Roanoke (CL 145) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 51 text:

Greek thiltlrzn wait for their itcftraam .intl :aka ui Roanoke niesslialls came a male choir singing with deep religious fervor, their voices echoing through the quiet streets as they poured forth the traditional funeral music of the Church. During all this in the streets of Athens, a con' stant procession of Christians was wending its way with lighted candles up the Hill of Likkabettos, highest spot in Athens, to the church that sits high upon its pinnacle. Up the winding path they climbed, making a snaky line of hre visible to the entire city below. Thus we were privileged to view a Greek ob' servance that, strange to most of us, left us with the feeling that we had witnessed something extremely worthwhile, It gave us a good feeling. We liked the Greeks after that night, as we had perhaps not liked them before. A phenomenon of all Europe is the driver who depends on a wild use of his horn to get him through any and all tight spots, and no where was a better demonstration of this fast, hornfblowing technique provided for us than on our trip to Corinth. Never have we had such a ride, and never do we hope to have another like it. The driver of our bus either didn't trust his brakes or didn't know where they were located. He did trust his horn. There was nothing, he felt, that his horn couldn't move or scare, so we made the harrowing sixtyfmile trip at 45ir fd P- ,fp- ss p A, ,ei JI? I Playing Santa Clausn to the Grcclc war orphans was fun

Page 50 text:

Natives pose for us alnring annual celebration in tlicir village ncar Athens Back to Athens, and this time we viewed with a great deal of awe and respect, the Good Friday and Easter observance. Arriving in Piraeus on Good Friday afternoon, we found everything closed up tight, and upon inquiry we learned that a general fast period was in effect from Maundy Thursday night until Easter Sunday morning. That night wg went to Constitution Square in Athens to view the Good Friday procession from the Cathedral, a pro- cession that commemorates the bearing of the body of Christ to the tomb. In all Greek Grthodox churches, a Good Friday evening service is held, followed by the procession through the streets at nine o'clock. The Cathedral procession was im' pressive because of its size and because of its quite evidently being a religious procession, not a parade. While thousands of people lined Constitution Square and the surrounding streets, every last one holding a lighted candle, components of all military and city organizations walked by to the slow cadence of two excellent bands. At the center of the procession, following the archbishop and other priests of the Cathedral, marched a band of pallbearers carrying on their shoulders a simple casket, and, as the casket passed by, hats were removed, heads were bowed and the sign of the Cross was made. Then Sliipls offccrs rest at Gu5's after wild has trip to Corinth 'Q vi 1244

Page 52 text:

Rear Admiral Carson receives local dignitaries aboard in Salonilea, Greece fifty miles an hour over narrow, clillfhanging roads riding on the horn. Frequently Popolopus would turn his head around, smiling proudly, to see if we were duly impressed with his power over his rasping horn. Entering into the spirit of the countryside, we pleaded earnestly with the local god Zeus to deliver us from this hotfrod Greek. Being outfofftowners, our prayers were answered considerably sooner than Popolopus would have liked, when finally the steam' ing bus coasted a few blocks past the ship to a miraculous Halt. It was then that Popo removed his hand reluctantly from the groaning horn. And .Q wx .M-rtsif QYQXQ ssft.Nzby.s . . zssgi, sg N-Nagel: as we filed wearily out of the death comet, he said, still smiling proudly, You lika', no? He would have been jailed long ago for reckless driving had he been a driver on the Indianapolis Speedway. Salonika, the ancient home of Phillip of Mace' donia, is located near the northern border of Greece, where Greece joins Yugoslavia, Albania and Bul' garia, and it was our next port of call. All was quiet when the Roanolee arrived there, although guerrilla warfare had ceased in the surrounding hills only a few months before. We were unable to visit the nearby Voice of America relay station, but we learned that it is the nearest transmitter of the Voice to Moscow, and transmits daily through the Iron Curtain to the Balkan countries and Russia. Here at Salonika we had to be content with the knowledge that we were making a diplomatic call, for there was little entertainment other than a few highfpriced pseudofnightclubs, and little sightseeing. An interesting sight that some of us saw was the remarkable American Farm School, founded a number of years ago by a Presbyterian mission' ary, which trains young Greeks in modern farm methods and itself maintains a model farin. It was the one place in all Europe where we were able to get a drink of fresh, cold, pasteurized milk. After tlie trip from Salonilca, our fleet landing in Naples-witli a battalion of guides waiting lieliind column at left Q46