ItalyUpdate

<p class="Standard" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" mangal;&#39;="" 11pt;="" "arial","sans-serif";=""><o:p><img style="height: 155px;" src="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4912344200250085&pid=1.7&w=131&h=155&c=7&rs=1"></o:p></span></p><p class="Standard" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" mangal;&#39;="" 11pt;="" "arial","sans-serif";=""><o:p></o:p></span> </p> <p class="Standard" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" mangal;&#39;="" 11pt;="" "arial","sans-serif";="">A plan to transform the 300 kms of waterways traversing the Agro Pontina (the plain south of Rome<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>which was malaria-ridden swamp-land until it was drained by Mussolini in the 1930s) into a tourist attraction is under study at the Lazio regional government offices.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Standard" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" mangal;&#39;="" 11pt;="" "arial","sans-serif";="">The first experimental trips in electric-powered boats, launched on the 24 July 2013, involves the 30 kms from the celebrated Gardens of Ninfa to the Lake of Fogliano but organizers hope to extend navigation over the entire the network of canals, including the main Mussolini Canal (known now as the “High Water Canal”) and the rivers Cavata and Ufente. The area offers both scenic beauty and an unspoiled environment full of bird life.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Standard" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" mangal;&#39;="" 11pt;="" "arial","sans-serif";="">The project has been promoted by writer Antonio Pennacchi, whose book “Canale Mussolini” won the 2010 <i>Premio</i> <i>Strega,</i> Italy's most prestigious literature prize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>