Vladivostok: Impressions from Visit The budget hotel I stayed at first had no hot water. Then, after a hard rain storm, had no running water at all for a day or two. The city’s sloping... Continue reading →

Eight Shades of Putin Grey You can’t escape seeing images of Russian President Vladimir Putin around Moscow, be it shirts with his portrait, refrigerator magnets, iPhone covers, plastic or metallic busts. Outside the TASS news... Continue reading →

Transnistria: Visit to Breakaway Region ”Back in the USSR” is what one Moldovan tour guided calls his one-day car excursion to Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria, a Moldovan breakaway region. That tour guide’s title is probably... Continue reading →