It's June 12 and Russia National Day, a patriotic holiday for this great and proud country and its warm and generous people. Outside of my hotel window I can hear an orchestra playing the 1812 Overture (celebrating the Russian victory over Bonaparte and the French outside the gates of Moscow). Ironically, it's also the anniversary of the June 12, 1918 abduction and murder of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov and his secretary and friend, … [Read more...]