Thursday President Bush will be inaugurated for his second term in office. This Inauguration Day will be a large event, with a parade and a huge amount of visitors, and the preparations started long ago.

Yesterday I went for a walk on the Mall, the strip between the Capitol and the Washington monument, where all the museums are. Many tents and barriers for the festivities were already in place, and they were installing a stage in front of the Capitol with thousands of chairs.

Security will be extremely tight this year and many streets and office buildings downtown will be closed from Wednesday morning on.

A few pictures.

Barriers near the Capitol.

Power generators, forklifts and other machinery on the Mall.

Outdoor sound-system.

The Washington Monument with large party tents.

Stage in front of the Capitol.