Tracing My Italian Bloodline, One Hidden Stay at a Time
There is a moment that washes over me every time I arrive in Italy. A breath. A quiet knowing. A reminder that somewhere in my DNA, a compass still points to this land of stone villages, cliffside seas, and ancient 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 is why, after decades of exploring wild landscapes around the world, Italy always feels like a homecoming. Not the place where I was born, but the place that shaped the people who shaped 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 carved from ancient stone, where cave dwellings glow with candlelight and silence feels sacred. Staying at Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita felt like stepping 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 forever. Mornings melt into afternoons. This intimate Umbrian refuge became a place for soft reflection, handwritten thoughts, and quiet calm.Locanda del Gallo reminded me of Italy’s gentle spirit, 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 the poet in me. Tuscany has the power to rewrite a person from the inside out. Standing above the Siena hills at sunset, 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 carve the sky. This is Italy at its wildest. Raw, windswept, 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 and the kind of quiet that reveals who you are beneath the noise. Every step toward it felt like a pilgrimage.
Finding Italy Within Myself
These intimate stays were more than places to sleep. They were 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 is where we go to remember.” James Papagno, CEO & Founder
Explore More Stays
Scroll through our full collection of Italian hideaways curated by Wild Earth Stay.
