Heiligendamm Diary

The Independent's Tony Paterson wrote the following article subtitled Dodgy tummies, rival joggers and the tricky etiquette of kissing Ms Merkel

* How many cooks does it take to spoil the broth? The Heiligendamm conference hotel where the G8 leaders were staying drafted in 60 chefs to cook for them. Unfortunately, President George Bush went down with a stomach ailment which kept him out of the summit yesterday morning. Polonium-210 was not suspected.

* Apparently the German cuisine went down fine with at least three of the summiteers. Bidding in the survival of the fittest stakes were Tony Blair, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who went running together on the beach on Thursday morning.

* M. Sarkozy apparently struck up an instant and extremely friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin when the two were introduced over dinner. Mr Sarkozy met the Russian President for private talks the next day and was later seen talking to him on his mobile phone between the formal conferences. French sources yesterday insisted that M. Sarkozy wanted to demonstrate that France takes Russia " seriously". That's something of a volte-face for the new French leader. He once bitterly criticised his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, for awarding Mr Putin the Légion d'Honneur, saying:" At least I don't decorate dictators."

* Mr Putin - who learned German during his Cold War time as a KGB officer in Dresden, where he is alleged to have spent much of his time drinking West German coffee and reading "colourful" West German magazines procured at hard currency shops - was able to converse with Angela Merkel in her own language. He also showed off his commitment to climate protection by being driven in an electrically powered car to the summit dinner.

* There are seven different ways to greet Germany's first woman Chancellor. Mr Bush kept it down to a handshake. Tony Blair, a one cheek kiss. Nicolas Sarkozy, double cheek kisses. Vladimir Putin - hand shake and half embrace. Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister - half embrace. Mr Harper - handshake and a pat on the shoulder. Japan's Shinzo Abe - handshake.

* You can never be too careful - the Bush team even refused to let German officials open the door of the President's limousine that was flown in. Only Mr Bush's own bodyguards were allowed to do the job.

* Coca-Cola might style itself the real thing, but it was hard to find at the summit. Journalists were offered a local rival called Afri Cola. Organisers said there was no anti-American message behind the decision to give prominence to Afri Cola, which sells 12 million units in Germany each year. That compares to Coca Cola's 3.4 billion.