Posted on 02/19/2009 4:41:38 PM PST by fanfan
U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Parliament Hill began with a warm wave to an adoring crowd of thousands and ended with a sugary sweet BeaverTail in the Byward Market.
As Obama’s motorcade left his working visit in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill shortly before 4 p.m., it made an unexpected pit stop in the Byward Market.
Obama exited his limousine to shop, shake hands, and grab one of the iconic Ottawa fried pastries.
The Secret Service asked a nervous Jessica Milien, 17, an employee at the BeaverTail kiosk, to bring the president one of the savory treats. She served him the aptly named ObamaTail, created in honour of the president’s inauguration.
“I am standing there shaking, my legs are shaking, and I kept thinking, ‘What am I going to say? I have to sound smart, this is the president we are talking about,’” she said.
“He was such a down to earth guy, he wasn’t hard to talk to at all,” she said.
Obama wandered through the Byward Market, shaking hands and leaving awestruck shoppers as he went.
He bought a keychain for one of his daughters with a Canadian $5 bill at the Oxxo Market. Obama told shopkeeper Adnan Ustun that his daughter collects the trinkets.
Obama then dropped into the Le Moulin de Provence bakery and was presented with shortbread cookies in the shape of maple leafs, which he said were for his daughters.
“It was very surprising for everybody here,” said manger Alice Gonzalez. “We weren’t expecting him at all.”
Earlier in the day, it was the beating rotor of the helicopter as it hovered above the East Block that tipped off the crowd that the man of the hour had finally arrived.
A loud roar of approval rose from the estimated 2,500 people as they waved placards and flags and turned their heads to catch a glimpse of the motorcade ferrying Obama onto the Hill just before noon.
Obama received a hero’s welcome as he emerged from his limo and then waved from behind a bullet-proof panel of glass erected in the arch of the Peace Tower. The much-anticipated gesture was largely obscured from the crowd by a parked ambulance.
Many in the crowd had spent hours lining up against a double row of metal barrier fences in the hope Obama would briefly address the crowd.
A quick sighting of the president’s waving hand was all Lisgar High School student Samia Ahmed, 15, managed to see.
“I wanted to see more, but it was worth it,” she said.
The crowd had started forming at 6:30 a.m.. Throughout the day, RCMP posted at each gate carefully searched the belongings of those trying to get on the Hill.
Adoring Obama supporters mixed with hawkers selling T-shirts at $20 a pop, lapel pins and a clutter of other memorabilia, and activists who saw it as a chance to promote their cause.
“It’s a very special time today and I am glad he’s making his first trip to Canada. That just says a lot for our relationship with America,” said Ottawa resident Melissa Benjamin as her one-year-old son Zavion Jasper squirmed in her arms.
“Maybe Zavion will be the first black Canadian prime minister.”
laura.czekaj@sunmedia.ca
Interesting little aside. Oddddd that it didn't get more attention in this story. I guess the fawning took up all the available print space.
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