Borrowed Time

I flew to Vladivostok for 50 hours. I'll tell you about the cultural makeup of the city, how KHL players survive their road trips, and my beef with Russian Harry Potter.

Training ship “Nadezhda” in the port of Vladivostok.

I am not sure how this is possible, but Vladivostok is far away from everywhere.

It is the city I once saw on the curled edge of a map and thought, “Huh, I wonder what that’s like,” with no real intention of ever going there. Buzz Aldrin’s lunar landing seems more tenable.

To get to Vladivostok required …