holey Moscow

as VVP drove on the empty streets to the Kremlin for his inauguration, just near the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral, his motorcade drove about 100 meters from the edge of a large hole in the ground, where the Hotel Rossiya once stood.

eyesore it may have been, with some 3000+ rooms it could hold many tourists in Moscow. (its loss kept subsequent hotel room prices exorbitant, for some conveniently so.) with the weeds, perhaps it is more attractive now as a huge hole?

in March 2006, demolition began on the Hotel Rossiya, with plans to build a new hotel complex (the project to be overseen by architect Sir Norman Foster); in October of 2006 Supreme Arbitration Court annulled the tender.

now, for more than 6 years (and certainly with a legal circus and nightmare surrounding the place, and when will this end? how?), just near the center of Moscow, on the east side of the Kremlin, just beside the symbol of Russia: St. Basil's Cathedral, Russians can see their good Russian earth, in the hole where tourists used to stay.

VVP is proud of Russia, but it is best to not look too closely out the windows of a motorcade, or those of the Kremlin.