Monte Cassino
As we drove down the highway toward Naples I saw this huge impressive building atop a mountain. In the back of my mind I recalled reading about the prolonged World War II battle for the monastery called Monte Cassino somewhere in Italy. I assumed it was up north near the Dolomites, but just then Jurgen took the mike and drew our attention to "Monte Cassino on our left". It did have a commanding presence in the area but I couldn't understand why this garrison held up the entire Allied advance through Italy. Another note to myself - read further about the Monte Cassino campaign.
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 establis... ... read more 
