A day in the land of Dickens- To London!

I was flying back to the US through London, and it was to take place on a weekend, so my Chief of Staff (John McDonald) suggested I at LEAST see a few things in London.  It was a fantastic idea, and I'm glad I did.

It was only about a day and a half, so I decided to see Big Ben, walk by Whitehall, and eat at a five star Indian restaurant. The second day was reserved for the British Museum. OMG - this is a bucket list stop.

Enjoy!

Big Ben - cold rain

Big Ben at Night

Police Racing past Westminster Abbey

I even got to see a Royal Procession

And then there was the British Museum...

Admission has ALWAYS been free

A word here.  If you have followed this blog, or know me, then you know I am a lover of ancient things.  Most especially, ancient Anasazi things. But I will save money on a hotel to get a guide to take me to see the amazing past of a great place and Marci and I spent nearly a day at one of the greatest museums in the world (Museo de Antropologia) but walking around the British museum does make me wonder when collecting history becomes plain ole theft.  I read a GREAT book about this very notion (Craig Childs' Finders Keepers).

The people of this small island empire sure did get around. And whether theft or preservation - they amassed perhaps the greatest collection of GLOBAL HISTORY ever attempted.  The photos below are ORIGINAL works of art from every corner of the world.

EGYPT - attracts the most visitors:

So many mummies you can't count them!

The South Pacific you say?  How about Easter Island...

The Roman Empire and Early Christianity:

From a building in England

The earliest known depiction of Christ - 300 A.D

Chinese Porcelain

The Greeks

Looks like the Anasazi Effigy James found! 

English History

Shakespeare's Bust 

Even British Museum History - this was how items were first displayed

Over 6000 years old

And to finish my trip - I got a birthday/Christmas present at Henry Pordes Books (about a mile from where Charles Dickens lived and wrote) for myself!

TALE OF TWO CITIES (Published by Chapman & Hall, Piccadilly

with an inscription from 1870)

And British Airways to Denver (10.5 hours).

The upper crust cabin

Until Mexico with Joshua - UNDAUNTED!

Policing with a Kilt...

I have been back from Scotland for  almost two weeks.   It was fast, it was fun, and it was the most impactful training I've ever had as a police officer.

I have been giving it a lot of thought. And as a Deputy Chief, there are some small things I will be changing immediately to point us in the direction that Police Scotland take (and trust me, it is very impressive and thought provoking).  But I also write this a day after ANOTHER mass shooting (this one an hour's drive south in the city where I was born).

I am not going to detail what I learned (yet).  But I will share some of the great experiences I had...

Tulliallan Castle- Home of Police Scotland Training - where we stayed

                    

The 'suspect" above is armed with a knife - the officer with Pepper spray.

In Scotland, they do not use firearms when confronted by "Petrol bombs" (we call Molotov cocktails):

An amazing week.

Friday evening I took a trip to Edinburgh to shop.  Wow...go to Scotland!

A wee hop over the pond...

I have been told I am the true to life version of Forrest Gump (not sure if it's 'cause I'm a bit slow - or always in the right place at the right time?).

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago the Chief asked me to fly with a select group of US police executives to Edinburgh Scotland. The idea is to study how an unarmed police force deals with armed suspects in an attempt to see if we can reduce fatal police citizen encounters.  I thought long and hard (less than .003 seconds) and said YES!

So, here I am. Boarding a British Air flight to Edinburgh via London. I'll keep you all posted!

Scottish Police College at Tulliallan

If a doctor gives you a month to live - mortgage everything, grab your loved ones, and head to Culebra

I blush when I admit that I fancy myself an amateur travel writer. It stems from a love of travel and a love of books. So, please forgive that most of my posts seem positive and make you want to go there.  Isn't that the point of a travel blog?

And then there was Culebra.

I remember the gasp I let out when I turned the corner and saw Teotihuacan.  Or the beauty of Manawaiopuna Falls in Kuai. The Grand Cayon, the Buchardt Gardens in Victoria Canada, and the red fall leaves in New England...

