Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand are spending the next few days in St. Petersburg, as in Russia, as part of a conference of state senate leaders.

The conference, organized by the Senate Presidents' Forum, includes seminars with a variety of Russian and foreign affairs experts, plus tours of some of St. Petersburg's finest sites, including the Hermitage art museum. Participants also are alotted time for their own tours, allowing them to perhaps visit St. Isaac's Cathedral or the Kirov (also known as Mariinsky) Ballet.

Basnight and Rand, both Democrats, are not using public money for the trip, according to their staffs. The forum provides stipends to cover at least part of the cost. 

Dome has to wonder whether Basnight's seaside upbringing will foster a kinship with the Neva River city along the Gulf of Finland and how Russian greetings sound through an Outer Banks accent.