Aucilla (AO 56) - Naval Cruise Book

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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.

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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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2la Penae 26 U del S«li , , , Cola de Portals ( t 26 f ' ta Cala Figuera ■ -;c(?) ;0s«cU5flll M PALMA. The first time I stepped out of the liberty launch at Palma, the scene sort of daz- zled me - a beautiful cathedral outlining the sky, palm trees everywhere, rows of taxi cabs, narrow, steep walks, sidewalk cafes, and brightly colored yachts anchored in the gin-clear water of the bay. Many men aboard AUCILLA regarded Palma as the most beautiful port we visited, which is justified since Palma is a famous Med- iterranean tourist attraction. Several of the brown-baggers had their families make the short overnight trip from Barcelona to Palma and enjoy the scenery with them. For some reason, the wine tasted better, the girls looked prettier and it was harder getting back on time in Palma than in other ports we had recently visited. And this was curious since we were already accustomed to the inexpensive wines and the beautiful senoritas - but nevertheless it was true. The city of Palma gave us a brief look at the past. The well preserved ramparts in the old section of the city were, in some cases, built in the thirteenth century by the Moors. The cathedral, with its graceful spires, brought out a mixture of the old and new Spain. In the restaurants and night clubs our mouths were agape at the 75 cent filet dinners, beer for a nickel a glass, and fine champagne for a dollar a bottle. Home was never like thisi We hated to get back to the routine of fleet exercises (which were by now pretty routine), and we hated to leave Palma where every night was like a Saturday night back home and offered new things to do and places to go. 28 l( mtmr Native Dancers Cork Merchants 31