Albany (CA 123) - Naval Cruise Book

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CW J X A ATHENS 8 a OCT. 18, 1957 - OCT. 28, 1957 o IS = 5 8 The first half of our cruise was to be spent in the Eastern Mediterranean because of the Syrian-Turkish tension there. Our first liber ty port was Athens, proud and independent. Steeped in history and even pre-history, it is quite possible today to pick out dead ringers for statues which are now many centuries old. We went on tours and took part in the Athenian night life and found them very modern and quite realistic. The beauty of Greece and Athens resides in their tra- dition, a fact which colors everything. In the city, ancient ruins stand next to thriving modern developments and somehow the paradox never seemed resolved. Maybe it will take a few more trips to Athens before we can put the pieces of her culture together and come up with a one or two sentence description of it. I think, however, that Athens will defy a short general description. z r » - ' » I I c 1 t