For the third time in just over two years a group of Dollar Academy pupils headed eastwards to explore the Russian capital and meet up once more with the pupils and staff of Mir Znaniy School. We arrived just as the temperature began to plummet and first snows of winter crept closer. Mornings were taken up with Russian language lessons, classes on Pushkin and the history of Moscow. We swapped stories  of Scottish myths and legends for those of Russian domovoys and Baba Yaga while there was even time for a demonstration of exactly how to play the bagpipes.

Away from the school we battled through the neverending Moscow traffic to visit the Tretyakov Art Gallery, Stalin’s secret bunker and, of course, Red Square, the Kremlin and Lenin’s Mausoleum. The warmth and generosity of our hosts was a constant throughout our five days in Moscow and on the final night the Russian pupils carved two magnificent pumpkin lanterns in honour of the group and Halloween. It was a gesture that underlined the growing friendship between our two schools and we look forward to welcoming a group from Moscow in the early New Year.