5 Russian ways to keep warm in winter

1. Drink hot tea

Forget coffee. Russians warm up in winter with hot tea. The hot liquid raises your body temperature from the inside, dilates blood vessels and makes the blood rush through your veins as if it was late for the last train. The ideal winter tea should be served with jam or honey.

2. Cook the most hearty food

Russian cuisine offers a whole arsenal of dishes for the “inner stove”. Take the ‘solyanka’ soup, for example: lemon, sausage and pickled cucumbers in a meat broth can melt even the ice in your heart. Next up is buckwheat, but not just any buckwheat – made with butter.

And cabbage pies? They’re a whole art form in themselves. Buy a pie – it warms your hands and your stomach. Two in one!

3. Fight against drafts

In old houses, heat can escape through cracks in windows and doors, so people try to insulate them. Everything gets used: foam rubber, special sealing tape, even polyurethane foam. This kind of seal holds fast! At the same time, even in severe frosts, windows are opened to air out the room.

By the way, nowadays, people insulate not only windows, but also floors. Heated floors are usually installed in the bathroom, kitchen or on the balcony, but, sometimes, throughout the entire apartment.

4. Have exercise breaks

The main rule for a freezing person: don't stand still! A brisk walk warms you up better than any tea. But, just walking is boring. That’s why Russians get on skis. You puff, wave your poles, fall face-first into the snow, curse, get up – and warm up!

And if skiing is boring, there are ‘vatrushkas’ (‘snow tubes’). Pure adrenaline, laughter and the thrill of running back up the hill ten times. And then there is, of course, ice skating.

5. Yes! Heat up the banya!

If you ask any Russian where the hottest place is in winter, they'll answer without hesitation: the banya (bathhouse). First, you steam yourself at 70-100 degrees Celsius (158-212°F) and then you rush out to jump into a snowdrift or plunge into an ice hole. The temperature contrast trains the blood vessels and triggers a release of endorphins. A massage with a birch or oak ‘venik’ (bath broom) additionally gets the blood flowing!