DAY 1 – THE ETERNAL CITY, ROME, ITALY!

We are here…can you believe it?  We arrived at the armoury yesterday morning at 10am and I could feel the excitement running off the cadets.  We had a few last minute details to get sorted out, handed out the new shirts and said good-bye to our loved ones.  We arrived at Pearson airport and checked in rather quickly and finally boarded the plane.  Some of the cadets had never flown before and some had never flown so far.  It was an amazing and extremely tiring experience, but well worth it!  In the end it was a very long flight and we were very happy to get off the plane.  We arrived in Rome at 10am on Tuesday 15^th of May.  Our tour guide Giuseppe greeted us and off we went.  The adventure of a lifetime, the Memory Project finally come to fruition.  Today we did not have anything on our schedule and was supposed to be a day to check in to the hotel and rest.  2912 being 2912 decided against lazing around and started the tour early.  This means we have not slept since we got up yesterday morning. We headed into the city of Rome.  Our first stop was the Trevi Fountain.  According to the legend if you throw a coin into the Fountain you will one day return to Rome.  Many of us did not want to miss out on that opportunity!  We walked through the city and stopped at the Pantheon.  The word huge took on a whole new meeting today.  This structure is so massive and beautiful and in such amazing condition still.  I was in awe and I could tell the cadets were as well.  We wondered around the Piazza Nova, ate some pizza for lunch and then headed to the catacombs.  The day got more amazing as the hours went by.  Over half a million Christians were buried in the catacombs at one time…and we had the opportunity to walk through a small area of the structure.  We were able to see some of the tombs and the beautiful drawings and carvings.  The energy in the catacombs was very heavy but very peaceful.  Next stop, St Paul’s Basilica.  This for me was the best part of the day.  The architecture, the artwork and the history is amazing even if you are not a religious person.  Inside there was a choir singing hymns, there were people quietly praying as well as people simply taking in the sights.  I for one felt very emotional while inside the Basilica.  It is hard to convey to everyone the experience the 14 of us are sharing.  I hope to post a few of the video blogs and some pictures within the next few days.  We will continue to write as the trip moves forward both on our online blog and our social media feeds.  Tomorrow we will be in Rome again, touring the Vatican, St Peter’s Basilica and the Coliseum.  If you have any questions or comments for us please post them on our facebook page.  I cannot thank everyone who helped us get here enough.  You have made so many dreams come true and have helped us start a project that will change our community.  FIOR GO BAS!

Captain A. Groulx-Grant
Commanding Officer