Hello from Italy

**Jock Scot** · 26th June 10, 05:40 AM

Welcome, from Inverness-shire.

**dfmacliam** · 26th June 10, 06:37 AM

Hello and welcome from Texas!

**Kiltman** · 26th June 10, 06:42 AM

Welcome from Eastern Washington State USA. Just keep writing in English and we'll understand.

**Mael Coluim** · 26th June 10, 07:28 AM

from the Old Dominion State!

**McClef** · 26th June 10, 11:34 AM

and Benvenuto from South Wales UK!

**odysseios** · 26th June 10, 10:09 PM

Thanks to all of you for your hearty welcome!

**Mike_Oettle** · 27th June 10, 03:39 AM

Hi, Odysseios, and welcome to XMTS from the bottom end of Africa.
Your island has a most interesting history, having belonged to the Carthaginians, then the Romans, then the Arabs. You feature the island’s flag in your profile picture, with its four Moors’ heads – the Aragonese made it part of “their” Kingdom of Sicily for a long time.
Then it passed to the Dukes of Savoy, elevated to Kings of Sardinia, and under that title they made themselves rulers of Italy . . . until 1946.
And of course when Italy threw out its last Duke of Savoy, Sardinia simply remained part of Italy.
I am told that the Sardinians speak a Romance language that is quite different from standard Italian (if there is such a thing as standard Italian), and that in some villages, Catalan is spoken by the descendants of Aragonese soldiers stationed on the island.
Your handle tells me that you are an admirer of that Greek from the Ionian islands who went on a journey around the Adriatic and Tuscan seas. Are you an adventurer of that sort, too?
Regards,
Mike

**odysseios** · 27th June 10, 05:38 AM

Hi Mike,
compliments for the not common Sardinian history knowledge!
About the Arab domination, my island was held for only a century, and the coasts only: at today, you can't find any arab evidence here, differently from Sicily which was ruled for a longer time.
Spanyards instead were here for 400 years, and you can find many spanish words in our romance language too.
The absolute independence was reached only in the High Middle Age, when Sardinia was ruled by four local Kings (Judges).

When i a was a boy i was striked from the italian TV version of the Odyssey: from here the nick in honor of an ancient mediterranean hero, but i'm not a great adventurer.

And about our flag: