Triumphal buzz amid Washington DC chill

WHEN we landed in Washington DC on Wednesday, I was expecting the place to be buzzing with excitement, anticipation, nerves and optimism.

- Christian Calgie

I was shocked, therefore, to find the capital city of the most important country on Earth as tranquil as a provincial English market town.

If not for the high security presence and miles of fencing, you would struggle to know Donald Trump’s second inauguration was happening at all.

This was, I was assured by locals, merely the “quiet before the storm” and things would soon pick up as the big day loomed. The worry now is that the freezing cold weather may prevent the storm from breaking at all.