N.Z. CLUB IN ROME

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 149, 26 June 1944, Page 3

N.Z. CLUB IN ROME

LUXURIOUS QUARTERS

(Official War Correspondent, N.Z.E.F.)

ROME, June 24.

"Just the best yet" is the general verdict on the New Zealand Forces Club now in operation in Rome. Every day truckloads of men come into [the heart of the Eternal City, and find the New Zealand flag flying over what was until a few days ago one of the three best hotels in Rome, the Albergo Quirinale. It is situated in the Via Nazionale, in the centre of the modern I city. From its doorway one can look down towards the gleaming white memorial to Victor Emmanuel 11, the famous Piazza Venezia, once the scene of so many Fascist triumphs, > and Trajan's Forum. The impressive structure is built around a broad courtyard framed with balconies. The din-ing-room for "other ranks" has its entrance through a sumptuously-furnished lounge, in which an sitalian orchestra plays modern and traditional tunes. Nearby is the officers' dining-room and lounge, and also lounges for nurses and V.A.D.s. Well-stocked bars and a barber's shop and canteen complete the facilities on the ground floor. The rest of the hotel is on a similar scale of luxury- The club is under the management of Captain C. Gatenby, and recently Lady Freyberg and some of the New Zealand girls from Bari arrived to take up -their duties. At present overnight accommodation is possible by order of the Rome command for officers and nurses only, but everything possible is being done for the entertainment of the troops. Excellent meals are being provided at the lowest possible cost, and there are speciallyconducted tours of Rome. Yesterday New Zealanders visited the Vatican and were shown round St. Peter's by guides who included the New Zealander Father Flanagan. Afterwards they attended an audience of Pope Pius XII.