Roanoke (CL 145) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 63 text:

Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamar, is in the city, and is its main tourist attraction. Unlike tourist attrac' tions in many other places visited by tourists, the Casbah has little beauty to offer. The residents of the Casbah are a mixed group, Many of them are Moslems, and these rather resent the horde of tourists who flock through the place ohfing and ahfing at whatever they can poke img, We went through the narrow sidewalkfwide streets of this native quarter on an afternoon when a light drizzle was falling, and we rather felt that appro' riate attire would have called first of all for a air of high rubber boots, a suit belonging preferably P P ro anybody else than ourselves, a battle helmet and, if available, a gas mask. Perhaps only the rain heightened the smell of the Casbah, but then we doubt if the odor of the Street of Meats could possibly have been brought to such heights by just a little rain. All stores are open stalls facing the streets, and where meats were displayed without benefit of refrigera' tion the sights were strong to say the least. Life appeared to be at a low ebb in the Casbah, and its only concession to the modern world appeared to be the existence of electricity. Referred to by many as quaint and exotic, we rather felt that such descriptive words must have come from those whose nearest approach to it had been via the romantic motion picture, Algiers. The city of Algiers, aside from the Casbah, was quite charming indeed in many aspects. Our Amer' ican Express tour took us up to the high hills surrounding the city and its harbor where we could look down on the red roofs. There, back away from the crowded city itself, we found many lovely villas surrounded by colorful gardens and thought to ourselves that here there was at least a measure of the prosperity of our modern world. Back down' town we were able to find excellent shops where we could haggle to a minor degree if we were of a mind to or we could pay the asking price and still feel we were getting about what we'd paid for. From francs to the escudos of Portugal was quite H jump, but we were so delighted with the city of Lisbon that we accepted it without a qualm. By far the most modern city that we were able to visit during our fourfmonth trip away from home, we walked, or rode by taxi or street car, up and down its beautiful boulevards and felt that we could easily be in a city in the United States. Untouched 57a

Page 62 text:

if? Ac1miral's reception Marseille-with music Qin:- -55:56

Page 64 text:

Many sidewalk cafes line the lucautiful laoulcvards ofLisl1on, Portugal Faculty of Medicine building Roanolee personnel crowds stadium to watcli torcadors sling Portuguese lmll Entrance to arena. The laulls are not leilled in Portugal by war, Lisbon presented an appearance that was clean, well'ordered and businessflike. As Gibraltar had been in January, Lisbon was in May the meeting place of the two Fleets, outgoing and incoming, and hence some 20,000 sailors were there to partake of the sights that were to be found. One of the sights that Lisbon offered that was not found anywhere else in our travels was a bull light, staged during our stay there primarily for the United States Navy. ln a colorful review, the finest horses to be seen anywhere were brought into the arena, or ring, and paraded before the hundreds of specta' tors. Then, one after another, the bulls were brought in to charge at the picadors and toreadors, only to go down in defeat after a ballling battle where they never had a chance from the beginning. In Portugal the bulls are not killed, and we were spared the spectacle of the slaughter of helpless animals surrounded by those who fought them for what must appear to the bulls to be no apparent reason. Relieved by the Worcester, sister ship of the Roanoke, on May 15, we weighed our anchor, called a halt to the Roanoke Plan, steamed clown the Tagus River into the broad Atlantic, and headed westward to that magic place called home. As we bade adieu to the lands of cameos, taxi horns, guides and bistros, we half suspected that we would see our old friend, the American Express agent, waiting for us on Pier 5 with tours arranged to Ccean View, Pheobus, East Main Street and other points of interest in the Norfolk area. A . L 1258