Make your Summer and Winter Travel Plans Now
In this issue... MIR's favorite picks for Summer and Winter travel.
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov said, "People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy."
Keep your inner traveler happy: Get moving now while it's still summer, or make your plans for winter!
Small Group Summer Tours
Our Favorite Picks for Travel in July and August
Cool off in one of MIR's unusual summertime destinations like Kamchatka, Georgia & Armenia, Mongolia & Tibet or on the Trans-Siberian Express.
Enormous, wonderful, complicated Russia - MIR has been leading travelers here since 1986, when Russia was still a part of the Soviet Union. With 20-plus years of experience, MIR offers the finest Russian journeys with the most inventive programming, the most creative and exclusive excursions, and the most flexible options of any outfitter doing business in this part of the world. Branch out into the craggy Caucasus, Russia's near neighbors, or traverse the Mongolian steppe and ascend to the Roof of the World - the Tibetan Plateau.
Winter in Russia
A Whole New Experience
Enjoy an exhilarating horse-drawn sleigh ride or cozy up on a very special Trans-Siberian Railway departure.
The holidays in Russia are glorious. Chic women sweep by in their ankle-length coats, called shubas, New Year's trees glisten all over town, and in Palace Square in front of the Hermitage, a palace made of ice - down to its tableware and bedclothes - glitters in the setting sun. The ballet and opera season is in full swing, and sophisticates crowd the theaters and restaurants, sipping champagne by the fireside and making the most of the waning of the year.
Private Travel
YOU Choose the Dates
"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."
- Albert Camus
Enter the steamy fragrance of a Siberian kitchen, leaving your heavy boots and parka neatly hung in the dark hall with the rest of the family's winter gear. Your home-stay hostess has made cabbage and potato soup to chase the cold from your bones after an afternoon at Lake Baikal. She plugs in the kettle for tea, and insists you drink it the Russian way, with a spoonful of homemade jam after each sip. The jam is made from cranberries she picked that summer in the taiga, and it has a wild tartness to it.
The kitchen is a high-ceilinged, narrow room that is the heart of her home. The tall double-paned windows are curtained with lace and the deep sills bear the green plants that remind Siberians of spring. Here the hostess bakes and boils, preserves and pickles, and finally sits to share tea and cookies served on a delicate gold-rimmed china service. The sun sinks below the horizon and the winter darkness closes in around the cheerful apartment.
Find yourself here, fishing on Lake Baikal, or any number of other Russian winter adventures on a custom private tour from MIR:
- Summer Idea: Family friendly Lake Baikal
Kayak, hydrofoil or fish as you explore the great lake.
At 25 million years old, Baikal is the oldest lake in the world, and at depths of up to a mile, it is also the deepest.
- Winter Idea: Family holiday in Western Russia
Set out into the
Golden Ring town of Suzal,
attend the classic
Nutcracker ballet performed
on one of the famed
Russian stages, and
sample Russian zakuski,
appetizers at a nobleman's
fireside.
Contact Jennifer at privatejourneys@mircorp.com for more custom and private travel ideas for your Summer and Winter.
CST #2082306-40. WST #601-099-932.
© 2009 MIR Corporation and all rights reserved
Photos: MIR Corporation
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