We have somehow managed to schedule our train from Virginia to New York for today, requiring us to travel into DC on inauguration day. Trying to retain a sense of charity toward my fellow Americans

In DC, on a Capitol tour with my expat family. Easy & appropriate to be cynical about symbols of democracy 5 days before the awful inauguration. But somber & moving, even—or especially—speeches by senate Democrats excoriating Republican tax cuts for the wealthy disguised as populism.

US Capitol Building with foreground bare tree and blue sky.

Done: Long-tail boat, ferry, taxi, dash through the airport, 2-hour flight, taxi, hotel, food court dinner, pool, taxi, 9 1/2-hour flight, 6-hour airport hotel sleep. Still to come: 14-hour flight, back in the USA.