Piazza della Signoria

Florence

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May 30th 2006
Visiting Florence was a lesson in one of the laws of traveling: it's often the people you're with that determine whether you like a place and not the place itself. I visited Florence when I backpacked Europe in 1999, but I wasn't that impressed. It was congested and packed with aggressive scooters that made me fear for my life when I crossed the street, and after seeing Michelangelo's statue of Da ... read more

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Florence

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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