
Letters from Italy
Confessions, Adventures, and Advice
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Susan Van Allen
-
By:
-
Susan Van Allen
About this listen
Susan Van Allen, author of 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, is back with an entertaining collection of adventures Savor stories filled with passion, rich memories, and laughs, that blend to bring you an authentic portrait of one woman's experiences in the Bel Paese. Come along with this savvy traveler, as she revels in Roman wine bar flirtations, climbs Sicily's Stromboli volcano, and hunts for truffles in Umbria. Each story weaves together an authentic, loving tale of the world's most enchanting destination. And for travelers, there is practical advice: from where to lunch in Pisa, to the perfect Puglia agriturismo, or a charming B&B in Naples. Whether you're in a comfy armchair, planning your next trip, or getting psyched on the plane, Letters from Italy will inspire you to embrace La Dolce Vita, with all its awesome surprises.
©2012 Susan Van Allen (P)2014 Susan Van AllenListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Hotel Nantucket
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fresh off a bad breakup with a longtime boyfriend, Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton is desperately seeking a second act. When she’s named the new general manager of the Hotel Nantucket, a once Gilded Age gem turned abandoned eyesore, she hopes that her local expertise and charismatic staff can win the favor of their new London billionaire owner, Xavier Darling, as well as that of Shelly Carpenter, the wildly popular Instagram tastemaker who can help put them back on the map.
-
-
pre-read suggestions!!
- By Marie P on 06-22-22
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
The Hundred-Foot Journey
- A Novel
- By: Richard C. Morais
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born above his grandfather’s modest restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan first experienced life through intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry, trips to the local markets, and gourmet outings with his mother. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India, they console themselves by eating their way around the world, eventually settling in Lumière, a small village in the French Alps.
-
-
Great details & writing in a flawed story
- By David Shear on 02-12-14
-
Street Without a Name
- Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria
- By: Kapka Kassabova
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kassabova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and grew up under the drab, muddy, gray mantle of one of communism’s most mindlessly authoritarian regimes. Escaping with her family as soon as possible after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, she lived in Britain, New Zealand, and Argentina, and several other places. But when Bulgaria was formally inducted to the European Union she decided it was time to return to the home she had spent most of her life trying to escape. What she found was a country languishing under the strain of transition. This two-part memoir of Kapka’s childhood and return explains life on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
-
-
Good start, but ended up not liking the author
- By Giselle on 11-02-21
By: Kapka Kassabova
-
At Home in the World
- Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe
- By: Tsh Oxenreider
- Narrated by: Tsh Oxenreider
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Tsh Oxenreider, author of Notes from a Blue Bike, chronicles her family's adventure around the world. Seeing, smelling, and tasting the widely varying cultures along the way, she discovers what it truly means to be at home.
-
-
Having traveled the world as a kid myself.....
- By kmk on 07-31-17
By: Tsh Oxenreider
-
Neither Here Nor There
- Travels in Europe
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You'll stop at Europe's most diverting and historic locales and view the Old World through Bryson's tourist eye view in this affectionate, blisteringly insightful, and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul.
-
-
reader beware
- By Marina on 11-19-03
By: Bill Bryson
-
Invitation to Provence
- By: Elizabeth Adler
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Franny Marten's life is unraveling. Expecting to meet her boyfriend, Marcus Marks, for dinner, she finds his wife waiting for her instead. After the initial shock wears off, Franny finds she has more in common with Clare Marks than she could ever have imagined. And, amazingly, the women become fast friends. When Franny is unexpectedly offered an all-expenses-paid invitation to a family reunion in Provence, she goes, and takes Clare along for the ride.
-
-
Spoiler!!!
- By rachel kieffer on 09-07-21
By: Elizabeth Adler
-
The Hotel Nantucket
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fresh off a bad breakup with a longtime boyfriend, Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton is desperately seeking a second act. When she’s named the new general manager of the Hotel Nantucket, a once Gilded Age gem turned abandoned eyesore, she hopes that her local expertise and charismatic staff can win the favor of their new London billionaire owner, Xavier Darling, as well as that of Shelly Carpenter, the wildly popular Instagram tastemaker who can help put them back on the map.
-
-
pre-read suggestions!!
- By Marie P on 06-22-22
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
The Hundred-Foot Journey
- A Novel
- By: Richard C. Morais
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born above his grandfather’s modest restaurant in Mumbai, Hassan first experienced life through intoxicating whiffs of spicy fish curry, trips to the local markets, and gourmet outings with his mother. But when tragedy pushes the family out of India, they console themselves by eating their way around the world, eventually settling in Lumière, a small village in the French Alps.
