Background: Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.
June 16th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento Still no proper update... I'll do that tomorrow.
But I do have a few new pictures up. I skipped ahead a couple weeks and loaded up my hang gliding pictures from Interlaken. I was going to load up ... [full story]
June 2nd 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento Howdy,
Back on webmail again, so no photo's etc. at the moment.
On the home stretch now. Met up with Chris and Rochelle on the way down to Sorrento yesterday, which was fantastic. Staying in a car ... [full story]
May 31st 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento Thursday, May 29
Sorrento/Pompeii, Italy
We decided to visit the ruins of Pompeii today rather than Isle of Capri. Our main interest on the Isle was the Blue Grotto but the tide was high in the mo ... 10 photos[full story]
May 17th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento May 17
May 15, 16, 2008
SORRENTO, Italy
We arrived in Sorrento after a fairly long drive from Orvieto. The road is good and the drive is easy but takes a few hours.
We have spent a few ho ... [full story]
May 19th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento The Amalfi Coast has treated me well the past few days. I have deeply enjoyed the slower pace and breathtaking ocean views these charming coastal towns offer. I made Sorrento my home base and decided ... [full story]
May 16th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento Well, here we are in Sorrento where I am presently sitting in an Internet Cafe that actually serves coffee! Very happy little camper I am.
Getting to Italy proved to be a trial - but I haven't had ... [full story]
April 30th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento Hello Everyone!
I know that is this long over due, however, better to be late than to never post at all. This message shows I am located in Sorrento, Italy. I was there this past weekend and it w ... [full story]
April 28th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento For the first time EVER I am alone. On my own in Italy. I have to say for traveling alone, I spent very little time of it actually alone. Ive met some great people here that I wont forget. I wont forg ... [full story]
April 25th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento Have just realised I've not said anything about these extremely important topics.
First up, the food is fantastic. Needless to say pizza, pasta & gelato are plentiful and major part of our current ... [full story]
April 24th 2008Europe » Italy » Campania » Sorrento Finally, after a few false starts we got to St Peters. Monday the queue was huge, Tuesday morning it was fout times the hugeness. Tuesday afternoon we left our room to try again and I discovered it ... [full story]
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