Back in MY country

After 25 straight days of traveling throughout Europe in eight different countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Denmark) (ok I only put my foot in Hungary, went to the airport in Denmark, and passed through Austria) I am so glad to be at the SeaTac Airport. I left Vienna this morning at 1145 and it is now 650 pm on Sunday.

I missed english, soda with ice in it, magazines in english, the Anchorage Daily News, other channels other than CNN and BBC, my bed, my kids, my wife, and driving.

I haven't been able to upload all my video or pictures, but will work on it this week. I will add some more thoughts on what my key learnings are and I need to come up with a strategy to share everything that I experienced.

Highlights off the top of my head include the NATO headquarters, the EU parliament, home dinners with hosts in Brussels, Hamburg, Rome, and Bucharest; the Vatican, meeting the the whole time in Hamburg, Bratislavan hospitality, seeing the Airbus 380 under serious cloak and dagger security, being shuttled all over like diplomats, and the beautiful weather that followed us everywhere.

I meet with key oil and gas officials (public and private) in Brussels, Rome, Bucharest, and Bratislava. I meet with the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia (swanky lunch!!); a swanky lunch with ENI in Rome (five courses); the second in command foreign affairs officer for the EU; and a whole lot of politicians.

I'm glad to be home. For the first time in my life, I have learned what it means to be American when traveling with fifteen amazing leaders and representing our country.

Party politics - worst case scenario

This is a picture of a foundation that gives chicken and sugar to poor people, as well as cash. The problem is that the foundation is owned by the Christian Democratic party in Bucharest. And in order to receive the goods, you must sign up as a party member. This is a gross example to bad democracy. Not the rule in Romania.

Congrats to Jessica Klejka, Bethel

Two-second win is Junior Iditarod's closest ever
WHEW: One-time red lantern winner Klejka beats Carter as dogs, mushers sprint in.
By BARRY PISER
bpiser@adn.com
Published: February 25th, 2008 01:05 AM
Last Modified: February 25th, 2008 01:29 AM


Jessica Klejka was feeling great with a few miles to go in 2008 Junior Iditarod Sled Dog Race. She was leading, it was balmy outside and her team was running fast.

Maybe a little too fast for Nanook, one of her biggest dogs and hardest workers. Nanook is not a speed demon and the warm weather took a toll.

"He's a good dog, but we were just going really fast," Klejka said.

So with no other racers in sight, Klejka stopped and loaded her big dog into the sled for the stretch run.

And oh what a run it turned out to be.

Shortly after the stop, following a few tough hill climbs with less than a mile to go, the hard-charging team of Cain Carter, the 16-year-old step-son of Iditarod and Yukon Quest champ Lance Mackey, caught Klejka.

"I figured they'd be coming because I was loading my dog and he's a really big dog. The team slowed down dramatically when I put him in," Klejka said.

"When Cain caught me, I was thinking, 'Oh no, man, he's gonna pass me.' I yelled to the dogs 'OK guys, let's go! Let's just give it a good try.' "

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As the finish line came into view, adrenaline kicked in for Klejka, Carter and their combined 19 dogs.

"We're both running, and then my dogs saw everybody at the finish line and they picked it up," Klejka said. "And his dogs saw everybody, so both teams are going really fast. It was really close."

How close? Try the closest finish in the race's 31-year history.

Klejka, a 17-year-old Bethel resident, edged Fairbanks' Carter by two seconds after 140 miles of racing to win her first Junior Iditarod title in her fourth attempt.

The smallest 1-2 gap prior to Sunday was 34 seconds, which happened twice: Tyrell Seavey got past Cali King in 2001 and Ramey Smyth beat out brother Cim by the same margin in 1993.

Nanook took in the scene from the sled and, despite the excitement, was in no hurry to get out.

"He was pretty happy when we finished," Klejka said. "He was content with where he was."

Kotzebue's Quinn Iten, son of Iditarod veteran Ed Iten, finished three minutes behind in third. Rounding out the top 5 were Wasilla's Wade Marrs and Two Rivers' Ava Lindner, daughter of former Yukon Quest champ Sonny Lindner.

Klejka's win capped an impressive climb since her 2005 Junior Iditarod debut, when she took home the Red Lantern as the last racer to finish.

