The pilgrimage to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is one of the modern world’s great multinational cultural/religious events. Nearly two-thirds (64.7 percent) of the 22,067 peregrinos who reached Santiago via the Camino in April of 2018 were foreigners, according to statistics kept by the Pilgrim’s Office. Spaniards provided a numerical plurality, with 35.3 percent […]

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Let’s start with the statistics. 26.8 kilometers  — (16.7 miles) 6.5 hours on the road 41,360 steps That was today on the Camino de Santiago, here in Spain. Added to Day 1, yesterday, that takes our 2018 numbers to 51.7 km, (32.1 miles), 12.6 hours on foot and 79,140 steps. Is that the sound of […]

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So, four of us pilgrims set off on the Camino de Santiago this morning, marching 22 kilometers in about seven hours and 37,000 steps. In other news … the little Spanish town where we halted for the day went slightly crazy tonight as Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 3-1 in an eventful Uefa Champions League final. […]

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We are doing the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Again. Once could have been enough, but we are giving “the Camino” another try, a year and a month since we first did it. Why? Because it’s there? A little. But mostly it is about offering some companionship to two of Leah’s dearest college friends. Devout […]

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It is the nature of sports fans to crave a connection to star athletes in some (typically obscure) way. Chelsea fans had, until today, a pretty good statistic that they could bandy about. In eight Champions League matches versus the London club, Lionel Messi had never scored. That drought ended in his ninth Champions League […]

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We once lived decades in southern California. We feel like we know the place pretty well. Certainly from the Mexican border to, say, Sacramento. We had been outside the country for more than a year, and what we found here on our return yesterday has been … astounding. When did California prices get out of […]

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This is not an exercise in academic rigor. I did not have someone sitting with a note pad writing down literally the first 10 facts I could recall pertaining to sports in 2017. But … it is a fairly accurate recreation of a fairly quick trip through my brain to see what stuck from the […]

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Twice, I have seen Lionel Messi play at Camp Nou. In 180 minutes of La Liga play witnessed by moi, he has scored three goals (and Luis Suarez has another) … but FC Barcelona did not win on either occasion. The first Camp Nou match for me was a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in […]

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Italy went bonkers tonight. The national team, the azzurri, was held to a scoreless draw with good-but-not-special Sweden, and the home-and-away runners-up playoffs for the final four European berths at Russia 2010 went to Switzerland, Denmark, Croatia — and Sweden. Italy stays home. This is the biggest shock from this edition of World Cup qualifying […]

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Americans tend to think of Europe as a small place. Physically small. Especially when compared to North America, let alone Asia. And Europe is fairly compact. Especially the western half of it. From Ireland to, say, the borders of the former Soviet Union. But, and it’s big but … Europe is not dinky. If you […]

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