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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.

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By Beebe
November 3rd 2009

Biking on the Ramparts of Lucca Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

On the Ramparts, Lucca

Day 14 Lucca We rented bikes today and rode around on the city walls (4.2 kilometers, and we went around twice...) in the warm sun....the city is very liveable...compact and with many no-car areas. They are beginning to take down the many, many tents that cover each of the plazas, put up for the giant comic/gaming fair over the weekend. Hopefully some will be gone before we leave. After our bike ride we walked around the city, looking at the major sights, wandering the tiny alleys and passages, walking through the old gates, strolling the ramparts, and just savoring this wonderful [View Full Entry]

By Kathy and Andrew
September 8th 2009

His name was Lucca and he lived by the Ghetto Riviera Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

Lucca

August 29, 2009 - Lucca & Viareggio, Italy Today we left Rome and had a long day of driving to get to the northern hilltop town of Lucca just west of Florence. On the way we passed Pisa, which is only famous for the leaning tower. We saw it from the road and decided to pass on a closer look as it was getting late in the day. We parked easily and got our bike out to ride in to town. As we rode into the completely walled village we noticed it was very clean and cute. I feel much more [View Full Entry]

By JimmyBoi2
August 22nd 2009

Prelude to Lucca-- Part One Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

I finally decided to do it-- after 25 years, ritorno in Italia ! That's not bad, this going to Italy every 25 years. At this rate my next trip will occur when I'm 78 years old, and who knows? It may be in a box! (Just kidding; I plan on living past 100 because I want to see if the Democrats achieve a 100% majority in both the House and Senate.) My friend Eugene and I were talking one time about the figurative town of Cazzolungo, in Sicily. In the 1960s the town found itself, thanks to emigration, with a large [View Full Entry]

By JimmyBoi2
August 22nd 2009

Prelude to Lucca-- Part Two: The Shopping Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

Do you like to shop? I don't. I like to go and buy the things I need, checking them off a list as I go along from store to store, not doing any comparison shopping or wielding coupons. I mean, it's not because I'm rich or anything, but I've felt that time is more valuable than anything else-- time is the one thing you can't see, and so I'm loath to squander it. So, to make this as streamlined as possible, I've made a list of all the things I will need to bring to Italy in mid-July, which is cross-referenced [View Full Entry]

By JimmyBoi2
August 22nd 2009

Prelude to Lucca-- Part Three: Mama Drama Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

Okay; I've gone on and on and ON about getting ready for this trip, both here and here. And there was talk of my mother possibly coming along with me for this looming Italian trip-- talk which, in a Northern Italian woman, is spoken silently but nevertheless reverberates along the horsehair-and-plaster walls of her 1912 semi-detached house in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. We'd always spoken about making the crossing together, a trip I know she'd love. After all, Mom hasn't been to see her cousins since 1950. That trip was captured on film, all stored in yellow Kodak boxes and annotated by [View Full Entry]

By JimmyBoi2
August 22nd 2009

A Visit to Lucca-- July 2009 Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

DAY ONE Norma Shearer, playing Elizabeth Barrett, gets all excited when Robert Browning nudges her to come to Italy with him. " Italy... ah, Italy!" she gushes, and rightly so. That's what I felt like doing after a cramped nine hour flight from JFK to Pisa. Don't even get me started about that! Everyone knows that flights from JFK to Orlando are supposed to be cramped, but to Pisa? Who goes to Pisa besides me and Galileo Galilei? The flight was long and tiring, and at one point I almost asked the flight attendant for fresh-squeezed water. But still... I was [View Full Entry]

By Kiwidane
July 29th 2009

Cinque Terre, Pizza and Giro per favore Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

Cinque Terre

"What do you mean we are going on a road trip with your mum and dad?" It is not an understatement to say that Tom was less than impressed at the idea of sharing a very small confined space with me, my mum and dad for two days whilst driving from Denmark to Italy. A 'short trip' by Australian or American standards of only 1,800km. "Come on Tom, it's free and we get to eat lots of German and Austrian food along the way". I am not sure if any of that really convinced him or whether or not it was [View Full Entry]

By Char and Chels
July 14th 2009

Time for a little exploration! Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

Hi Everyone! We now have been on our second farm for a little over a week and are happy to say that things have been going very well in comparision to our last place! We are a little bit tired of getting up at 5:30am in order to throw on some clothes and shovel some cold leftover pasta (our spectaclar breakfast) down our throats before heading out to the vinyards. The work isnt very hard and each new vinyard is differnt and beautiful so there is a change of scenary at least =) Other than that our work days have been [View Full Entry]

By Char and Chels
July 8th 2009

Lucca... our second farm! Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

Ciao a Tutti! We left our first farm last sunday (the 5th) and took a beautiful train ride to a little town in the Tuscany area called Lucca. The train was a great experience and it made for an easy day. When we arrived at the Lucca train station we still could not get in contact with our second farm and had high hopes that they would just be there waiting for us (we had sent emails and called several times...) but we were not so lucky... but with a bit of luck there was an internet cafe open on a [View Full Entry]

By lyck
June 5th 2009

Day twentytwo - Lucca 2nd edition Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Lucca

Back to Lucca

Sov lidt længe i dag for vi skulle egentlig ikke noget i dag. Vi beslutter os dog rimelig hurtigt for at tage til Lucca igen selvom vejrudsigten siger regn og der er også kommet nogle skyer ind der ikke er helt hvide. Vi lejer nogle cykler på campingpladsen som vi smider bagi bilen. På grund af varmen i teltet de sidste dage lader vi døren bagtil stå åben uden overhovedet at tænke på vejrudsigten eller skyerne. På vej begynder det at regne, men stopper heldigvis efter meget få dråber. Vi må bare tørre op når vi kommer hjem hvis det bliver [View Full Entry]

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