Last Tuesday was Robert Burns’ birthday. If you didn’t know that then look HERE for more information about Scotlands national poet.

Every year people in Scotland and all over the world celebrate Robert Burns birthday with a Burns Supper.  I have been to informal Burns night parties but never to a proper supper until last Friday when we went to one in Barcelona.  I  googled ‘Barcelona, Burns supper’ and found there was one in the Centro Asturiano – a cultural centre for people from Asturias
It was a wet night – the musicians who had flown over from Glasgow joked that they had brought some rain in their cases alongside the haggis and the bagpipes

Two long tables stretched out across a smallish room, the walls covered in flags and banners
I was a bit worried that there wouldn’t be the space for dancing – this was the part of the evening I was really looking forward to. Beware of expectations!On the menu was Cockaleekie soup with accompanying roll (here in Catalunya they eat the bread with the main course and almost never with the soup. It’s one of those little things that makes you feel different), haggis and neeps and tatties ( turnips and potatoes for those who don’t know)

 followed by cheese and biscuits which were a bit of a disappointment as the publicity had offered sherry trifle!  I imagine Cranachan was too much of a challenge even to promise.
It’s the cream problem, you can’t get it here.
Glenfiddich sponsored the event and free whisky flowed all evening. I found this a bit disturbing as if you drink it like wine you could end up too drunk to drive home to Granollers. I am a nervous passenger so ended up being drinks monitor.  One glass was surreptitiously emptied into a flowerpot outside in the rain

I had looked forward to this all week but ended up feeling strangely disconnected.
There was too much whisky. The people were all very nice – a mix of some Scottish and even more Spanish people with Celtic connections – but it wasn’t easy to speak to anyone apart from the ones sitting directly beside you. They were interesting – a group who play in a Scottish pipe band in Barcelona were sitting opposite us. Not one of them was Scottish but they play at weddings and fiestas and on St Patricks Day in Barcelona.  One man was from Galicia, plays the bagpipes, has two kilts and a whisky collection. He lived in the UK for some years and told me that what he misses most is smoked fish (me too!) and dairy products like double cream.
On my right was a young man from Edinburgh who is studying Spanish, also speaks French and Russian, judges whisky competitions and is a linguist with a dream of being picked for MI5.
The haggis was addressed in both Castellano and Scots. Next year Català?
We danced to the Caulbums Ceilidh band from Glasgow – do you think this could be a joke about cauld bums or is that just the way my mind works?

And so to the dancing. No-one listened to the caller and the Dashing White Sergeant became chaotic with people skipping all over the place. In  Strip the Willow everyone wanted to whirl each other at random and all at the same time so I went off to sit down in a huff – what about respecting other people’s cultures – eh?
The man from Glenfiddich knew his stuff though ….

At the end we sang Auld Lang Syne amidst confusion about when it was ok to cross the hands.
It was a good evening and an interesting one but something was lacking for me. Perhaps it is to be expected if you go to a Scottish night in Barcelona.
My tips for a good Burns Supper would be

• Greet everyone at the door – this is a good moment for a whisky and even some bagpipes
• If the majority of the people are not native English speakers then perhaps Tam O’Shanter and Holy Willies Prayer are not the best choice of Burns poems. I like this one.
• Include a song – Ae Fond Kiss or John Anderson My Jo?  With the words we could all sing.
• Discourage the Glenfiddich representative from leading the group in a chorus of Volare – a Italian song –  changing the chorus to ‘Glen – fidd – ich oh oh oh oh’  when you are in Catalunya
• If you promise sherry trifle then provide it. Cheese and biscuits are not the same.
• Tell everyone that they MUST do the dances properly or Scottish people will be upset!

I don’t know where to put the photo of the hairy sporran so here it is without more explanation!

Anyway, I enjoyed it really! And I would probably go again. We discovered that there is a dearth of Catalan translations of Burns poems and as there is such a strong connection between the two countries we are thinking of starting to write some, starting with My Love is Like a Red Red Rose.