Troikas at the Tron

I spent a lovely 4 hours yesterday in the company of 2 female teachers from Moscow and their 3 teenage kids. Irina and Natalia were extremely enthusiastic about Edinburgh, particularly Irina who had been here before. Scots have played a significant role in Russian history, from the architecture in St Petersburg through founding the Russian Navy and one, James Wylie was personal physician to Cszar Peter the Great, While Edinburgth's own, Elsie Inglis set up the Scottish Womens Hospital in Russia during the Great War of 1914/18..

They had the customary Russian familiarity with Scottish Literature, particularly the poetry of Robert Burns, so It was a different experience and they both bought the Collected Works of Robert Burns and asked me to sign them. The beauty of doing what I do is that every tour is different. This was my first experience with Russian people and I enjoyed every minute. The 3 young people were interested, attentive and very knowledgable. How many Scottish children could tell you about David Hume and Adam Smith I wonder?