The Berlin Wall had opened not much more than 2 months previously and I was doing a bit of sightseeing on the Marx-Engels Bridge in East Berlin when an interesting object assailed my optic from further down Unter den Linden. I quickly reached for my Camera and had one go at capturing this unusual occurrence. In the background,the Zeughaus or old early 18th century Arsenal of Frederik III which, at the time of this photograph, was the Museum f�r Deutsche Geschichte -the Museum for German History- which told German history with a communist spin. Now it is the German Historical Museum. (Ho Ho) Crossing the bridge towards the Brandenburg Gate is a Lada and a Wartburg. The elegant Carrara marble statues (there are 8 in total) show the location of the Schlossbr�cke, which was the Marx-Engels-Br�cke in 1990. It was designed by Schinkel, and constructed between 1821 and 1824. The statues however were only installed more than 20 years after opening owing to financial constraints. The Schlossbr�cke was renamed the Marx-Engels bridge on May Day 1951,but It reverted back to its original name on 3 October 1991, the first anniversary of the unification of DDR and BRD. This DAF with 70 seat Berkhof double deck coach body was new to Harris in July 1987.

Does anybody have information about UK coaches visiting Eastern Europe? Certainly in early 1990, visa regulations for non-Germans were no different from before November 1989. The extra crossing points were only available to Germans. Was it normal for UK vehicles to do a 1 day ,25 Mark a head compulsory exchange day trip to East Berlin? Certainly VISAs were required in January 1990, and indeed they were in July 1990 at least. Are there any other pictures of UK coaches in Eastern Europe around this time? And what was this Harris coach doing in East Germany? Was it a "first" ? Who is the adventurous driver?

A not uncommon postcard of Moscow from the 1970s shows a Cream and Red Plaxton bodied vehicle in a wide Soviet boulevard . What was it?

Finally, in about 1996,I met a man who had been on a left-leaning coach excursion from the UK to Tbilisi in Georgia and back in the 80s or possibly early 90s. It may have been run by Progressive Tours. Sadly there is no web-site to match those from the road haulage industry, eg on the Middle East Run to Iran, Iraq and Turkey via Bulgaria and, Romania.