Columbus (CA 74) - Naval Cruise Book

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hough our TirsT Trip To Naples was brieT There was suTTlcenT Time To learn a llTTle abouT The cuTy Perhaps The TlrsT Thing ThaT impressed The TeeT guards The Bay of Napoli Conversely The nexT Impression came Trom The dozens OT peddlers ThaT swarmed around The lcberTy parTy as They wenT ashore TLY crew was The Towering maiesTy oT MT. Vesuvius. lTs cloud-capped 4,000 P 9 Naples was Tounded by The Greeks buT aTTer an earThqualce shoolc IT, and halT The clTy slid lnTo The sea, The Romans moved in and Took over, The porT iTselT is second only To Genoa in imporTance, and was The base OT major lTalian warships during The lasT war. Many of The ciTy's aTTracTions were desTroyed or damaged by The war, buT There are sTill many poinTs of inTeresT Tor The shuTTerbug. There are abouT 300 churches and Chapels, The mosT beauTiTul being The CaThedral oT ST. Jan- arius The paTron sainT OT Naples. There are. also a number of Tine museums. Three or Tour ancien-T cas- Tles, The Royal Palace, The UniversiTy, The San Carlo Opera l-louse, and The CaTacombs. And oT course no Tour would be com- pleTe wiThouT a sTop aT The cameo TacTory. Add dozens oT clubs and bars. shalce wiTh some Tine IT- alian Tood, and you have anoTher good liberTy porT - even Though mosT OT The Six+h FleeT does hil' iT aT The same Time. On subsequenT sTops- aT Naples, Tours were con- ducTed To Rome, buT There are a number oT inTeresTing places buT a shorT disTance Trom The ciTy. The summer resorT oT SorrenTo lies abouT ThirTy miles souTheasT of Naples and The Island oT Capri, abouT TwenTy miles souThwesT. IT was on Capri ThaT Caesar spenT The lasT years of his liTe. The mosT ouTsTanding aTTracTion of Capri is OT course, iTs caves - The mosT Tamous being The Blue GroTTo. lT derives iTs name Trorn The eTl:ecT OT The sunlighT which TilTers inTo The cavern and TinTs The waTer and walls a pale blue. AnoTher Tamous spoT Ts The ancienT ciTy of Pompei, which lies aT The TooT oT MT. Vesuvius. IT is one oT Tive ciTies buried when Vesuvius erupTecl in 79 AD. ExcavaTion oT The ciTy began in

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TRIE TE SiTuaTed aT The head oT The Gulf oT TriesTe, on The lsTrian Peninsula, aT The norTh end of The AdriaTic Sea, The ciTy oT TriesTe rises picTuresquely Trom The waTer in an amphiTheaTre Tormed by The sloping escarpmenTs oT The KorsT PlaTeau. The old secTion oT The Town wiTh iTs CasTle oT San GiusTo, sTands upon The hills and has iTs old crooked sTreeTs carrying memo- ries oT The pasT cenTuries which daTe back ' as early as T78 B.C. The new Town con- necTed by The broad and beauTiTul Via del Corso, The busiesT sTreeT, is modern in every respecT and conTains many popu- lar shopping places and resTauranTs. ' MosT Typical as a seaporT, TriesTe has 3 hosTed more Than 34,350 ships annually wiTh imporTs such as coal, coTTee, and Tobacco. Good wine, TruiT and olive oil are The mosT imporTanT naTurai producTs. 'i A few of The many visiTors received in Triesfe The people OT The world know much oT TriesTe because oT iTs sTraTegic locale and imporTance in World T War ll and iT is good To see The ciTy arising Trom some OT iTs ashes oT war To become once again an enTerprising ciTy oT lTaiy. WiThin The porT were The remains oT many sinkings, yeT mosT oT The wreckage is being cleared away rapidly and by now probably is compleTe. The U.S. Army mainTains large warehousing esTablishmenTs cared Tor by The QuarTermasTer Corps, as well as ample airsTrips and repair TaciliTies. A sTaTion hospiTal oT 200 beds is also mainTained by The Army. PoinTs oT inTeresT in TriesTe include The numerous and very excellenT U.S. Army operaTed esTablishmenTs. The besT club, by Tar, was The Hangar Club which provided spacious gymnasium, reTreshmenT sTand, indoor recre- aTional TaciliTies, recreaTion rooms and movie area. SighTseeing around The Town included such spoTs as The Miramar CasTle. There is also an old Roman arch called The l Arch di Riccardo, named aTTer Richard, The Lion-l-learTed. in The spoT where The king, allegedly, was imprisoned while reTurn- ing Trom one oT The Crusades. The San GuisTo CasTle conTained some inTeresTing relics. Inhabi+anTs OT The ciTy number some 238,000. il li .,fff3:,,f

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l748, and now mosf of fhe cify has been uncovered. Many of us will remember February l95l and our few days of shore dufy . Liberfy boafs on fhe 4fh found if rough going because of high seas and sfrong winds, and fhaf nighf when fhe men refurned fo fhe landing, fhey found fhaf boafs fo all fhe ships oufside fhe brealcwafer had been cancelled. Hours passed and fhe weafher grew sfeadily worse. and finally fhe word came fo load fhe men onfo buses and disfribufe fhem amongsf fhe various hofels in Naples. Nafurally fhere were foo many men for +he limifed space available, and a frip fhrough fhe hofels fhaf nighf found sailors sleeping in fhe lobbies, on fhe sfairs. in fhe halls and iammed by fhe dozens in rooms. There were also a few opfimisfic souls who slepf in some box cars af fhe landing. There were sfill no boafs fhe nexf morning. and iusf abouf everyone headed for fhe Seamen's Club, and a hof cup of coffee. Around noon fhey were herded back fo fhe landing, and fhose whose ships had come inside fhe breakwafer refurned. COLUM- BUS men were spread abouf fhe various ships, fo waif unfil fhe morning of fhe 7+h when liberfy boafs resumed schedule. We gof aboard iusf in fime fo load sfores - oh well, be if ever so humble There is no place lilce home . Waferfronf Pigna+oro Maggcre Caserfa Parade in Naples