Oriskany (CV 34) - Naval Cruise Book

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ff f , . . through North Italy to the Alpine border Q TXT-T T- fili' S ' ffff X Then Milan, the biggest city in ltaly. As in the village, the cathedral dominated everything. Every pinnacle, and ll Duomo had hundreds, was a sculptors gallery. To see them all up close. tourists were permitted to climb all over the roof and EJ the towers. Not visible from the street was a Coca-Cola stand for thirsty visitors high above the ground. lnside, the church was different. Instead of white marble and blinding sunlight, there was darkness, candlelight, shots of purple and red and gold splashing the lloor from the stained-glass windows, and huge vaulted ceilings almost disappear- ing overhead. A few kilometers north, the Alps began. In the mountains, lakes filled most of the valleys. The town of Como nestled between peaks at the end of one lake. From the top of a funicular, sailors could look through the mists to Switzerland and other lakes and peaks. With permission from Swiss authorities hundreds of miles away in Berne, the capital, Oriskany sailors were passed across the border at Chiasso. There the men mailed postcards and ate Suisse chocolate and drank Schweiz beer. Strangely enough, not one man remembered to taste the cheese. An hour later, they recrossed the border, contented and world travelers. Il Duomo, the gorgeous cathedral on Milan's city square. Window ghoppers see some of the world's finest watches- Ornafe cathedral of the C0Yfl1USlU ' 00 lf5 neo' Pavin- Eyes across the border. Sailors see Switzerland from o mountaintop near Como ln the cloisfer garden of the cathedral al Puvlfi-

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T,S EASY to get around Italy by railroad but officers and men learned more when traveling by bus. The 4'Milan Tour tipped the men off on that. They stopped at the village of Serravalle Scrivia for a beer and a ham sandwichg at Pavia for a quick walk through the famous 14-th-Century Certosa, a Carthusian cathedral of black and white marbleg in Milan overnightg then to Lake Como in the ltalian Alpsg and, a feather in every man's cap, across the border into Switzerland. The village was a country crossroads, with farmers stalling their oxen in back- street barns and with two or three clean grocery stores. Centuries before, life had been the same: the main via paved with cobblestone and the side streets bare earthg doors opening directly on the highway without steps or sidewalksg children barefoot for summerg old ladies leaning out of windows and old men smoking in the sung a Padre vigorously making his parish callsg the church dominating the landscape. The two-lane highway itself fascinated sailors. Called an Autostrade and charg- ing tolls, the road first wound up and over the Apennines. Retaining walls pre- vented rock slides. Most of the walls carried rows of big black-painted squares. If the paint had been weathered, letters were visible under the black. These had been slogans of the Mussolini regime, now out of fashion. Sailors could make out some words: uDuce! Duce! and, translated, 'lYouth, Iron and Work for the Fatherlandfl Beyond the Apennines, the Autostrade straightened out in the valley of the Po River. Kilometers clipped past, much faster than miles. Then the Po itself, a shallow muddy stream unfit for navigation. At Pavia, New Englanders remembered the covered wooden bridges of Vermont and New Hampshire. Paviais covered bridge was brick and stone. The Carthusian cathedral outside Pavia had been practically taken over by the government as a national monument but religious services were still held inside. The church contained world-famous paintings on canvas and on plaster. ln a shop on the grounds, world-famous liqueurs produced by the Carthusian monks were on sale. The Arcade at Milan, roofed by a fretwork of glass and steel, houses shops and sidewalk cafes. Sailors waited two hours to cross the halo-Swiss border. At Como, sailors might have saved 200 Iire by walking up 2350 -H. My Brunafe. .

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EIE 1 1 E - V ,M , 4 gov , ,, 4 a . N THE main street of Venice early last September, an Oriskany sailor stepped off the curb to climb into a local taxi. His foot slipped and he fell into water over his head. Thatas what distinguishes Venice from every other city in the world. Taxpayers never have paid for paving their main street, the Grand Canal. A visitor could get around town in only two ways: by boat and on foot. Rails ended at the station west of the city. Automo- biles parked in a garage near the station. But still it was easy to get around. Local taxis? They were high-powered gondolas. Busses were ferry- boatsg private limousines were speedboats, and trucks open launches. Early in the morning, launches crowded around the railroad yard and truck terminal to load up with fresh vegetables and canned go0dS for grocery stores. Around ten o'clock, housewives rode ferries down- town to do daily shopping. At sunset, gondoliers bent their oars and sang Italian arias for sentimental couples, not usually going ally- where in particular but just wanting to be alone under a canopy be' neath the moon. In addition to the city,s 150 canals, there were innumerable wind- ing lanes passing over 378 little bridges. Some lanes were Wide enough to ride a bicycle without scraping the buildings on either side but walking was better. At almost every bridge, a bike rider would have to dismount and climb the steps. The Rialto, Venice's most famous bridge, rose more than 32 steps above the water. Luxury shops and restaurants lined both sides of the main walkS downtown. Store windows around the Piazza San Marco displayed Hue Venetian glass, Bronzini neckties and belts, silver and gold jewel- ry and rare gems, and handmade laces. After shopping and Sight' Seeinga OfiSkany officers and men drank aperitifs and black coffee at tables in the square. UPPGI'-From their Lido Hotel, named after Shakespoc-nre's 'fill' MOOY, Oriskuny sailors sforl on o sigh!-seeing tour. Lower-Condemned men once walked across the Bridge of sinh' from the Doges' court Oo the old prison ai rlgllf. . -