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.
July 10th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania Catania Continued...And the last of Rome!
The next day, Saturday, Jenn and I went to Museo dello Sbarco. This is a museum about the U.S. invasion in Sicily during WW2. This museum was very expans ... [full story]
June 19th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania Catania
Sooo thursday morning was crazzzzzzzzzzy!!! I woke up early to catch my flight to Catania from Rome, and I woke up to a text message saying Haley was engaged!!! Crazyness!! Then I got a ... [full story]
May 25th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania I am off to the airport in a few hours for Sicily. I have more things to post, but I do not know when I will have internet access again as the town is a few miles away from our apartments.
Ciao! ... [full story]
April 30th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania Morning all,
i tried to get a new entry on last night, but the net was down here in the hostel. we had another great day yesterday, spending the day up and down and around mount etna, which was an ... [full story]
April 28th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania Hi all,
as requested, im guna describe today as mega, rather than the over used ace. we have had a great day in catania, done loads in the baking sun, lovely. last night was a heavy one, drinking i ... [full story]
April 27th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania Ciao tutti! I am so sorry I am so slack on writing on this travel blog. I remember reading one girls blog who went to Italy a few years ago, and she only had 10 or so blogs. I had said to myself, I ... 11 photos[full story]
April 27th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania hi all,
after a day, which started at half five, of travelling across the island of sicily, we have finally arrived, very tired, at our hostel in catania. it seems pretty good on first inspection, ... [full story]
March 9th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania So by this part of the trip I am kind of into the swing of things. This is pretty much the heart of the trip where there is more time in port and less at sea. We were doing a port every day or every ... 9 photos[full story]
March 15th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania Right this second I am sitting out the balcony of my window, eating an apple, and watching Italian people do what they do on Saturday afternoons. I tend to do this a lot. I watch the woman across apar ... 7 photos[full story]
February 26th 2008Europe » Italy » Sicily » Catania Ciao! Come state? (How are you all doing) I have officially been here 1 month from today. It is a crazy feeling knowing I have only 4 1/2 more months here, yet 4 1/2 more months till I see all of you ... 5 photos[full story]
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