Valdivostok, a destination for fine dining?

So says Saveur magazine, which does not dole out food compliments lightly, in its September issue.

In a story entitled "Land of Plenty", writer Sharon Hudgins takes readers to the biggest city in Russia's Far East, a place she last visited in 1993-1994. Back then, she and her husband were teaching economics and communications at a university there. Now, she is astounded by the changes: modern buildings, new roads, and most of all: lots and lots of food and beverage options.... more

When I was researching Saturday's post about The Frog Princess, I got a rude awakening to just how much things have changed in Russia since my first adoption: I checked up on the Hotel Vladivostok, only to discover that its top rooms now go for more than $300 a night!

In December 1999, my room at the Hotel Vladivostok was $33 a night. It was small, with space only for a bed, a portable crib and a small television whose sole English-language... more

I was in my twenties when I went to work for The Wall Street Journal overseas, and there were days when I would come home shaking my head in disbelief. Civil unrest or violence would flare up in some part of the world, and the Journal would blithely editorialize that the problem could be solved by economic development or a progressive tax code. It seemed, to this younger me, completely out of touch.

Of course now I understand how right the Journal was, and that was why I was very heartened by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail... more