And then there was Culebra.

Perfection

Once I arrived, I fully intended to walk about the Island. Its pretty small, and I like walking. But the lady in the airport kindly suggested I consider a golf cart.  GLAD I DID.  I could have walked, but the cart gave me the chance to REALLY see the whole Island. And it is a GEM!

Octopus Salad - YUM

End of the day~

I decided that I would never wash the magical sand of Culebra from my feet. So that I might carry this day forever (Ok, I actually already showered, but it sounds like a travel writer - huh?)

Tinker Belle's Hot Tub

I am going to work backwards tonight. I just can't start anywhere other than the most amazing spectacle I just witnessed.

The BioBay in Vieques PR (more specifically just outside Esperanza) cannot readily be described.  It is a bay with the highest concentration of biolumiensence in the world. These tine critters emit light in a complicated process - when they are disturbed.  You should see the rain.

The water glows, but it doesn't just glow. And it only glows when disturbed.  It also sparkles and flashed when a school of fish scatter as the boat disrupts a night time feeding. It was too dark to capture on film - but put this on your bucket list. It is the northern lights IN a lake.

The boat to bio-bay

But I had to travel, by car, the boat, then taxi, then foot just to get to the bio bay.  Here is that journey... And before you envision some remote back woods shack - I watched most of the Broncos home opener on satellite TV and texted Marci.  Technology...

Ferry Boats

Puerto Ricans LOVE their meat. These are both roadside stands.

Chicken BBQ

Lechon ()Roasted pig)

The bay coming into Viewues 

Hurricane victim

The lighthouse in Isabella II

And people.  I met this couple at the Ferry terminal heading to Vieques. We got to chatting, and ended up on the same tour of the bio bay.  They are very cute and were so fun to talk to. Their marriage was "arranged" four years ago - and they are happy as can be.  They made me want to go to INDIA so bad!

Ruta Panoramica (Panoramic Route)

Guidebooks about Puerto Rico mention a small series of roads which traverse across the heart (and mountains) of the country.  Since the whole island is less than 200 miles across, I figured, 'How hard could it be.'

Ruta Panoramica owned me.

Slapped me like an angry step dad.

Made my GPS look like a Fisher Price toy...


(This was when I still had service and the road was like a highway. See that mountain ahead of me - GULP- yup, went over it)

 But there is a story to be told first.

OBSERVATIONS - PUERTO RICO 

Now that I have been driving all over the country, I feel like I have a good feel for things.  And I have noticed that while some things look very much like the USA I left behind:

Other things look more like Latin America:

OH, and I noticed things seemed different and couldn't put my finger on it - till I realized THERE ARE NO PEOPLE BEGGING FOR CHANGE at intersections (or anywhere else).  But there are plenty of poor folks to be had...

So I decided to wander across the interior of the Island.  I drove to the East side (I have now been to the North, West, South, and Eastern shores). I started in the Southeast corner.

As I worked my way up the mountains a few things struck me,

1. There are a LOT of people in Puerto Rico. The guide book says that it is MUCH more dense than we are used to, and all day I turned corners and saw houses.  And I mean ALL DAY.  (there was one stretch where I was on a road I had no business traversing where there were no houses, people, or anything else). But that was probably only forty five minutes).
2. This is a REALLY pretty place
3. It is easy to get lost when your GPS doesn't get a signal any more
4. I will drive in circles SEVERAL times for roasted pig.

This is what the road looked like BEFORE I hit the stretch where the fauna was hitting both sides of my car (thank God there was no oncoming traffic). 

I also saw a lot of Bamboo and pretty green valleys

At least forty feet high

I went through a SERIOUS downpour 

and FINALLY found the holy grail of pig (called the Pork Highway and featured on Bizarre Foods.

Roast Pig, Rice and Beans & Blood Sausage

I sipped a homemade Pina Colada (con Rum). And meandered back to San Juan satisfied.

I still have 2/3 (and reportedly the hardest section) of the Ruta to finish before I die...

STILL UNDAUNTED!