-
-
Great details & writing in a flawed story
- By David Shear on 02-12-14
-
Street Without a Name
- Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria
- By: Kapka Kassabova
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kassabova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and grew up under the drab, muddy, gray mantle of one of communism’s most mindlessly authoritarian regimes. Escaping with her family as soon as possible after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, she lived in Britain, New Zealand, and Argentina, and several other places. But when Bulgaria was formally inducted to the European Union she decided it was time to return to the home she had spent most of her life trying to escape. What she found was a country languishing under the strain of transition. This two-part memoir of Kapka’s childhood and return explains life on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
-
-
Good start, but ended up not liking the author
- By Giselle on 11-02-21
By: Kapka Kassabova
-
At Home in the World
- Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe
- By: Tsh Oxenreider
- Narrated by: Tsh Oxenreider
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Tsh Oxenreider, author of Notes from a Blue Bike, chronicles her family's adventure around the world. Seeing, smelling, and tasting the widely varying cultures along the way, she discovers what it truly means to be at home.
-
-
Having traveled the world as a kid myself.....
- By kmk on 07-31-17
By: Tsh Oxenreider
-
Neither Here Nor There
- Travels in Europe
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You'll stop at Europe's most diverting and historic locales and view the Old World through Bryson's tourist eye view in this affectionate, blisteringly insightful, and riotously funny pilgrimage from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia to the chaotic tumult of Istanbul.
-
-
reader beware
- By Marina on 11-19-03
By: Bill Bryson
-
Invitation to Provence
- By: Elizabeth Adler
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Franny Marten's life is unraveling. Expecting to meet her boyfriend, Marcus Marks, for dinner, she finds his wife waiting for her instead. After the initial shock wears off, Franny finds she has more in common with Clare Marks than she could ever have imagined. And, amazingly, the women become fast friends. When Franny is unexpectedly offered an all-expenses-paid invitation to a family reunion in Provence, she goes, and takes Clare along for the ride.
-
-
Spoiler!!!
- By rachel kieffer on 09-07-21
By: Elizabeth Adler
-
Women in Sunlight
- A Novel
- By: Frances Mayes
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kit Raine, an American writer living in Tuscany, is working on a biography of her close friend, a complex woman who continues to cast a shadow on Kit’s own life. Her work is waylaid by the arrival of three women - Julia, Camille, and Susan - all of whom have launched a recent and spontaneous friendship that will uproot them completely and redirect their lives. Susan, the most adventurous of the three, has enticed them to subvert expectations of staid retirement by taking a lease on a big, beautiful house in Tuscany.
-
-
Enchanting
- By Jan Harris on 04-14-18
By: Frances Mayes
-
Blanket of Stars: Thru-Hiking the Camino de Santiago
- Travel Adventures, Volume 1
- By: C.W. Lockhart
- Narrated by: C.W. Lockhart
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An unlikely pilgrim battles agoraphobia to reclaim life beyond the sofa. The 800-kilometer journey along the Camino Frances provides a scenic backdrop to ponder midlife crisis and chronic illness, an empty nest and marital discord, military service and post-traumatic stress, rage and grief, heartbreak and fear - and the way forward.
-
-
Highly recommend
- By A. Leslee on 03-03-19
By: C.W. Lockhart
-
The Wander Year
- One Couple's Journey Around the World
- By: Mike McIntyre
- Narrated by: Chris Brinkley
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mike McIntyre and his longtime girlfriend, Andrea, are in their early 40s and itching for a break. So they rent out their San Diego home - dog, cat, and furniture included - and embark on a yearlong journey around the world. "We're not out to find ourselves, or even to lose ourselves," McIntyre writes. "We're merely seeking a pause in our routines." But the couple is soon swept up in the adventure of a lifetime.
-
-
okay story, terrible narration
- By freeda on 02-15-16
By: Mike McIntyre
-
Steps out of Time
- One Woman's Journey on the Camino
- By: Katharine B. Soper
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Years ago, an overachieving and harried young mother accidentally flushed her gold watch down the toilet. Time passed, but the image of the lost watch continued to haunt her, a symbol of an overcommitted life. Two decades later, propelled by a series of curious coincidences, she leaves behind her busy professional life, her cell phone, and her family to escape the tyranny of time and walk 500 miles across Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Jean on 01-24-19
-
Bella Figura
- How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way
- By: Kamin Mohammadi
- Narrated by: Kamin Mohammadi
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the bella figura, the Italian concept of making every aspect of life as beautiful as it can be, that Kamin Mohammadi discovered when she escaped the London corporate media world for a year in Italy. Following the lead of her new neighbors, she soon found a happier, healthier, and more beautiful way of living.
