Ottawa - Final Day

Today was the final day of the Ottawa portion for myself and the cadets going to Ghana.

We were up bright and early to tour the Parliament building first thing in the morning. The tour guide was really great and the cadets asked lots of good and interesting questions. I think they only stumped the guide once or twice. Because it was Sunday, we were able to get the full tour including the Parliamentary Library. Following the tour of Parliament, we proceeded outside to watch the Changing of the Guard. Coincidentally, we are sharing Carelton University with the Ceremonial Guard. It was a great show as always and one of the members of the Guard actually mentioned he saw us in the crowd. We're hard to miss, though, 65+ people in the IACE uniform.

After that, it was a short walk down Wellington St to the Supreme Court of Canada. I wasn't sure that this would be all that interesting for the cadets but I was pleasantly surprised. Again, the guide was great, very knowledgeable. She is a law student and knew a lot about procedure and the building itself. She even got the cadets involved in a mock trial which was probably the highlight of the tour.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the Canadian War Museum. Not having been there before, I was surprised at the sheer size of it. I knew that I wouldn't have enough time to see it all, so I skipped right to a couple of galleries that peaked my interest.

The evening was a bit more relaxed. We went to the IMAX at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, PQ to see the Hubble 3D movie.

Tomorrow most of the cadets are leaving Ottawa, including us. Only the US contingent are staying until Tues. The days have been long and tiring, but a lot of fun. I'm sure from the interactions that I have seen that the cadets have made a lot of friends even in two short days. Their departures tomorrow will no doubt be bitter sweet. Sad to leave their friends but excited to start their journeys to the various countries.

Tomorrow we leave for Ghana and are traveling all day. Probably no update until we get to Ghana on Tues.