Gordon Johnston, Honorary Librarian of the Burns Howff Club, is jetting off to St. Petersburg on 31st January, to attend a Burns celebration in the ancient capital city of Russia and as Haggis is hard to come by over there, he is taking a specimen of the famous “Chieftain o’ the pudding race” supplied by Dumfries butcher Stewart Houston.
Gordon is a trustee of the “St. Petersburg Forum”, a charity set up to promote knowledge of Scotland among Russian school students and a Burns Supper, arranged by the Forum, is held annually in the city.
The party from Scotland will spend a week meeting students and their teachers and the itinerary includes visits to the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Faberge Museum and the famous Hermitage Museum, a performance of the ballet, “Sleeping Beauty” by Tchaikovsky at the Mikhailovsky Theatre and a reception at the British Consulate.
The Burns Supper will feature contributions from both Scots and Russian and as well as “The Immortal Memory” of Robert Burns, the toasts include “To Mark the Lifting of the Siege of Leningrad”.
No trip to Russia would be complete without a sleigh ride and hopefully there will be sufficient snow.
