Celebrity Inside George Clooney's Love Affair with Italy That's amore! The Oscar winner has long felt at home in the European country By Michelle Tauber Michelle Tauber Twitter Michelle Tauber is the Senior Editor overseeing Royals coverage at PEOPLE. She has been covering the royal family for PEOPLE since 2000, including William and Kate's wedding, Meghan and Harry's wedding and the births of the royal children. Formerly PEOPLE's first and only Head Writer, she has written a record-breaking 250+ cover stories spanning celebrity, crime and human interest. A graduate of the University of Florida, she lives in Orlando. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 26, 2014 06:00 PM Share Tweet Pin Email 01 of 10 HE'S GOT HEART Luca Bruno/AP Long before he was set to marry there, George Clooney was spending time in Italy. In Milan in 2001 he took a spin on a scooter specially equipped for cardiological first aid to promote a program aimed at administering prompt emergency help to people struck by heart attacks. 02 of 10 THE HOST WITH THE MOST Bauer-Griffin Clooney loves hosting his friends at his home on Lake Como. And his friends happen to be an exceptionally glamorous bunch – including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, whose wedding took place there in 2010. 03 of 10 FEELING FESTIVE J. Vespa/Wireimage Director Clooney made a splash at the Venice Film Festival with his 2005 drama, Good Night, and Good Luck. The actor has made several appearances at the famed festival in the years since. 04 of 10 GRAND ENTRANCE Joel Ryan/AP Another year, another glamorous Venice Film Festival! The star arrived in style – via water taxi, of course – in Venice in 2008. 05 of 10 JUST LIKE A LOCAL Alessandra Tarantino/AP The part-time resident met locals as he toured earthquake damage on the sidelines of a G8 summit in St. Eusanio in 2009. 06 of 10 ALL SET Everett Clooney greeted fans at the 2010 premiere of his thriller The American, which was filmed in Rome and Sulmona, among other picturesque Italian locales. 07 of 10 IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT Ian Lawrence/Splash News Online He's so comfortable in the city's water taxis, he can drive them! Arriving at the Venice Film Festival at sunset to promote his 2011 drama The Ides of March, Clooney took the wheel, to the bemusement of pals Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. 08 of 10 KICKING BACK Bauer-Griffin Clooney indulged in two of his great joys – motorcycling and the sights of Lake Como – in 2012. 09 of 10 DOWN TO EARTH Andreas Rentz/Getty Clooney and fellow Oscar winner Sandra Bullock made for an out-of-this-world pair at the Venice Film Festival to promote their 2013 space film, Gravity. 10 of 10 MAN OF HONOR Andrew Goodman/Getty Honored with a humanitarian award, the groom-to-be used the Celebrity Fight Night gala in Florence on Sept. 7 to reveal that his wedding to Amal Alamuddin would take place in Venice. "I met my lovely bride-to-be here in Italy," he told guests.