Every year, Croatia relies heavily on its sun-kissed Adriatic coast to draw Italian tourists, who make the short journey through Slovenia to the Balkan holiday resorts such as Split and Dubrovnik.

CNN: Croatia PM: We need Italy to recover

The journey of the Olympic flame northward along the Italian boot has not been smooth.

NPR: Venezuela Copes with Crumbling Infrastructure

Our journey would take us northwest, through the Italian lakes and into the mountains for our Stelvio rendezvous.

BBC: Cruising around northern Italy

His grandfather had been Italian, and Mr De Tomaso decided to make the return journey.

ECONOMIST: Alejandro De Tomaso | The

"After years of Silvio Berlusconi, voters need a rest, " says Beppe Severigni, an Italian journalist who spoke to CNN during an 11-day train journey across the country to gauge voters' moods ahead of the election.

CNN: Can the anti-Berlusconi pull Italy out of the mire?

They later told rescuers that 29 others had set off with them on the 300km (185 mile) journey from al-Zuwara on the Libyan coast to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

ECONOMIST: Illegal immigration to Italy