If you are reading this in the U.S., brace yourself. In France, all employees get five weeks of paid vacation per year. Five weeks. More than a month. And that does not include one-day public holidays, which can reach double digits in a given year. We know about France and its summer vacations because we […]

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We have been based in the country since January 1, 2016, aside from time spent traveling — and not all that much of it has been inside the country we currently call home. France is a big country, at 248,572 square miles, second only to Texas in area among states in the United States’s Lower […]

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Two full days in Iceland, as well as one very long evening and one very early morning. Enough to have an opinion on the little island in the upper reaches of the north Atlantic? Of course it is. We all make snap judgments, some snappier than others, given on how long we are around a […]

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Seven of us are sharing a comfortable home near the port and downtown of Reykjavik, capital and biggest city of Iceland. On our first night there, I noticed an interesting, modern church that seemed to be made of large blocks of stone. The whole of it was painted white. And it was about 100 yards […]

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Some tourists travel to Iceland planning a lengthy stay. A week, or more, which probably includes outdoorsy activities. Climbing mountains and such. Hiking up dormant volcanoes. Deep-sea fishing. Or perhaps they want to take a leisurely drive around the edges of the world’s 13th-biggest island, spending nights in tiny hotels or under a tent. Waiting […]

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Always wanted to go to Iceland. And here we are. When flying to Europe from Southern California, on the great circle route, people can sometimes see Iceland from 35,000 feet, looking cool and inviting, and it seems a bit odd that we never went on down and landed and looked around. We finally did. We […]

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Been donkey’s years, as the Brits would say, since I did a list. It’s time. This one is going to be a little apples-and-oranges. My favorite road trips as a professional sports journalist. Some considerations: –What is more important? The travel? Or the event I was there to cover? –Or will we almost certainly get […]

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Readers of a certain age — say, 30 years or more — will remember when major newspapers were big, colorful, information-packed marvels of news gathering. Before the Age of Great Newspapers ended, around the turn of the century, it had been observed by many subscribers that Sunday editions, in particular, with all their special sections […]

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Yes, I am one of those guys who looks at some abstract art and says, “a chimp could do that.” Talking about paint thrown at a canvas … a couple of random shapes swimming in space … a bucket, a hammer and a broom entitled “Young Man”, or something of the sort. I readily concede […]

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“Police state” is a strong term. It can have multiple meanings, and shades of threat/protections. It may not always be easy to identify a police state, but perhaps one simple iteration goes like this: A state where armed governmental authorities seem … everywhere. One such state is the one we spent two weeks in, recently, […]

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