Sheryl Mcintosh's Blog: Tourism in Salisbury and Saxony

Shouldn't laugh about so serious a matter; but, really.

Many years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth (Brezhnev, Chernenko, Andropov) I spent some time in East Germany. Naturally, one was followed around almost everywhere, by tag-teams of Stasi operatives. They came in two flavours: superannuated coppers in grey trenchcoats and tribys - and guys who looked exactly like this. (Some of them, incidentally, were gay honey-traps. So we were told.)

Tall story ...

Anecdote. One day I was out and about in Wittenberg, looking for a suitable present for Master Drew - then a pre-school kiddie. I saw a bookshop and popped in to scan the children's section. There, in the shelves marked Für 4-6 Jährige, was the following attractive offering.

I had a quick scan, and it turned out to be ... an anti-NATO propaganda tract! Well, obviously I bagged it right away and joined the check-out queue.

At the time, my follower was the ageing Herr Trenchcoat, who desperately wanted to see what it was that had seized my interest. So he grabbed the nearest book to hand, and joined the queue behind me, straining over my shoulder to see what I'd got. I turned to look, and there he was, carrying a copy of - Windsurfing for Beginners!

I forebore to ask him if he had a trip planned to Warnemunde. GSOH was not a requirement for his employ.

PS, I also bought my lad a really fine die-cast model of a BTR-60PB, as good as any Dinky-toy, if not better ... One day I'll turn it up and post a pic.

ND