You've been to Italy or you're going soon - but what is it really like hanging out in a small town in the region of Piemonte. Just when you think Italy's charm is experiencing its last gasp I'll read you a story about precisely why you should never underestimate Italy. Come along and experience the real lives of a family in the small town of Bubbio - it'll make you happy - I promise!

In this episode, Chapter 11, we read a story another story about a personal legend from Piemonte. How a neighbor becomes a hero and how a home and land feel alive. The beauty of the vendemmia, the wine harvest, creating beauty on earth.

I read from Chapter 10 of my latest book called Personal Legends of Piemnte. Offering the listener what life is like at the Pianbello Winery, located in the oh so small town of Loazzolo. Where the wolves once roamed. We go from the Roman anciant environs to modern day wine making, in the region of Italy that produces many of Italy's finest wines.

Today we travel all the way back to the thirteenth century. To the southern hills of Monferrato where a red grape named Barbera was born. Considered a dark horse, her story unfolds like Cinderella's; now living happily ever after all over the world.

Chef Piera is famous in Piemonte and well known for her agnolotti; if you so desire it's still served on a napkin. She's known beyond the border but fame was never a goal - she didn't even learn to cook until she was 27 years old. The secret to her success was to simply let life unfold.

In this episode we enter a galazy of artisans in Piemonte. Specificallly we get to meet Fabrizio the Cheese maker from Roccoverano. He wants people to appreciate the treasure beneath our feet and teaches us how to rearrange the details in order to make the award winning cheese Robiola.

In this episode I tell the story of living in Piemonte and confronting the dreaded bureaucracy found in Italy. I found the solution in the form of a woman named Rosalinda who slayed the dragon. Italy is not only beautiful it can feel sublime, until the enemy arrives in the form of paperwork. Reading from chapter 6 I offer the listener a happy ending and how another Piemontese fulfilled their destiny.

In this episode of Life is Like a Detective Novel we meet Luigi the car mechanic. I call him Luigi the Wizard because he could fix anything. You can find him telling jokes and having a great time working alongside his two sons, Alessandro and Water, in their shop, located in the town of Bubbio in Piemonte, Italy. Few people know how to make work feel as fun as Luigi, he was like a revelation and I bet if a Phantom Rolls Royce arrived he'd fix it in a day - because he was Luigi the Wizard.