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 21st 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria » Gubbio Die letzten Wochen habe ich mal wieder ordentlich Kilometer abgerissen. Die Vor-WM in Laragne erscheint schon wieder so weit weg, im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes.
Wir fuhren zurück nach Hause. Für mic ... 6 photos[full story]
July 20th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria Well - the only give away to anybody we meet is the very short hair appearing and how skinny I still am, but other than that who would know I had this disease at all. I feel so un believably fit, some ... [full story]
July 20th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria A very lazy Sunday afternoon was spent with Antonello, Barbara, Federico (6) and Ludavica (4), visiting from Rome. It was relaxed spent around the BBQ, the pool and visiting the animals on the farm. T ... [full story]
July 19th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria » Castiglione del Lago A visit to a huge lake, just down from Castiglione del Lago. The guide book had recommended a particular restaurant in town for a local traditional dish of white bean stew and the carp caught in the l ... [full story]
July 19th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria » Assisi Heres some pics from Assisi. If you ever plan to go there, dont stay more than a day. The town is very beautiful, theres just not much to see. ... 13 photos[full story]
July 17th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria So Bruno our farmer and super-equestrian saddled up his horse and cart, and took us down the hill and around the village on the horse and cart with “Lillie”. 900kilos of horse, which at th ... [full story]
July 16th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria » Perugia What a bit of luck; its Jazz week festival time, and we are in town. So after a leisurely morning by our pool, we headed into the capital of this region. First stop was for the kids, during normal sie ... [full story]
July 14th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria » Orvieto A hillside and we mean hilltop really, town in Umbria. A vernacular took you to the top of town, but we drove right into the centre in front of the cathedral. It was what you would imagine, four or fi ... [full story]
July 17th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria Down from the mountains, through the plains of Tuscany and then up to the hills of Umbria. The terracotta roof tiles, the olive trees and the endless sun flower fields were incredibly. The temperature ... [full story]
June 20th 2008Europe » Italy » Umbria » Orvieto We woke up super-early to catch a train, which we had to transfer in a lil' place called Terontola-Cortona... where we met FOG and COLD! I was freezing on the platform as we waited... but I made it a ... 35 photos[full story]
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