10 Downing Street
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were greeted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah Brown at 10 Downing Street.
NYTimes:
The rapid political rise of Barack Obama can be gauged in many ways, but one of the best measures can perhaps be found in London, on the front stoop of No. 10 Downing Street.
Mr. Obama walked through the famous doorway for the first time less than four years ago. A dozen reporters were on hand that afternoon in August 2005, at least half of whom were waiting for someone else. After speaking for a moment, Mr. Obama climbed into a white van, along with the rest of a Congressional delegation, and was soon walking through the streets of London alone, on his way to meet his older sister for dinner.
When Mr. Obama came back last summer for a Downing Street appearance on the final leg of an overseas campaign trip, the pack of journalists had swelled by a few hundred. The tabloid reporters, along with adoring crowds, screamed his name. That scene was magnified yet again on Wednesday. This time, after meeting for two hours inside No. 10 with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Obama held forth at a press conference that was televised live on both sides of the Atlantic.
“I came here to listen, not to lecture,” Mr. Obama said, standing before a row of American and British flags. Before leaving, he added: “There’s one last thing I should mention I love about Great Britain and that is the Queen. I’m very much looking forward to meeting her.”
On Mr. Obama’s first journey abroad as an American president, the eyes of the world are upon him as never before.
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