserved, now in his early 70s, De Luca had just created a large-scale mosaic for the church of Pegognaga, which was partially destroyed by an earthquake. The church was originally built in the 1950’s and was slated for demolition when they called upon De Luca to create a mosaic for the new construction they envisioned.

I just returned from Esperienza’s first tours to Emilia Romagna in three years, and I want to share some very good news…