Leyte (CV 32) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 51 text:

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

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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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Bumboats Here, Too Vice-Adm. Ballentine inspects guard. AUGUSTA, SICILY UPON departure from Palermo, we began to make preparations in earnest for our Christmas stay in Naples. To do this, we went to the Italian naval base city of Augusta on the eastern coast of Sicily. Liberty was restricted to fif- teen per cent because the town of Au- gusta simply could not handle large liberty parties. There were four taxis in town and five restaurants. However, there was an unlimited supply of car- rozzos and the nearby towns of Syra- cuse and Catania provided additional diversions. Some of us had our wives come over— Mrs. Erdmann visits the Greek Theatre.