Podstakannik

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a cup with a handle that looks like it's wearing a metal dress? That's a podstakannik (pronounced pod-sta-can-ik)!

In countries like Russia, people like to drink tea, especially hot tea, even on very cold days. But because it's so hot, the cup can be too hot to hold with your hands. So, they made a special kind of cup holder called a podstakannik.

A podstakannik is made of metal, usually silver or stainless steel, and it has a little handle and a special shape to hold the cup securely. It's like a mini-dress for a cup, covering the bottom and sides, but leaving the top open so you can still drink from it.

When you pour hot tea into the cup, you can put the cup into the podstakannik, and hold onto the handle of the podstakannik instead of the cup. That way, your hands don't get burned by the hot tea!

And because podstakanniks are so pretty, they can be decorated with fancy designs or even jewels. Some people collect podstakanniks as a hobby!

So, that's what a podstakannik is, it's a special cup holder for drinking hot tea without burning your hands. Cool, huh?