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 | Joined | May 31st 2011 | Trips | 0 |
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Brilliant maneuvers!
You stayed and ate outside the city, and had a drink in a small plaza, not in St. Mark's--excellent. I stayed in a convent over on Guidecca Island (20 of us in a huge,open room hung with massive crucifixes, where novice nuns would have slept for years--yikes; 2 weeks was enough for me) and illegally took a ferry in daily. Fortunately, I paid for Murano and the other islands because that was the only time anyone checked. Brilliant to have saved pricey, fabulous Italy and Western Europe for last. You'll get back home and think the prices reasonable.