John Henderson's Travel Adventures in Rome and Beyond

June 13, 2021

Italy’s national team streaking at Euros: Covid-beaten Italians cheer

Italy’s national soccer team humiliated its nation by not even qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. It changed managers, changed philosophies and after Friday’s 3-0 win over Turkey in the European Championships, it’s on a 28-game unbeaten streak, two off its national record. The country, beaten down by a year and a half of Covid, finally has a reason to cheer.

June 8, 2021

Travel gadgets for 2021: New ideas as world opens again

If you’re going to travel again this year, you know it’s going to be difficult with all the Covid restrictions. Why not make it easier with some of these travel gadgets?

June 1, 2021

Risotto: “The most important dish in Italy”

Is pizza the most important dish in Italy? People in Italy’s rice country say it’s risotto. You can get good pizza lots of places in the world. The only place to get good risotto is in Italy. And the best in Italy is Vercelli where I went on assignment for a shooter and came away with the best risotto of my life.

May 25, 2021

Trapshooting with The Shooter of God

I’ve never shot a gun in my life. But there I was with one of the most decorated shooters in Olympic trapshooting history, trying to hit a target flying 75 mph across an open field. This was my day with the Shooter of God.

May 18, 2021

The Navigli: Canal neighborhood wins me over to Milan

I never liked Milan much but the Navigli neighborhood, the city’s one bastion of calm, has won me over. It dates to 1200 and is resurfacing after a rough lockdown.

May 11, 2021

Gondolas: Venice canal ride is all romance and no schlock

I’ve always avoided gondola rides in Venice just as I avoid all tourist traps. But with Venice coming out of pandemic lockdown, I gave it a try. It was worth every minute of our 45-minute ride.

May 5, 2021

Anniversary in Venice: A proud city awakens from lockdown

Marina and I celebrating our six-year anniversary at Trattoria Dona Onesta on one of Venice's many empty canals Monday.

Venice has had been more economically devastated than any city in Italy but as it crawls out of lockdown it reveals itself as the peaceful, romantic paradise it once was.

April 26, 2021

10 things I miss about travel — as Italy’s lockdown ends

I’ve traveled to 107 countries but none in the last 14 months. I miss it more than anyone can know. Here is why.

April 19, 2021

European Super League sticking it to the little guy, like me

My interest in soccer will greatly diminish if the Super League happens. Photo by Marina Pascucci

The proposed European Super League is a greedy, elitist idea that will enrich the already rich and make it harder for others to compete and their fans to have hope.

April 13, 2021

Covid vaccinations in Italy rolling out slowly but I got mine

La Nuvola, the award-winning convention center where I got vaccinated. Photo by John Henderson

La Nuvola is Rome’s answer to modern architectural marvels, a bookend to the legendary monuments this city built 2,000 years ago. Known formerly as the Nuovi Centro Congressi (New Congress Center), it is a gargantuan glass cube made up of 592,000 square feet of convention space. Built from 2008-16, it was awarded the 2012 Best Building Site by London’s Royal Institute of British Architects. It […]

April 6, 2021

Dante Alighieri: Italy celebrates 700-year anniversary of his death

Italy celebrates the 700-year anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death while I reflect on one of my favorite books as a young adult.

March 31, 2021

Birthday in Lockdown Italy

In lieu of travel, my birthday was lunch and dreams and praying for a vaccine Since moving to Rome in 2014, birthdays have never been dates of dread. I don’t see them as another year older. At my age, 65, they blend together, like cards in an ever-growing deck. Instead, birthdays in Rome are dates for adventure. Every birthday, on or around March 29, Marina […]

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