I’ve got that September craving for new notebooks and shoes, and so I’ve written this post to reintroduce myself. Maybe you listen to my podcast, or someone told you my Destination Deep Dives are very good, or you too belong to the Before Sunrise Generation and want to go to Italy but don’t want to be a poser.
I am both happy that Italy is such a popular destination and chafed by all the vapid nonsense on social media that obscures the stupefying abundance of amazing things to do, see, and eat there.
The slow-motion runs down Positano’s vertical steps, the perfectly staged twirling of spaghetti.
It’s a performance of travel, juiced up by robots to make you feel like you’re missing “the best thing” if you don’t wait in line for [insert stupid viral trend here].
A million influencers claim to show you “the authentic Italy,” but that promise has had its meaning scooped out like a wheel of Parmigiano cheese, inside which a dressed-up waiter drags around a large forkful of pasta, like a mop through a bucket. It’s a performance of Italy. And like the pasta in the Parmigiano wheel, it’s not completely bad, but it’s a damn shame if you’ve actually traveled to this magnificent country and had an experience you could have had in Cleveland.
So here’s the official (re)introduction to who I am and what you get from subscribing:
I’m Danielle Oteri. I’m a writer, an art historian, and an Italy travel advisor. As Stanley Tucci says, I’m Italian on both sides, and before I started working in travel, I was a Lecturer at the Met Cloisters. I wrote an essay called “The Secret of the Unicorn Tapestries” for The Paris Review about my years there. During that time, I also started Arthur Avenue Food Tours, an homage to New York’s Italian history. In 2015, I began collaborating with my family in Southern Italy to organize week-long culinary tours, and with my cousin Arianna, who had worked as a travel advisor in Rome, we started our own bespoke travel business.
I like a nice hotel and a fancy spa, and Italy does those things well, but Italy is one of the most rewarding places for the curious, and curiosity means taking the time to know something deeply. My work creates opportunities to become completely ensorcelled, because awe and wonder make our lives better.
Destination Deep Dives
These are for paid subscribers and include a monthly live Deep Dive and ongoing access to the full library. The recordings are available immediately, and I then build notes and resources to accompany them, so you have a clear plan you can adapt to your specific travel dates. You get logistics, but more than that, you get insight and context into how best to appreciate that destination in a short amount of time.
Here are a few examples of the kind of things I include:
From the Naples Destination Deep Dive: The only line worth waiting in is at La Sfogliatella Mary inside the Galeria Umberto. This pastry counter had lines long full of locals, long before TikTok was invented. A sfogliatella is a sweetened ricotta-and-semolina filling flavored with orange blossom water, wrapped in flaky pastry. It’s a culinary signature of Naples, and you can get sfogliatelle at any bar or even gas station, but the locals wait in line to get these. Goethe said “see Naples and die,” and it’s probably because he had just eaten one hot from the oven, the powdered sugar stuck in the crevices of his ruffled collar.
From the Rome Deep Dive: Accept that you are a tourist because Rome has always been a city for those from elsewhere seeking either money or transcendence. For those seeking the latter, be sure to visit Bernini’s St. Teresa in Ecstasy. Look up at the soaring gold and drama, and understand why it was built that way—as Rome’s theatrical response to the Protestant Reformation. You want that spare little white church in Germany, or would you prefer this spiritual container, designed to make you feel like a ring inside the Queen of Heaven’s jewelry box?
From Venice: Don’t treat one of the most absurd urban grids on earth as a mere day-trip backdrop for a gondola selfie. You can only move as fast as your feet can carry you, so don’t plan more than one timed or ticketed thing a day. And at some point, make sure you sit in the Frari church, slightly buzzed from a long, wine-filled seafood lunch. Sit, don’t look at your phone, and just look at Titian’s massive Assumption of the Virgin until the sheer scale and emotion of the masterpiece make sense. (It won’t take long.)
Another favorite from Venice: These guys are stuck onto the side of San Marco Cathedral. Four Roman emperors, carved from porphyry, an ultra-rare purple stone from a single quarry in Egypt that's extremely hard to reach. This was in Constantinople, which the Venetians plundered in 1204, ripping them off the wall and sticking them onto the side of St. Mark's Basilica. In the process, they missed a foot. They found the original foot in Istanbul in 1965, and it's now in the archaeological museum there.
To Protect Your Sense of Wonder
I cut through the influencer nonsense and make it clear that Italy is not a theme park with everything organized for your convenience. It’s also not a cheap destination, as people sometimes expect it to be, with Hobbit nonnas happy to roll pasta for you. Italy is a G7 nation, and just like most countries, some parts are less expensive, particularly in the south (though not always), and others cost as much to visit as New York or London.
This isn’t cynicism; it’s honesty, and I’ve got a lot of these little tidbits of hard-earned wisdom to share.
If you go to the Saturnia Hot Springs, you will smell like a hard-boiled egg for days afterward—which is why you need a day pass at a proper spa with good soap to get it off you right away, not the pull-off-on-the-side-of-the-road-for-a-quick-swim option.
The outskirts of Bari in Puglia are unnervingly ugly and industrial, and you have likely only seen photos of conical trulli houses and that one turquoise beach in Polignano a’Mare. Puglia’s tourism industry has exploded over the past 10 years, and much of it is luxury tourism, where boring is a virtue. Even for a Southern Italian specialist like myself, it’s hard to find information on Puglia’s rich history and culture, and that’s something I am actively working to fix.
Never swim at the main beach in Positano; it’s too polluted by fuel from the ferries and tour boats. Swimming on the Amalfi Coast requires either a hotel with its own beach club, or best of all, a boat that will bring you into the coves. Also…skip Positano.
Ways To Work With Me
You’ve got my podcast, which is free. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube if you prefer.
The Destination Deep Dives and a monthly live Ask Me Anything About Italy for paid subscribers. ($8 a month or $80 a year).
Or work with me directly for a Trip Consultation or Bespoke Trip Planning.
You can also follow me on Instagram, where I’ve been pondering over a possible fake artwork. I was pretty sure it was a forgery, but now I’ve changed my mind. I explain that here.
I also always want and need your feedback, so please let me know in the comments what you'd like to know. My best work almost always comes from questions I receive, so don’t be shy.
Thanks for reading,
Danielle
Great pic, so much character. If I'm being honest, I miss the lira.
Completely refreshing to read!