And When We Looked Up ... He Was Gone!

And now for the anti-climactic conclusion of Obama's visit to Dresden ...

Massive jets carrying an army of shiny, bulky, black American SUVs and sedans and even two helicopters (who knew you could transport a helicopter in an airplane?) landed in Dresden days before the President himself did. Dresden's two most luxurious hotels were emptied — to the fury of their wealthy guests — to house the president and his entourage for one night. The city's public transit system was completely scrambled starting a couple of days before his arrival to ensure that the high security areas would stay secure while he was here. Naturally, the city's police force was pushed to its limits trying to keep the most powerful man in the world safe under their watch. I never realized what it took for an American president to travel. Wherever he goes, mountains must be moved. The American taxpayers do some of the moving, but a great deal of it is also done by the host. I've heard it estimated that Dresden spent something like €15 million in anticipation of Obama's visit.

And amazingly, it was all done with a smile. The city was plastered with "Welcome Mr. President!" signs and decals on every tram, and all of downtown was cloaked in red, white, and blue in anticipation of his arrival. To be entertaining its first American president was exciting enough, but to be entertaining Obama, easily Germany's favorite U.S. prez since JFK, was almost more than could be borne. Even though it was clear that his time in Dresden would be short and that, in fact, no public address was planned, the media couldn't help but pre-emptively quote Obama as reprising and revamping JFK's beloved line: "Ich bin ein Dresdner!"

The Man of the Hour flew into the Dresden airport from Cairo at about 11 p.m. on Thursday and within 12 hours he was gone. Jake and I had foolishly decided to meet for lunch downtown to see the circus, but by noon the crowds had vaporized, the barricades were being taken down, and all that was left were a few sort of sad little reminders that he was even here at all.

"Free Amerikaners for everyone!" Amerikaners are a German baked treat that I think are an attempt at a frosted sugar cookie, although, to be sure, I've never seen anything really resembling an Amerikaner in America.

"'YES WE CAN' 20% off everything only on June 4 and 5 'IT'S OBAMA'S DAY'"

To be honest with you, the most exciting part of Obama's visit to Dresden for me, was seeing Tom Brokaw interview him in the courtyard of the Zwinger (one of my favorite places in the city) the next day on the Nightly News.

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I suppose I'm glad that my president isn't wasting any time. He has a lot of work to do, and it appears that he's fully aware of that. But as a resident of Dresden, I can't help but feel just a little heartbroken that he didn't have time to stand before the people of Dresden for 2 minutes and say, "You've got a real nice city here. Thanks for putting me up. Hope. Change. Yes, we can."

I suppose I can settle for this politically significant press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Dresden's famous Grünes Gewölbe, or Green Vault treasure museum:

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JEM