Malta

The view as we approached Valletta, the capital of Malta. Off the southern tip of Italy, Malta has been conquered many times -- thus the strong fortifications you see in the picture. The Knights of St. John settled there in 1530 upon invitation by the Spanish Emperor Charles V and held out against the Ottomans in the Great Siege of 1565.

Piles of Rocks, Vast Seas, and Naked Men!

May 3rd 2007
We’ve been in Greece and Italy since we posted our last entry. We started this leg of our journey with a visit to our friends, the Heards, in Athens. Lana took us to the Acropolis and we saw the Parthenon in all its glory. After spending a couple of very relaxing days with the Heards, we boarded our cruise ship, the Oceania Insignia, for an 11 day cruise of the Mediterranean. On the cruise we st ... read more

Europe » Italy » Lombardy » Lake Como

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

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