Sofia - "First of all, we have had a great trip," US President George W Bush quipped when asked by a reporter in the Bulgarian capital about the awkward political developments back home. When Bush arrives back in Washington, he will have to face difficult issues such as the Congress vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or immigration reforms that look likely to fail.
But beforehand, Bush can feel pleased with his eight-day trip to Europe.
Central to the trip was the G8 summit in the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, where the US was able to push through a compromise on climate change that was open to interpretation.
But the stops before and after the G8 summit were of great importance to Bush.
Bush will probably remember the cheers of "Bushi, Bushi," and the sea of excited people who were delighted to see him in the Albanian village of Fushe Kruje as an emotional high point in his soon-to-end eight-year presidency.
Until now, Bush has rarely had the chance to experience such adulation outside his own Republican party events.
Even if the enthusiasm of the people in the Czech Republic, Poland and Bulgaria did not reach Albanian levels, Bush would have felt as if he was among friends.
The atmosphere of Bush's visits is infused more with a feeling of gratitude for the end of Soviet domination and integration into the Western alliance than concerns over the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Bush's visit is seen in these countries - once described provocatively as "new Europe" by his former secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld - as proof of their ties to the West and membership of the free world.
The eight-hour stay in Albania had a special meaning: the Islamic country's participation as a loyal ally of the US in the so-called "coalition of the willing" is important psychologically.
Bush sees Albania as proof that Islamic societies can be free, but he does warn the tiny Balkan country to proceed with diplomatic reforms and the fight against corruption.
Bush's "democracy tour" was a thank-you to "allies in the war against terror" and a recognition of the great progress of these young democracies, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe described Bush's side-trips as.
The president's visit to the smallest of all the countries, the Vatican, had a different purpose.
To Bush's chagrin, the visit to the Vatican will highlight the differences between him and his much admired predecessor Ronald Reagan who entered into a secret pact with former pope John Paul II to fight communism.
It was not known what was said about Islam during Bush's 35-minute audience with Pope Benedict XVI, which both see as one, if not the central theme of the 21st century.
Bush uses the threat of an aggressive Islamic fascism to explain his offensive and preventative "war on terror."
The pope has also expressed his concerns over Islamic developments many times.
But the content of the conversation between the most powerful man in the world of politics and the most powerful man in the world of religion remains secret.
Bush only said that the pope had been very concerned about the Christian minority in Iraq. The Vatican fears that Christians are being treated worse in Iraq than in any other Arab country.
How much the president and the pope agree in their assessment of Islam also remains unclear. From their speeches, there are many similarities in their defence of Western values.
But the two sides are not building a new version of the historical coalition between Reagan and John Paul II in the fight against communism.
Bush also differs in style from Reagan: Reagan never called the Holy Father "sir" as Bush does.
