Play hard, work hard

Monday we moved from the Hilton to the congress hotel, the Captain Cook (see pic), only a couple of blocks away. City of Anchorage isn't really big. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the room before 3 pm, regular check-in time, and therefore explored the city a little more - unsuccessfully looking for a drug store. Caused by the constant melting and freezing, a little snow and some rain, the walkways were icy and slippery, but, again, Alaska didn't live up to its reputation to be cold. Finally, we got a nice corner room on the 11th floor with quite a view towards the harbor and the mountains; at least it was worth waiting for a room on the upper floors!

Out again at 5 pm to catch the shuttle to the Alaska Native Heritage Center (pics ANHC), where the Go West Summit Welcome Dinner took place. Food was served buffet-style inside the museum and outside - more authentic native food like salmon or soups at tables outside with little firepits adjacent. Wished we would have had more time (and daylight) to visit this highly instructive cultural center, partly museum, partly outdoors village with native dwellings and demonstrations like dances.

We talked to some of the Alaska Native people who were present in the center for the event and learned a lot about the different Northern tribes and its destinction from the tribes in the "Lower 48" (refering to the 48 States further South, having gained statehood earlier than Alaska). Five distinct geographic regions of Alaska – Aleuts, Northern Eskimos (Inupiat), Southern Eskimos (Yuit), Athabascans (interior Alaska) and Southeast Coastal Indians (Tlingit and Haida) shaped the vast land up North. These groups are based on cultural and linguistic similarities of peoples, and more than 20 languages are spoken among Alaska Native people. Got to know a lot about their lifestyles in the past and nowadays, that they don’t have „reservations““ but "communities" and "corporations", that gambling and lottery aren’t allowed in Alaska, that polar bears, whales and seales were main source of nutrition for the natives etc. etc.

Tuesday the tourism conference started at 8 am with appointments all day until 5 pm. "Buyers" - the 16 journalists from all over the world are part of them - were sitting at tables receiving "suppliers", offering their products, either destinations hotels, tours, attractions etc. Alaska attracted a record crowd of about 600 people in its modern new conference center (see pic) this year for Go West.

Back to the hotel at 5:30 pm, dress-down to jeans and comfortable shoes, on to the Colorado Reception in the hotel, with a buffet and drinks, but, unfortunately, without the usual "goodies" from Colorado. First day of congress is over ... tired.