Aucilla (AO 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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r ' •Cj S; tsr The Ancient Bellringer LIVORNO. Say, where is this place Leghorn, anyway? I donno. Somewheres in Italy 1 think. Well, we soon found out - twice just to make sure. No sooner had we left Leghorn (also known as Livor- no) than we again returned. Someone must have thrown ' v.v.-- i. ...■ ' ' -Xi } ' .!, a coin in the wrong fountain in Rome. For this second ' . ..?.{ ' •• ' ci i V- • ' visit, it took a great deal of imagination to find sofne- - ' ■ -» ' •■•■■ ■ thing interesting to do. We tried a meal ashore: Say, Mac, where can we get some chow? Scuse ' ? Eat - you know. Yum, Yum. Ah, Gapisco - Chiamate Gina Lolabrigida, ROMA 6931. Let ' s scram. He must be telling us the way to Rome. We fought our way past the vendors: Hey Joe, you wanna buy Barra glove? Borsolino Hat? Ver nice. Let ' s get back to the ship before they try to sell us the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Okay J.B. ' Livorno Harbor T 64 56 46 ■ ' -ty 12- q Seoche di Vadah ■ 9 ■■•32 ■ ii.a 8 S- Mi-e 35 ,h ' ' lO 60 17 131- ■ T 6 7 ,-iO-

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. fttBJk nmf im »»■ r ■ ■ ■ ! ■■ » — r i fe t r— - T A NAPLES. Out of the ruins of war has risen one of the truly great Italian cities. Brightly colored buildings crowd each other for space in this city of hills. The harbor is dominated by a centuries-old fortress, while immediately behind it rise towering new structures, as a busy people cover the scars of war. We were here several times, none of them for any lengthy period. Perhaps the most interesting occurrence each time was the tour to Pompeii to visit the ancient Roman city that died so quickly under the lava of Vesuvius that day in 79 A.D. To walk the streets where Roman chariots last rode is indeed awe inspiring. ■1; SiaCrocc ir Masiiico C »n8 nJ ' ' 3 } Plaza Plebiscito Mt. Vesuvius 28

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O T M a mu r a Highway Scene CASABLANCA. It was in Casablanca that we first saw the nature of the Arab world and the mores and attitudes of an emerging colonial state. Having just recently won its independ- ence from France, Morocco was still in the throes of wild political rivalry between pro and anti French factions, resulting in an enforced curfew in the city of Casablanca. Although our Liberty hours were cramped by the ten o ' clock curfew, we still managed to get a good look at one of the most fascinating cities in the Arab world. Casablanca (meaning white house) lives up to its name, most of the homes and buildings beingconstructedof white masonry which appear snow white in the intense sun- shine of west Africa. It was quite impressive to walk through the wide, palm- lined avenues leading to the center of the remarkably modern city. Unfortunately, the native section of Medina was out of bounds, but we caught glimpses of this area with its labyrinth of narrow streets lined with European as well as native shops. We found the Grand Mosque in the center of the city breathtakingly beautiful and the native flea market an unforgettable sight. However, our liberties were not solely dedicated to sight seeing and 1 think it is safe to say there are those who never got past the MOULIN ROUGE. We found few beaches in the Mediterranean as beautiful as those of Casablanca and we spent many hours just lying in the sun on the white coral sand. ITie local Seamans Club and USO provided us with milk shakes which we hadn ' t tasted in many months. And most of us came back to the ship loaded down with camel saddles, hassocks, or a native fez purchased from one of the many street vendors. As we finished the last chapter in our Arab- ian Nights adventure and headed out to sea, we all agreed that, be it ever so humble, there ' s no place like Casablanca. ?l«-y ft.