Columbus (CA 74) - Naval Cruise Book

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ITALY Enirance +o La Spezia 7he porl of l.aSpezia lies a+ The head of ihe Gulf of Spezia on The Ligurian Coasr, 43 miles easl-soulheasl of Genoa, and 40 miles norlh norlh-wesl of Leghorn. The gulf is large and surrounded by mounlains Before The war of I94-O, l.aSpezia was The largesl llalian Naval Operaling base. and had developed 'lo some exleni' as a commercial porl: Approximaiely 70 percenl of lhe pori' faciliiies were deslroyed by 'rhe Germans, l3u'l' damages are almosl complelely rebuilr. The lown is buill up Through Jrwo valleys and is spli'l' in 'lhe cen'l'er by a ridge-reaching almosl' lo The walerfronl in a norih-souih direclion. To The easl' of 'lhis ridge are The freighl yards, small facrories and workers homes. To lhe wesr is The business clislricr and doclc yards. Because of The war damage and insuliicienl oulside illuminalion l'he Town now has a drab appearance especially al nighr. There are several good reslauranis including Risloranie Mariini and Risroranre Ruffini. Prices ln resfauranis and bars are reasonalole. l.aSpezia iisell has lillle of inleresl, loul Jrhe surrounding counrryside is very beauliful and offers much lo 'lhe sighlseeing shuH'erbug '. The. village of Lerici, 4 miles ro The soulh is an in'l'eresi'ing liH'le place and a popular summer resori. H has an old caslle and good examples of medieval archiieclure. Scenes near K K 'Phe Fleef landing K 11 1 . - A SPEZIA

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Y ZOO smaller ones, iis 20 couris, and iis Il,OOO halls. Chapels. rooms. ancl aparlmenls one can see 'ihe world's granclesi' collec- 'rion of painlings, sculpiures, fapesiries, and relics. Here also is Michelangelo! amazing work on fhe ceiling of The Sisfine Chapel. Raphael's The Transliguralion and Coronaiion of Jrhe Virgin, and ihousancls of worlcs by 'rhe world's greaiesf ariisls. lv1ussolini's residence, Jrhe Palazzo Venecia i'emp+s everyone +0 i'rain his camera on lhe balcony from which Il Duce macle his violeni speeches noi i'oo long ago. Rome is oiien called 'ihe oily of Founfains. and 'ihe lourisi can easily unolersiancl Jrhis afler he has walked several blocks. ancl he sees as many founlains. The largesi and mosf celebraiecl of l'hem is lhe Foniana Di Treni, ancl by Jrradiiion if one of fhem ihrows a penny mio ii' on lhe eve before leaving Jrhe ciiy 'rhen liaie will have him rei'urn wiihin a year. Noi far away is l'he magnificeni lvionumeni +o Vicior Emmanuel ll which Jroolc 26 years +o compleie. The visil i'o ihe l-loly Cily is highlighfecl when Pope Pius granis an audience and The Holy Faiher makes an inspiring speech in very goocl English.

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LI B0 , PORT GAL lisbon The capiTal and largesT ciTy oT PorTugal is siTuaTed magniTicenTly on The norTh bank oT The Tagus River. Few porTs are more beauTiTul as you approach Trom The sea. The cenTer oT acTiviTy in Lisbon iTselT is The ROSSIOJ a greaT cenTral square unTil The l8Th cenTury The scene oT pub- lic execuTions. bull TighTs and all sorTs oT acTiviTy. Today iT is crowded wiTh all kinds oT TraT- Tic, noisy, brighT, animaTed. The wesT side is lined wiTh caTes. You can geT a good view oT The casual liTe oT The ciTy Trom This vanTage poinT. During our Time in Lisbon, sighTseeing Tours were con- ducTed daily To FaTima and Lisbon and environs and many oT The ship's company availed Themselves of Them. These Tours included The Jardin Boranico which is an excellenT example oT a garden-park: iT.will be oT inTeresT chieTlv To Those who care Tor sub-Tropical Tlowers and planTs. The Museum de ArTe AnTiga is a small museum wiTh a good collecTion OT painTings and gold and silver plaTe. The mosT popular oT The Tours was The one To The small vil- lage oT FaTima, where The Blessed Virgin had appeared on Three diTTerenT occasions To Three PorTuguese shepherd children. Those who made The Tour saw The place where The Virgin had appeared and also The beauTiTul church which The blessed Virgin requesTed be builT. IT is now nearing compleTion. AnoTher rnusT on everyones lisT was The bull-TighT which was held on Sunday, Sepjrember 23 in honor oT The U. S. Navy. WiTh iTs pageanT oT color and some oT The besT bull- TighTers Trom Spain and PorTugal iT provided us wiTh one oT The mosT exciTing evenTs we have seen while on This cruise. The souvenir hunTers were ouT as usual and came back wiTh such arTicles as gold and silver plaTed lighTers, Swiss waTches, pure sillc, pure gold. silver, Tilligree. hammered cop- per. corlc ice buclneTs and oTher cork novelTies. Local handi- craTT, Madeira and local embroidery or linen and coTTon. Bargaining was in eTTecT excepT in The principal down- Town shops. ,,