Dear friends,

This challenging year is ending and we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Health, love, prosperity in business and more exciting and cool motorcycle riding.

Google made a very cool video about 2020, have a look, its beautiful.

Google — Year in Search 2020

We look forward to see you next year, we hope borders will open soon and you will be able to join us. Meanwhile we are making all the usual preparations for next season, renewing fleet of bikes, booking hotels, upgrading tour programs, training guides, etc.

All our guides wish you and your friends, families and relatives all the best in 2021, more trips, good health. Vlad, Alex, Roma, Max, Dima, Anton and all others miss you very much, but we are sure that's not for long.

So let's keep positive during this winter and we will meet all together soon.

We do not want at all to talk about COVID-19 today, everyone is already tired of it. We'd better tell you how we celebrate the New Year's Day in Russia.

In Russia, the New Year is grander and even more widely celebrated than Christmas, which takes place on January 7.

This may be strange to you but we in Russia celebrate two New Years:) One on January 1 with the rest of the world and another one on January 14, the so-called "old" New Year. The second is based on the Orthodox Calendar.

New Year's Day is a family holiday for many Russians, it is time to meet with parents and other relatives. Dinner usually starts late on December 31. We prepare traditional meals such as Russian salad (we called it Olivier salad). Another popular salad is dressed herring, also called "herring under a fur coat". We also have jellied meat, pies, small sandwiches with butter and caviar. In addition, mandarins (tangerines) are a necessity as we in Russia strongly associate its fragrance with the New Year's celebrations.

At 11.55pm local time in each of 11 Russia's time zones, many people gather in front of the TV to watch President's address, listing the achievements of the past year. After this we raise a toast whit champagne and make wishes to the chiming of the Kremlin clock on the Red Square in Moscow. The Russian national anthem begins at midnight and people congratulate each other and exchange presents.

In Russia Ded Moroz (Russian Santa Claus) is delivering the gifts to children. He is carrying them in a large sack on his back (he doesn't rely on reindeers to fly him around) and he is wearing valenki, traditional boots made from wool. He is joined by his granddaughter Snegurochka.

We welcome a New year by saying, "S Novim Godom". Be prepared to say it often if you're traveling around Russia between December 30 and January 15. Whether you're in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg or any other city there will be a variety of activities to help you celebrate both Russian New Year's Eves.

A common New Year's expression in Russia is "The way you spend New Year's Eve is the same way you'll spend the rest of the year". That's why it's so important that the last day of the year has to be free from worries and arguments and rather be festive.

New Year and Christmas is a time to make wishes for the upcoming year. We wish all of your to stay healthy in these times. Love to your family and relatives, enjoy time in the circle of close friends.

We really look forward to seeing all of you in the upcoming year in Russia to ride together, laugh together, drink a shot of vodka and enjoy dinner conversations until the late night.

We want to finish this newsletter with a traditional Russian toast:

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