Lazio Travel Blogs

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Central America Caribbean

Travel Blog » Europe » Italy » Lazio

Lazio Travel Blogs

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.

Italy

Map of Italy

Italy's Flag

Recommended Books:

Hostels in Italy
Latest Lazio Blog Entries
Lazio Photos

By Intrepid Sicilian
September 25th 2008

Rome

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Back At Trevi Fountain

Back In Rome Nine years ago I tossed a coin over my shoulder into Trevi Fountain, as the custom goes to ensure you return back to this amazing city. Well I can honestly say it worked for me. I am once again back in this thriving metroplis, this time for a little longer than the last. Enough at least to appreaciate it's storied past and legendary buildings, from the iconic Colosseum to the medival winding streets of Trastevre, exploring the ruins of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (the once political, religious and social centre of the Roman Empire), it's many [View Full Entry]

By SarahBoo
September 24th 2008

IKES

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

ok people. im here. not to worry, im alive and safe and going insane. lets start with the hotel i booked not existing or something. stupid expedia. but i found, or rather a really nice taxi driver found me hotel thats nice and cheap and now im just flipping out about everything else. like that i donàt speak italian and i cant find anything. im going to paris in the morning. that is if i find the train station today and hopefully alex will be there waiting when i get there. i love you all [View Full Entry]

By the notty travellers
September 24th 2008

Rome 23 Sept

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

a pair of knockers

Rome 23 Septemnber (Sue) I know it has been a while since I have written. This is my pennance for today... and no I didn't beat up the credit card, although it wasn't from lack of trying. It is because we didn't go on our Pompeii trip and therefore lost $200. Let me explain. Last night after our third very full day we were making preparations to get up at 5.45am to get a bus at the bus terminal at 7.30am to go to Pompeii. Pompeii is 3.5hrs away and once there we would have walked for at least 3 hrs [View Full Entry]

By SarahBoo
September 24th 2008

two in one day... arent you lucky

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

same place. different time. i have a list of things that ive done for the first time. all within 2 days!!! 1. take an airplane to a foreign country 2. be in a foreign country 3. take a taxi 4. take a bus for more than 5 minutes in mammoth 5. ride on a subway 6. wander aimlessly trying not to get lost.... at least in a foreign country 7. made a building sad... if you saw my sketch of it youd be sad too. and oh yes..... no matter how cool it is that someone buys you an adapter- convertor [View Full Entry]

By cjclonch04
September 24th 2008

Roman Holiday

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Head in the rock

Though I may not be Audrey Hepburn, I've begun a fabulous Roman holiday! I think this is my favorite in Italy! We hopped on a train this afternoon from Florence and headed to Rome. It took us a while to find our hostel and we walked around for like an hour, then finally realized it was two blocks away from the train station.... thank you taxi driver that refused to drive us. We put our stuff down and headed striaght to the colosseum. SO COOL! I got some awesome pictures, check them out in the gallery. We got there about 6 [View Full Entry]

By the notty travellers
September 23rd 2008

Rome Borghese

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Borghese gardens

Rome - September 21 (Geoff) Today we went exploring again. We knew there was a whole lot to see in our area that we hadn't found yet so we checked a couple of books that are in the apartment, got our bearings and headed out on the town. Mind you this was after a very leisurely start at 10:30 am. We have a tour of the Villa Borghese galleria and gardens this afternoon so we were particularly interested in finding out our bus options - where, when, etc. We think the 116 will see us to our destination this afternoon so [View Full Entry]

By gmvelmer
September 21st 2008

Caravaggio

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Piazza del Popolo

This morning I headed out to the weekly street fair in Trastevere - the one right outside my window. I always feel like Princess Jasmine when I walk through the crowd, it's fun. :) I'm getting a little more comfortable speaking to the vendors about what I'm looking for. I'm not in desperate need of anything right now, but it's still fun to look around. Yesterday morning, I woke up and headed to the Piazza del Popolo (Piazza of the People), to see the Caravaggio paintings in Santa Maria del Popolo. It felt so surreal to be seeing these paintings in [View Full Entry]

By the notty travellers
September 21st 2008

Rome

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Piazza Navona

Rome - September 20 (Geoff) What do you say about Rome? It beggars description - from the apparently chaotic traffic, the hustle and bustle of millions of people in the city to the absolutely imposing buildings of current society and and ruins of civilisations long past. We decided to do a Venice here and see if we could find our way with minimal assistance from maps. We knew if we fell into the Tiber we had gone too far as our explorations today were all in the old city area. So firstly, we went to find a supermarket so that we [View Full Entry]

By the notty travellers
September 20th 2008

Venice to Rome Sept 19

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

the ride we didnt take!

Venice to Rome - September 19 (Geoff) Today we leave Venice. We are not due to get on the train until 2:55 so we have a little time to kill. We ask the girl (Ambre, just like our daughter in law Amber) on the front desk about luggage lockers at the railway station and she kindly offers to mind our luggage for us - what a marvel and thankfully we don't have to drag our suitcases with us through the peak hour human traffic. We head out into the maze of alleys and lanes that is Venice, though this time we [View Full Entry]

By clj1130
September 20th 2008

When in Rome.....

Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Hello from Rome!!! So I arrived in Rome three days ago and absolutely LOVE it here!!! I took a ferry over from Croatia which was pretty cool as well. It was an overnight trip and we got into Italy at 7 a.m. so I woke up and went out on the deck and watched the most GORGEOUS sunrise over the Italian coast. It could not have been more perfect!!! The first day in Rome, I spent at the Vatican city. I walked through all of the museums and got to see the sistine chapel, which I have been waiting for about [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Italy » Lazio