"Since I'm from Bethel, my dogs aren't always used to running on groomed trails," said Klejka, who started mushing in the fifth grade. "The first year was just a new experience for all of us."

In her next attempt, she finished seventh and, with a lot of hard training, came in third last year with leaders Jesse and Pearl out front. Despite that positive momentum, six months ago Klejka was thinking she might not run the race this year.

Jesse, her team's undisputed top dog, fell ill two weeks before she was to give birth. Klejka's father, a doctor at Bethel's hospital, rescued the litter of eight puppies via C-section but couldn't save Jesse.

The death of Jesse put the young musher in a funk.

"I couldn't even see (racing in) Junior Iditarod," Klejka said. "She was the main dog that kept the team going fast. So we focused on training and I was switching dogs around.

"But we got here."

She found another leader in Myan and decided to give racing a go. She entered the Kuskokwim 300 but scratched after warm temperatures turned to slush and open water. And now Klejka has her first big mushing win just four days before her 18th birthday.

Klejka, who will head to college in the fall, earns a $5,000 scholarship and round trip tickets to the Iditarod Awards Banquet in Nome with her parents. She'll be the first musher out of the chute at Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday.

Not a bad present but does she have party planned back in Bethel?

"I've got a lot of schoolwork to catch up on when I get home," she said.

Kara Kelty and Hugh Short - Italian news anchors

In Rome, we had an opportunity to tour and view the State television network. The Parliament controls the viewing and operates 3 channels that are highly watched. On this set, the previous night, 8 million Italians watched the newscast.

Palace of the Parliament - 2nd largest building in the world, save the Pentagon

The Palace of the Parliament (Romanian: Palatul Parlamentului) is the home of the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest, Romania. Its original name was the People's House (Casa Poporului), but it was renamed (in the post-Communist era) first during the 1989 Revolution with the derogatory name of House of Ceauşescu and then as the Palace of the Parliament. However, to this day, most of the Romanians retain the old name and call it Casa Poporului.

The structure combines elements and motifs from multiple sources, in an eclectic neoclassical architectural style.
It measures 270 m by 240 m, 86 m high, and 92 m under ground. It has 1,100 rooms and is 12 stories tall, with four additional underground levels currently available and in use, with another four in different stages of completion.
The building is constructed entirely of materials of Romanian origin. Estimates of the materials used include one million cubic meters of marble from Transylvania, most from Ruşchiţa; 3,500 metric tonnes of crystal - 480 chandeliers, 1,409 ceiling lights and mirrors were manufactured; 700,000 tonnes of steel and bronze for monumental doors and windows, chandeliers and capitals; 900,000 cubic meters of wood (over 95% domestic) for parquet and wainscotting, including walnut, oak, sweet cherry, elm, sycamore maple; 200,000 square meters of woolen carpets of various dimensions (machines had to be moved inside the building to weave some of the larger carpets); velvet and brocade curtains adorned with embroideries and passementeries in silver and gold.[1]
Constructing the Palace and Centrul Civic required demolishing much of Bucharest's historic districts, including two neighborhoods with 19 Orthodox Christian churches, 6 synagogues and Jewish temples, 3 Protestant churches (plus eight relocated churches), and 30,000 homes.[c

Wild dogs in Bucharest

Bucharest has perhaps the largest population of stray dogs for a city in eastern Europe (numbering several hundred thousand). Although their numbers are gradually decreasing due to projects by the City Hall, they still remain a threat to safety as at least ten people have to be hospitalized every day for painful dog attacks, and at night they tend to form packs which greatly increases their danger. Rabies vaccinations are not required but recommended: there have been no rabies cases in Bucharest since 1979. Most dogs will not give you a problem unless you go out of your way to pester them, but many dogs have been treated poorly, and thus be extremely wary of them, and do not approach a stray dog if you are alone. It is perhaps best to walk around in a group or walk where you see other people.
Walking around at night is fine except for the dog problem. It is very difficult for anyone to get away with violent crime because everything is packed so closely together, any loud noise will attract attention. And this is truly a city that doesn't sleep. You'll find people out and around at all hours in most parts of the city

My Guide and I at St Peters Church - Vatican