-
-
More than memoir or instruction
- By PrincessDiana on 11-23-18
By: Kamin Mohammadi
-
Almost French
- By: Sarah Turnbull
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After backpacking her way around Europe journalist Sarah Turnbull is ready to embark on one last adventure before heading home to Sydney. A chance meeting with a charming Frenchman in Bucharest changes her travel plans forever. Acting on impulse, she agrees to visit Fredric in Paris for a week. Put a very French Frenchman together with a strong-willed Australian girl and the result is some spectacular - and often hilarious - cultural clashes.
-
-
Almost Terrific
- By Elizabeth on 02-05-13
By: Sarah Turnbull
-
Siracusa
- By: Delia Ephron
- Narrated by: Talia Balsam, Katie Finneran, Darren Goldstein, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New Yorkers Michael, a famous writer, and Lizzie, a journalist, travel to Italy with their friends from Maine - Finn; his wife, Taylor; and their daughter, Snow. "From the beginning," says Taylor, "it was a conspiracy for Lizzie and Finn to be together." In Rashomon style, with alternating points of view, the characters expose and stumble upon lies and infidelities past and present.
-
-
ENORME!!!!
- By tooonce72 on 07-15-16
By: Delia Ephron
-
Pilgrim
- Finding a New Way on the Camino de Santiago
- By: Carolyn Gillespie
- Narrated by: Carolyn Gillespie
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When faced with an empty nest, Kari decides to spread her wings. Giving up a job she loves, she sets off to walk across a whole country. A big one. A contemporary take on an ancient experience, Pilgrim is an entertaining and moving memoir of Kari’s 900-kilometer walk to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In classic pilgrim fashion, she meets and befriends an array of companions along the way, from all walks of life, united by a common sincerity of purpose. Battling through sun and snow, mud and mountains, blisters and bedbugs, her real destination turns out to be "deep peace".
-
-
Smiles & Tears
- By Mary on 07-21-23
-
The Longest Way Home
- One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down
- By: Andrew McCarthy
- Narrated by: Andrew McCarthy
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unable to commit to his fiancée of nearly four years - and with no clear understanding of what’s holding him back - Andrew McCarthy finds himself at a crossroads, plagued by doubts that have clung to him for a lifetime. Something in his character has kept him always at a distance, preventing him from giving himself wholeheartedly to the woman he loves and from becoming the father that he knows his children deserve. So before he loses everything he cares about, Andrew sets out to look for answers.
-
-
boring
- By Anonymous User on 06-06-13
By: Andrew McCarthy
-
Knitlandia
- A Knitter Sees the World
- By: Clara Parkes
- Narrated by: Clara Parkes
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Building on the success of The Yarn Whisperer, Clara Parkes' rich personal essays invite listeners and devoted crafters on excursions to be savored, from a guide who quickly comes to feel like a trusted confidante. In Knitlandia, she takes listeners along on 17 of her most memorable journeys across the globe over the last 15 years, with stories spanning from the fjords of Iceland to a cozy yarn shop in Paris' 13th arrondissement.
-
-
Disappointing
- By JLatta on 01-24-20
By: Clara Parkes
-
One Year Off
- Leaving It All Behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children
- By: David Cohen
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In One Year Off, you can join the family on a trek up a Costa Rican volcano, cruise the canals of Burgundy by houseboat, and ride ferries through the Greek Islands. Later, as the Cohens wander further off the tourist trail, you can drive through the villages of Rajasthan, traverse the vast Australian Nullarbor, and discover the charms of Cambodia's Angkor Wat and the hidden shangri-las of northern Laos.
-
-
fun filled travellog
- By tarun on 07-22-19
By: David Cohen
-
The Elephants in My Backyard
- A Memoir
- By: Rajiv Surendra
- Narrated by: Rajiv Surendra
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rajiv Surendra was filming Mean Girls, playing the beloved rapping mathlete Kevin Gnapoor, when a cameraman insisted he read Yann Martel's Life of Pi. So begins his "lovely and human" (Jenny Lawson, author of Furiously Happy) tale of obsessively pursuing a dream, overcoming failure, and finding meaning in life.
-
-
The Elephants in My Backyard - fascinating read
- By Matt Jones on 06-29-21
By: Rajiv Surendra
Local color to get geared up for Italy
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fellow traveler
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The best reasons to visit Italy
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.