Roanoke (CL 145) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 36 text:

Jw ,X . , .4 . KZVM , 1 -Jvmwaqn. K 'mmf .W w-awww W..-.....M, ATHENS The Aclmiralls liarge speeds smartly hack to the ship in Athens, Greece splendor. A vivid imagination was necessary on the tour of Ephesus. At last We were to see a city that should offer a great deal in the Way of good liberty and good sightseeing-Athens, Greece. When we dropped the hook in Phaleron Bay, the outer harbor of Athens, the American Express man Was Waiting for us at the dock, his face all smiles as he pointed out that here was the place to see the good ruins, ruins with character, ruins With real history. We said We'd buy that, and took his tour of the city of Athens and Went with him across the peninsula to the city of Corinth. Located near the center of the city, the Parthenon atop the Acropolis thigh hillb, takes a commanding view, and climaxed the daily tours of Athens. Qur Greek guide, frequently losing himself while de' Roanoke plan in the policyfmalcing stage Lihertvfpiirty rushing ashore in Athens-with over 1,000,000 drachmas between them

Page 35 text:

It was at Izmir that a committee of hardfworlcing and gracious American ladies opened a canteen for the sailors of the four ships there at the time, at the Izmir Palace Hotel. Free sandwiches, cake, pie and soft drinks were dispensed, beer was sold at cost, and music for dancing was provided by the band of Cruiser Division Two. It proved a popular spot, and coming two months after leaving Philadelphia, what a treat it was to talk to real American girls and women, and to find American hospitality dispensed as freely as at the USO at home. Cut friend, the American Express agent, had a tour for us from Izmir to the site of the ancient city of Ephesus, a twofhour bus trip over roads that were certainly no superfhighway. Une of the seven ancient wonders of the world was located at Ephesus, but now, as we found to be the case with so many places known to students of ancient history, only the crumbled stone remains where once there was rich alllffl -4'.' fm- 9 lil qu.- Curtain time for native floor show in Izmir, Turkey Famous ruins of Eplicsus-vivid imagination absolutely necessary I 'X .lvl in-in 'ls X? Rllxl tim in Turlty

Page 37 text:

scribing with great pride the days of Helen of Troy, was even more emotionally dramatic than our Sicilian and Cyprian guides had been, but we decided he dial have more to Work With. Again it was a thrill to stand at places that had only been names in a book to us before. The spell of ancient Greece was well woven about us as we descended from the Acropolis, but, in Athens as happens so often in our own country, the spell of history was soon broken by irreverent hawkers selling plaster facsimiles of the Parthenon, post cards and American type ice cream. We thought how pleasant it must have been to sail around the Mediterranean with Ulysses before the days of the American tourist. Athens is a modern city today, with streetcars, busses, subways, nylon stockings and daily rush hours, all subtly fused with the beautiful landmarks of its glorious past. At twilight the sidewalks around Constitution Square are crowded with Greeks, interspersed with the many American repre' sentatives of ECA, strolling about engaged in the ancient privilege of arguing politics, pausing oc' casionally at tables on the square for cups of bitter coffee or for a glass of the native drink, Quzo. Since it was expected of us, being Americans, we tried Ouzo, but shortly decided that since we didn't plan to live in Greece we would prefer not to get used to it and quickly reverted to the local beer or Coca'Cola. With little time to practice during our busy Mediterranean cruise, the Roanolcis basketball team played several club teams in Athens, winning the majority of games except much to our chagrin one with a girls team which ran away with them on the basketball court of course We soothed our masculine pride over that one only bv remem beting all the good will we left behind us Costumcd Sentry Uuarls tht tntran to Kina Paul 5 Palate Atlicns The Parthenon tlcrucs mmlt 0 its ar lntt tural magni cfnce rom optical illusion Athens a modern my of strtct tars ruslt hours and nylon stoclcings 3115? C . . , . i f' ff fl f