Europe

May 19, 2020

Night out in Rome after lockdown: Great food and friends can’t replace a city’s sorrow

I approached the group lounging outside the pub undecided if I had a bigger thirst for beer or human contact. I proceeded to get the first elbow bump of my life from my Belfast buddy, Patrick O’Byrne, and my Rome friend, Sergio Serra. A barman wrote “14” on my hand, and I waited until my […]

May 14, 2020

From film extra to actor, my days on a movie set bring new respect to a tough profession

We take a break from our regularly scheduled update on the biggest human tragedy of our lives to bring you something almost as awful. My acting career. If you’ve followed my blog, you know I developed a side career as a film extra. I had a good 2018-19. I played an American cardinal in “The […]

May 6, 2020

Phase Two begins: My first steps back into Rome as Italy finally loosens the chains

I knew Rome was getting back to normal when I crossed my narrow street Monday, the first day of Italy’s Phase 2, and nearly got clocked by a car. I’ve been so used to no traffic when I made my 200-meter trip to the supermarket during lockdown I never bothered to look up my hill. […]

April 29, 2020

Trump vs. Conte: Here in Italy our pasta isn’t the only thing that’s better than in U.S.

Both came from nowhere to lead their countries. Both lead the countries with the most Covid-19 deaths in the world. Both address their nations on TV. Both have a pulse — although I’m not sure both have hearts. The similarities between Italy prime minister Giuseppe Conte and U.S. president Fuckface von Clownstick pretty much end […]

April 24, 2020

Non-capital European cities to consider when we can all start traveling again

You’re probably tired of reading about the coronavirus. I’m certainly tired of writing about it. So this weekend I’m giving you a change of pace, a step into Europe during better times. This is a post by freelancer Alan Hardson on some of the best non-capital cities to visit in Europe. Yes, travel is curtailed […]

April 21, 2020

Italy’s coronavirus lockdown for expats: Tears, loneliness and loved ones far away

The sidewalk cafes tempt you like the Sirens from a nearby shore. You can feel the sun’s warmth on your balcony but you can’t feel the sea. The last time you did the Italian double-cheek kiss was with your cat. Welcome to Porto Quarantina. Life in Italian lockdown is harder than most places. We live […]

April 16, 2020

Rome’s Centro Storico in lockdown: An eerie stroll through a silent and empty neighborhood on edge of despair

The only beneficiaries of the coronavirus quarantine are cats. Think about it. They have all these laps to sit on and sleep on all day. Lots of hands to pet and stroke them. Someone is always there with thumbs. Owners can open a can of catfood at the first meow. The coronavirus turned them from […]

April 8, 2020

100 books: Retirement is a reading paradise, making life in the virus less like a living hell

So how do you like your company now? I see divorce filings are up all over the United States. Domestic violence is up in Asia. Netflix stock must look like Apple 20 years ago. In this time of international lockdown, people from San Diego to Shanghai are searching in the far corners of the Internet […]

March 31, 2020

6 million coronavirus cases in Italy? A report says so and scientists agree

I went to bed Monday night feeling pretty good about my adopted country. Italy, the epicenter of this vicious coronavirus, showed signs of recovery. The percentage of new cases had dropped four straight days and in a week had been cut in half. The percentage of daily deaths had dropped three straight days. I woke […]

March 25, 2020

Coronavirus in Italy: Some improvement but death still haunts

My girlfriend, Marina, finally started working from home Monday. I could hear her exhale as she left her office near the Vatican two miles from my apartment. She no longer works around elderly men, the favorite target of the coronavirus that has laid waste to much of the world. Nowhere has it run more roughshod […]

March 17, 2020

In virus-torn Italy, misery loves company but our suffering is soothed with pride

Sergio Serra rents out holiday houses around Rome. He has a wife and a 3-year-old daughter. Underneath all the death, the overflowing hospitals, the empty streets and the fear as the coronavirus cuts its swath through Italy, Sergio is one of many stories that doesn’t get told. “My income,” he said, “is completely zero.” Unlike […]

March 11, 2020

Life in Coronavirus lockdown: Italy closes its borders

Tuesday I had to make the risky move of traveling across Rome to a clinic using public transportation. As Italy becomes the western world’s most paralyzed country courtesy of the Coronavirus, I felt like the guy sneaking out of his shelter in a scene from “Night of the Living Dead.” My girlfriend, a third-generation Roman […]

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