Roanoke (CL 145) - Naval Cruise Book

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about it of a modern, prosperous city. Down its narrower streets lined with shops ranging from notion shops to the more exclusive leatherfgoods and fur shops we found no dirt or other indications of a poorly administrated City of the 20th century. The many city squares or piazzas were widefspread, well'paved, clean and, at their center, planted with colorful flowers. Here, we thought, was a city, a proper city as the English would say. From the Broadway of Genoa, Via XX Settembre, to the skyscraper dining room in a setting much like the Top Of the Mark, the 1400 and more men of the Roanoke took a look and liked it. Being a city of merchants and business, Genoa is not the great city for sightseeing that, for instance, Rome is. But worthwhile sights are to be found, and in the nine days during which the Roanoke lay at her Mediterranean moor most men who went ashore at all saw Columbus's birthplace, the magnificent and world'renoWned Staglieno Cemetery, the Piazza Della Vittoria, and the Riviera town of Rappollo. These were the sights to be seen, along with the art museums and ancient homes of nobility, hours were spent in browsing until the sun hit the yardarm and the familiar Roanoke haunts began to fill up-the New York, Texas, Scandinavia, or lppo Campo. Our big hope as we went through the days of our stay in Genoa was that Italians visiting America would hnd Americans as warm and friendly to their foreign guests as the Genoese were to us. Une sailor described our stay in Genoa rather tersely, on a post card to his family back in North Carolina, Am line. Will write. Genoa very continental. Awfully busy. Having fun. Broke. Take care. Love, Davief' Christopher Columbus and Kilroy lived kara 37 it A... I.. 'Fx v t + ws 4. w

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LIRE TO DRACHMAE TO LIRE By the time We reached Genoa We had become somewhat accustomed to what has aptly been described as our role of governmentfsponsorecl tourist, and We were becoming more critical in the things We Went to see, the things We ate and drank and the things for which we spent our hard cash. We Were hack to the land of the lira from the land of the drachma. We had gone through the 15000 to l phase and now were again on the 625 to l level. No one Was going to fool us this time. The Sicilian proving ground had made us smart. Genoa Was different than anything We'd seen, Here the streets Were clean, and the city had a look I p t ,,ff. yyyay i 4 n Um ' 1 R-Q + - 9.525 lnspection of personnel in Genoa, ltaly, has its sobering effects

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Their attcry was tempting, You so gudc looking, -loc. Mc taka' pictnrc, no? Payday Payday! You fleeing, false sense of security! You mad instigator of rolling bones, bleeding ulcers, Tfzone hack, and straight flushes! April 1, 1950- Payday on the Roanoke in Genoa, ltaly. Now when a ship has a payday, wherever that ship is, the city is going to notice it. Philadelphia and Norfolk knew when the Roanoke paid, and Genoa knew it. Gn March 31st every last man was broke. On April lst their wallets were full-well, at least half full. And so, as would be true any' where, the city of Genoa lighted up on payday, for news of the Roanokfs financial bonanza spread through the city with great speed. lt almost seemed as we went through the gates of the pier that the whole western coast of Italy was alerted, for many more businessmen were gathered in the streets offering their cameos, P. Arker pens, watches, Frenchy pictures or plans for a night of whoopee. It was great stuff for a while, and we felt more like big important people that night than we'd ever felt before. For as the gates opened and the guards poised their rifles to allow the vanguard through from the Roanoke, cheers were heard from the side- line, Vive Americanosl Vive Americanosln We felt for a while like Lindburgh stepping out of his Spirit of Saint Louis. That night in Genoa the Marshall Plan, E.G.A. and American -Aid to Italy were ably supplemented by another lucrative pro- gram-the Roanoke Plan. Nearly three months in the Mediterranean had enabled us to develop effective counterfmeasures that we had not had upon our arrival in January, however, and by now we could say No with the peculiar little sound that means an emphatic no to all Europeans. So it was that while some of our weaker companions were intimidated as they walked out the gate, others of us were able to successfully push our way through the admiring crowd and, with the exception of a stubborn hangerfon or two, get on to less crowded parts of the city. Breaking out a map of Genoa, we decided to walk up towards the center of the city to the Piazza De Ferrari, then over to the house where Columbus was born. But our constructive plans for sightseeing were altered when we saw another group of men set up for business down the street just ahead of us. So we left the Via XX Settembre, turned down into a narrow, crooked side street of tobacco shops, stores and linen shops and found what we thought l would be our refuge, a small bar hidden almost out , of sight. g The sound of the door slamming behind us echoed l loudly throughout the small, oak paneled room. We 5 sat down at a large round table at the back, where we could not be seen through the front window. There were no other customers, waiters or bar' tenders in the cool, quiet room. Safe at last, WC , thought, in an outfoffthefway bistro, where tourists l, probably never enter. lg I think we all need a cold beer after that chase. l' Beer in a place like this? Don't be foolish, they've probably never heard of cold beer here. Yeah, this is strictly native. We'd better order cognac or some other Italian drink. Vermoutll, maybe. n 1238 I 1