CLUB IN FLORENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25673, 23 October 1944, Page 4

CLUB IN FLORENCE

NEW ZEALAND FORCES ESTABLISHED IN LEADING HOTEL (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) (Rec. 7 p.m.) FLORENCE, Oct. 21. Right in the heart of Florence there has been established in what was one of the best of the city’s hotels, a club for New Zealanders where our men can enjoy something approaching a pre-war standard of living. A stay there costs them Is 6d a day. Never have the New Zealanders been so appreciative of anything provided for their comfort on leave, and comfort there is in plenty. The original hotel staff is employed, and for the period of their leave there is little to remind the men that just over the hills a war is being fought. The attractions of Florence do not need description, and New Zealand men and women are given every chance to see them through arranged tours. Much of the city they can see for themselves without guides, as the club is conveniently situated. At the club men can have laundering dqne, and, what is more, some mending done. Entertainment is provided daily, much of it by the original hotel orchestra, and there have been several appearances of Italian artists of some note. Recently the Kiwi Concert Party was the chief attraction. The service and accommodation have been reserved mostly for “ other ranks,” but there is a small section set apart for officers. Considerable foresight was shown by the New Zealand authorities who decided to take over the hotel, and had made the preliminary arrangements in a matter of only a few hours after Florence had fallen.