Leyte (CV 32) - Naval Cruise Book

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BIG AS A BARN, BARREN AS A BOULDER THOUGH not to be considered third-rate, Pa- lermo failed to live up to its advance notices. The night life was tepid, along with liberty in gen- eral. The ratio of shore patrol to liberty-goers had just about evened out, one shore patrolman to a liberty hound, when at last we upped and left, not too regretfully. One cigarette, Joe? ' The center of boredom— oops, we mean town Sunday drivers The Dome. Another youngster a mere eight centuries old Which way to the nearest bar? Take two turns left for four, then right for two, I think

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PALERMO-DECEMBER 3-7 THE LEYTE steamed into Palermo on December 3rd, a week ' s operations with the entire task licet still warm and weary in OUT memories. Sicily ' s capital and largest city didn ' t prove a liberty hound ' s delight, hut the sunny disposition and atmosphere made it interesting. Fringed around the edge of a semicircular bav in the northern part of the island, Palermo is guarded by a towering, beautiful rock similar to Gibraltar. And. like the Hock, it boasts a history as up and down as a pendulum. Italy relieved English and Spanish elements of Sunny Sicily in 1860, and has been rewarded by such nice groups as the Mafia (Black Hand Society) and Giuliano and his merry men, a gang of bandits who presently have die police chiefs behind the well-known eight ball. Palermo is also the home town of Lucky Luciano. — £ Monte Pellegrino gazes down across . . . Palermo, the capital of all Sicily. ! ' ' The Cathedral of Palermo. Unchanged in a 1000 Years. Well in an old Moorish Mosque of the Sixth Century. St. John of the Hermit ' s Church

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THE CATACOMBS-WELL, DRY MY HIDE! NOT in use, thank goodness, since 1881, the Capuchin Catacombs had all the beauty of a Dab ' painting. But its spooky air drew many men to these underground corridors of the dead, in spite of some 80,000 mummified bodies strewn about. It was fascinating to see, but b-r-r! even better to climb out into that bright sunshine again. Mum - mies the word Looks like the LEYTE ' S ehowline, don ' t it? MONREALE-A WELCOME CHANGE rpHE bright mosaics and murals looked even more • - gorgeous after leaving the caves of death. A xMoorish fountain and beautiful cloisters added even more to the attraction of this ageless cathedral. Buried within are the bodies of old Norman kings, William the Good and William the Bad. We never found out what happened to William the Medium. Monreales altar— bright and beautiful Looking into the court yard of the cloisters of Monreale at the Fountain of Youth