On to Ortona

Sorry for the delay...not my fault and I felt pretty guilty las night. So here goes.....

On to Ortona......The day was certainly a day to remember. I realize that all of these days are like that but I will fill you in on the end of the day’s events a little later on. Wake up call was on time and the kids were up and ready for another busy day. Our first stop before we moved to Ortona was to one of the most famous churches in the world The Basilica of St. John Lateran. Another truly amazing structure!!! If the students underestimated the power and breadth that the Catholic Church has in Italy and around the world, they certainly got a taste of that today. The sheer size of the Cathedral itself was amazing as you will see by the entrance to the building, but also the ornate and intricate art work on the floors, walls, and golden ceilings was nothing short of awe inspiring. A few of us were also able to wander over to one of the most sacred of Catholic areas, the Sacred Steps where Kings, Queens, Cardinals, Bishops and of course Papas(Popes) of Roma have kneeled their way up these steps for centuries. The Catholic that I am I wondered what I was supposed to say on each step as I made my way up to the sacred sanctuary, and in my hesitation the steps were overtaken by some very cute, but very slow little old ladies who were making their way up the steps on their seemingly ancient knees. The “Wall of Little Ole Women” prevented this Catholic from making the trek because I would still be on step #27 I am sure, and of course I did not know if it was proper to pull out and pass on the “Scala Santa” ,sacred steps.
The laugh for the day, well there were many as usual, was on Marilyn today. Unfortunately I missed the whole thing, but Kelly erupted into a fit of laughter as Marilyn made a grand entrance into the main sanctuary from a side prayer sanctuary. According to Marilyn, it occurred because of her Protestant faith(she added that it was the Church’s way of politely saying “Get Out of Here!!!) that made her miss the last two steps of the exit from the sanctuary and proceed to fall and gracefully slide on her rear end into the main sanctuary. The hard but slippery marble floors allowed her to extend her fall from the “heavens” by a few feet and then after only a second or two of “Three Stooges” style physical comedy, Kelly said she propelled herself back to her feet and walked off as if nothing happened. They are still laughing about it now!
Off to Ortona, roughly about a 2 ½ hour drive through some of the most beautiful scenery these kids have ever seen. The way to Ortona is through the Apennine Mountains driving towards the Adriatic Sea. When I say through, I mean through!!! And with the trek we also encountered some of the highest bridges/mountain passes these kids have ever laid their eyes on. Upon arriving in Ortona we were greeted by a beautiful day on the coast and the most beautiful of quaint little seaside cities you will ever visit. After about 5 minutes in Ortona we had our first “WOW” moment. In teaching a “WOW” moment is when all of sudden “they” get it...unfortunately it doesn’t happen every day, but when it does it is the best feeling a teacher can have. Upon gathering in the main square all dressed in our Ortona coats, which went relatively unnoticed in Roma, two local ladies noticed the group and Pat Desrcohes just happened to be on the outside of the circle, I think he was secretly scoping out the gelatino shops in advance, asked if he was “Americano”. Pat replied, “No I am Canadian...”, well what happened from there was nothing short of “cute”(Pat will love me saying that!!!) The little lady proceeded to begin to rub and squeeze his cheeks and say “Canadiano, Canadiano...gratzie gratzie...” Pat’s face turned as red as his coat, but the kids were able to see just what these men had done for this little town. 65 years ago they had saved this lady’s life and probably many of her friends and family from the Germans and they are still very indebted for that. Just wait it gets better!!!! AS we wandered throughout the town we were constantly greeted with “Bon Journo” and “Ah Canadiano...gratzie”. The best “WOW” of the day came a little while after that. We were walking in a large group, when we happened upon a lady probably in her 80’s. This time we had our tour guide, Bruno with us, so we had the language barrier solved. Well, no Italian nor English was necessary because the language of love and gratitude spoke loud and clear. When the lady saw our jackets she quickly began to say “gratzie gratzie”. This was followed by an explanation of the thank you’s to Bruno and soon after the translation, her tears began to flow and so did ours. I quickly asked if we could have our picture taken with her and she obliged, little did she know that she would have to wait for about 10 pictures to be taken. As the tears of joy and gratitude continued to flow from her beautiful but worn face, Olivia remembered she had a Canadian pin on her hat and gave it to her. She began to cry again and I quickly had the urge to hug and kiss the little ole lady, so in true European style I gave her a hug and a peck on each cheek to show her that were very grateful for her long and full life. “SUP ERWOW” moment for sure and the kids have hardly stopped talking about it and we are preparing them for more of that tomorrow.

We really didn't know this at that point, but the pic of the other older lady in the red is one of the famous Lasorda sisters. One of the earliest info pieces I sent you months ago was the story of these very Lasorda sisters. Throughout the entirety of the Battle of Ortona, Francesca and Maria Lasorda would wash the clothes of our Canadian soldiers. To this very day, Francesca, Maria is not well and able to, places flowers on the Monument of Peace(pictured) above in recognition of the efforts and sacrifices of the young Canadian men. This would explain her immediate elation when we walked towards the monument and she immediately came out of her house and began to hug and kiss everyone in our group. She was the most beautiful and sweet little lady I have ever met. Once again a "WOW"!!!

These were the moments I wanted your kids to experience. No language was needed to express the sheer gratitude she had as she remembered the Canadian tanks and the soldiers at “work” in the streets of her childhood. Her eyes and her heart took care of that and at that moment your sons and daughters were very fluent in Italian!!! I really don’t know what else to say. It’s late again and you are probably not able to read this tonight because our new hotel is less internet accessible and much more costly for wireless. It is the middle of the night (I hope when I am able to send this back to Canada) and when you awake to read the newest entry, your sons and daughters are off to the experience of a lifetime. More tears will flow, more hearts will swell with love and gratitude, more hugs will be given and received and their memories and sheer appreciation for our veterans and our country will continue to grow as well. Signing off from just outside of Ortona with the Adriatic roaring in the background!!!
DC