I think I'm beginning to understand Russia a little

[Elok]

Well, yeah, but in that entire huge country there's got to be come spot with a combination of mountains, cold climate and reasonable accessibility. Fewer crazy Muslims would also be a plus, if you can get that too. Or are these non-local lunatics, who would travel to blow up the athletes wherever they held it?

[Colon™]

hint: mountains

The construction of them explaining the $50 billion in costs.

[Serb]

Well, yeah, but in that entire huge country there's got to be come spot with a combination of mountains, cold climate and reasonable accessibility. Fewer crazy Muslims would also be a plus, if you can get that too. Or are these non-local lunatics, who would travel to blow up the athletes wherever they held it?

That huge country doesn't have so many mountains as one might think. And Caucasus is the best and unique spot, imho. As for terrorists, they can get you anywhere: in New-York, Madrid, London or Volgograd. It is not question of where, it is a question can they scare you? If they can - they win, cause that's their goal. And if anyone thinks there is still war in Chechnya, he should see the Grozny:

[Serb]

oops, I forgot - it's just another Potemkin village.

[Serb]

The construction of them explaining the $50 billion in costs.

Oh, my. The lion share of those money was invested in infrastructure of the CITY and REGION, not in construction of the sport facilities, you dummy.

[Elok]

Re: Potemkin villages, my bio of Catherine said Potemkin really did work like a mofo to build up the region. It's not like he needed to curry favor with Catherine anyway; there's reason to believe he talked her into marrying him in secret. Even though she went on to a number of other "favorites," most of them were vapid nonentities compared to Potemkin. Not that there were a lot of men with his kind of genius just lying around the Russian court.

Anyway, back to baiting Serb.

[Elok]

One other thing: that CivIV portrait of Catherine is a bit misleading. She was probably a virgin until she was 26 or so, trapped in a sham marriage to a freak under the Empress's thumb. Saltykov had to work like mad to seduce her. Of the twelve men she slept with, the majority were her companions in middle or old age. But a doughy matron in a dignified gown just wouldn't be the same as that saucy look in a Guards uniform.

[self biased]

Isn't the guy from that cultural bunker on your avatar, NYE?

isn't it h.p. lovecraft?

[notyoueither]

Isn't the guy from that cultural bunker on your avatar, NYE?

Nah, that's just the attitude that many OT discussions engender.

[notyoueither]

Well, yeah, but in that entire huge country there's got to be come spot with a combination of mountains, cold climate and reasonable accessibility. Fewer crazy Muslims would also be a plus, if you can get that too. Or are these non-local lunatics, who would travel to blow up the athletes wherever they held it?

Might be a good investment from a colonisation point of view...

[DaShi]

The Beijing Olympics exceeded expectations. The Sochi Olympics met them.

[MrFun]

Why didn't Russia go with this design for the Sochi Winter Olympics??

[DaShi]

It wasn't funny the first time you posted it.

[Kidlicious]

He thought is was, but we just didn't get it.

[molly bloom]

All European monarchs were relatives more or less.

Not when she was around. The Protestant guys steered clear of the Catholics. Being just Sophie from Anhalt-Zerbst though, she quickly figured out that it was better to convert to Russian Orthodoxy and be Empress of Russia than just a minor German Protestant noblewoman from somewhere in Prussia.

Later though in the 19th Century, a lot of what would have been minor German nobles did end up as kings and queens of places such as Romania and Greece and the British Empire.

I haven't seen a single Russian who is not proud of Catherine because of her been a German Princess.

Recently ? Probably not. But I doubt much was made of her German origins during the Stalinist era.