Tracing My Italian Bloodline, One Hidden Stay at a Time
There’s a moment that happens every time I land in Italy. A breath. A knowing. A reminder that somewhere in my DNA, a compass still points to this land of stone villages, cliffside seas, and quiet ancestral magic. My family’s story begins in Southern Italy, the kind of place where grandmothers roll pasta at sunrise and life moves to the rhythm of church bells. And maybe that’s why, after decades of exploring wild places around the globe, Italy always feels like a homecoming. Not the place I was born, but the place that formed the people who formed me. This is how I returned to my roots - one intimate Italian hideaway at a time.
Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita, Matera & Returning to the Old World
Matera is a city carved from stone, where ancient cave dwellings glow with candlelight and silence feels sacred. Staying at Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita felt like traveling back through centuries to touch something unchanged. In the flicker of candlelit walls, I felt connected to the earth and to the Papagno bloodline that once walked this same Southern soil.
Locanda del Gallo - Umbria & The Italy That Breathes Slowly
Here, time stretches. Olive groves run endlessly. Mornings melt into afternoons. This intimate Umbrian refuge became a place of soft reflection, of handwritten thoughts, of calm. Locanda del Gallo reminded me of Italy’s quiet heart - the part that asks you to slow down and feel.
Castello di Vicarello, Tuscany's Castle for the Soul
A medieval fortress turned romantic sanctuary, Castello di Vicarello awakened both the warrior and poet in me. Tuscany has that power to rewrite a person from the inside out. At sunset, standing above the Siena hills, I felt the courage of the generations before me.
Capofaro, Salina Where Volcanic Sicily Meets the Open Sea
At Capofaro on Salina, cliffs drop into the Tyrrhenian Sea and volcanic silhouettes cut the sky. This is Italy at its wildest - raw, windswept, and deeply soulful. Here, I felt closest to my ancestors , sea people, land people, story people.
Pension Briol, South Tyrol -The Silence in the Mountains
Accessible only by foot, Pension Briol sits suspended between sky and earth. It is pure silence & the kind that reveals who you are beneath the noise. Every step toward it felt like a pilgrimage.
Finding Italy Within Myself
These intimate stays aren’t just places I slept - they’re places that helped me uncover the Italy living inside me.
A return to roots.
A return to belonging.
A return to myself.
“Some places we visit to escape. But Italy… Italy is where we go to remember.” James Papagno | CEO & Founder
Explore More Stays
Scroll our full collection of Italian hideaways, curated by Wild Earth Stay.
