Columbus (CA 74) - Naval Cruise Book

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PIRWUS 0m I November, l95O, Admiral R. B. Carney assumed command as +he commander-in-chief, U. S. Naval Forces, Easlern Allanlic and lvledilerranean, relieving Admiral R. L. Con- noly who reporled lo 'rhe Chief of Naval Operalrions, for duly. On Jrhe 3rd, l'he COLUMBUS slrood inl'o Pireaus, Greece, and Jrhere disemloarlced lhe Marine delachmeni who flew To Sioclcholm, Sweden, lo form a guard of honor al l'he funeral ol: lhe lale King Guslav. Pirfdglus, alihough il' is The second cily of Greece, and The perl of enlrance for Aihens, had liH'le io offer excepl for a few bars, which managed lo do fairly good business, selling coke of course. Our lasf visil' whichqwas in June of I95 I, proved +0 loe a greal' success. A Seamans Club was opened in Afhens, and wifh all lhe American girls, free food and beauliful music, lhe enlire sixlh Heel had an unforgeflable 'Hme. Liberfy par'l'y in Pipgus Some of 'Phe old ruins Full dress ship in Pireaus Harbor 'fi

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an Q Y . ATHE S f4Thens is rich in hisTory, much Too long To be included here, buT There are a Tew poinTs worTh menTioning. IT was orig- inally builT on The plaTeau oT The sacred rock oT The Acro- polis, and was inhabiTed I6 cen- Turies beTore The birfh oT ChrisT. ln The 6Th cenTury B.C. a lower Town was Tormed aT The base oT The Acropolis. Alex- ander The GreaT broughT pros- periTy To The ciTy, buT Tinally in The 2nd cenTury B.C., iT Tell under Tew cenTuries laTer iT Tormed The ByzanTine Empire, and during This period The spiriT oT ChrisTiani'l'y began To replace The worship oT The pagan gods. AThens Tollowecl The TaTe oT The ByzanTine Empire, and in l456 bcame parT oT The Turkish OTTornan Empire. lT was conTrollecl by The Turks unTil I833, when They wiThdrew, and AThens was chosen To be The capiTal of The newly esTalolishecl Greek kingdom. ln a way Greece was unique, Tor people There were much inTeresTed in buying, as well as selling. A Tew opporTunisTs Took aclvanTage oT This To dispose oT baTTereol pea coaTs aT prices averaging around SI5. BUT a Tew days laTer'They Tound Themselves Tacecl wiTh The prospecT oT doling ouT 40 shekels Tor a new one ..., The new price lisT had come in. When one visiTs AThens, especially on Tour, The dominanT TeaTure is The hill oT The Acropolis lliTerally upper ciTy l crowned wiTh The world-Tamous ParThenon, and a number oT oTher renowned examples oT Greek archiTecTure. In l687, during The war beTween The Turks and The VeneTians, a shell exploded some gunpowder sTored There, and blew iT To ruin. aTTer iT had sTood inTacT Tor over Two Thousand years. ln AThens iTselT There are a number of museums housing various works oT arT and sculpTure Tound in The excavaTion of The ruins. AThens and Pireaus sTand side by sicle, and While visiTing one The oTher always looked Te-mpTing. On visiTs To Greece liberTy was always enioyed. Birdseye view of AThens Roman clominaTion. A

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Wonder whai if says? Hugh and mlghiy The Acropolis e Parfhenon Pireaus Time ou'l' for a picfure