This was taken from my hotel window, looking across a highway at a large exhibition and park devoted to Russia's space exploits in the late 1950s. The swooping structure is apparently made of titanium, and you actually have to look fairly closely to see the small rocket at the top. There's also a large promenade, exhibition center, and even a Ferris wheel, which are visible in the next several pictures...

The television tower in the background is apparently held upright by roughly 150 specially-made steel wires. There was a serious fire about 10 years ago, and most of the wires were destroyed; people feared that the tower might topple, but it didn't.

It took quite a while for the wires to be replaced, and for the first week after the fire, there was no television in Moscow; the local joke is that, just like the aftermath of NYC power failures in 1965 and 1977 and 2003, the birth rate shot up dramatically exactly nine months later...

Note: this photo was published in a Moscow Insider's Guide blog titled "Cosmos Hotel Moscow ( http://www.moscow-russia-insiders-guide.com/cosmos-hotel-moscow.html ) ."

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These photos were taken during a week-long trip to Russia in September 2008, the last four days of which were spent in Moscow. The first several photos were taken from the window of my hotel room, on the 24th floor of a massive complex known as the "Cosmos" hotel at the northern edge of the city. The others were taken during a 3-hour drive to see various scenic areas of Moscow (some of which, like Red Square, I had already seen and photographed on an earlier trip to Moscow in April 2008)
IMAGE # 14710

A photo of tufa towers on Mono Lake that are shaped like the head of a goat when reflecting in the water.
IMAGE # 14706

A photo of tufa towers on Mono Lake at sunrise.
IMAGE # 14708

A photo of tufa towers on Mono Lake at sunrise.
IMAGE # 14771

A photo of tufa towers on Mono Lake. A cold fall morning caused a mist to rise over the lake as the rising sun illuminated it.
16th century watch tower on the coast of Sicily at Isola delle Femmine, near Palermo.
Montmartre Tower
IMAGE # 14710

A photo of tufa towers on Mono Lake that are shaped like the head of a goat when reflecting in the water.
IMAGE # 14710

A photo of tufa towers on Mono Lake that are shaped like the head of a goat when reflecting in the water.
IMAGE # 14710

A photo of tufa towers on Mono Lake that are shaped like the head of a goat when reflecting in the water.
See photo in original gallery.