Travel

Corfu is the most northern island which is part of the Ionian Islands and it has the second size after Cephalonia. Along the years, the island covered in proportion of 80% of the mountains full of forests which go down to the blue waters of the sea, with a population which today has reached about 100 thousand inhabitants, has never known the Turkish domination, which had a decisive influence in its cultural evolution. Although they have participated in the common struggle against the Romans, along with Sparta, Athens and Corinth, they have finally fell under the domination of Rome, like the rest of Greece. Then, they passed successively under the domination of Byzantines, Venetiens, for nearly 4 centuries and for a short time of the Ottomans, after which they were disposed to France in 1797. After a brief period of Russian occupation, they returned to French, from 1807 until 1814, when they passed under the British domination. From 1863 the Ionian Islands were annexed to Greece by the Treaty of London. The first thing you will notice here is the architecture which is typically Venetian for Corfu, the capital of the island, in which live the third part of the inhabitants of the island. The city patronage of St. Spiridon preserved in a large part the venetian specifics. Visiting Corfu today, with its crowded streets, full of shops with souvenirs, with picturesque markets, Esplanada is above them all. It is the most pleasant opportunity to discover its cosmopolitan air.

Corfu offers tourists the chance to enjoy the water and beaches in the region. Here visitors can find anything from a simple tavern up to a magnificent resort rest. Corfu Town includes an extensive area villages, farms and a real flora and fauna. Many come here to enjoy the natural beauty of the island. Over the years, Corfu has won the reputation of being a tourist hot spot among British tourists.

The night life…
Corfu offers a variety of restaurants, bars, nightclubs and attractions which to enjoy during your stay on the island. One of the most interesting places where you should stop is the Old Town, where many streets and buildings awaits you with adventure and emotion. When you get to Liston you will be met by substrings cafes that are safe to allow a proper rest, relaxation before you start a new adventure. In Corfu there are many places waiting to be visited and with which you can become familiar through the discovery of the surroundings. A visit to the Achilleon palace allow tourists to know the Gastouri village. On this cosmopolitan and sophisticated island, you’ll be able to relax and to combine with entertainment and with an intense night life. Corfu is an international tourist centre which meets all the needs of the most difficult visitors. It is an island of incomparable beauty that has inspired many painters, sculptors and even men of letters including Goethe, Oscar Wilde and Lawrence Durrell.

Main attractions…
Paleokastritsa is situated at 26 km west of Corfu town, being a miniature paradise with its crystal waters, luxury vegetation and charming gulfs increasing directly from the sea.
Angelokastro, situated near Paleokastritsa, it’s a Byzantine fortress of the XIIIth century.
Pelekas is situated at 13 km west of the town, a charming village located on a rocky hill, whose peak is the ideal place from which you can watch the sunset.
Kanoni & Mouse Island - at 4 km south of the city, the most popular place of the island. Here a narrow dig leads over the visitor to the Monastery of Vlaherna, where he can take a boat to visit the wonderful Pondikonissi and its church of the XIIIth century.

Gastouri is a picturesque village, the capital of Achillion and the summer palace of Queen Elizabeth of Austria (Sissy). The palace has many gardens, ideal for romantic walks. Part of it hosts a museum.
Aqualand is one of the largest aqua-parks of Europe, built on an area of 700 thousand square meters, with an incredible number of attractions for all ages.
Kalipso Star - a wonderful ride on a boat with bottom of glass where you can admire the rich flora and fauna of the Ionian sea and a special performance of the sea divers.

The Palace of Parliament in Budapest has a building in a grandiose neo-gothic style, now without the red star in the top, designed by Imre Steindl, and built between 1885 and 1904. The building is situated on the right side of the Danube, that is in Pesta. The entrance in the richly decorated building is guarded by two imposing lions, made of stone. In the Doom Room there are the most elegant balls in Budapest and the most sophisticated diplomatic receptions. Although the palace remains the place where the nation law givers work, the building can also be visited by tourists in the company of a guide, when the Parliament is in session. The visit offers an opportunity to admire the gold ceilings, the frescoes on the walls, the elaborate glass windows and the majestic and imposing stairs (which have a total of 22 km inside the building). The central dome’s height reaches 96 m.

The main attraction is the Saint Crown of the nation, made for the first king of Hungary, St. Stephen, in the year 1000. The Crown is the national symbol of Hungary. It was moved from the National Museum and is now resting on a pad of velvet, guarded by two guards in uniform and bearing a sword under, the high dome of Parliament. In addition to its political-administrative importance, you must know that the Parliament is the second largest in Europe, and the third largest Parliament in the world. Today it seems too big for such a small country, but at the time of its construction Hungary formed part of the Habsburg Empire, that stretched from the Tatra Mountains to the Adriatic.

Using the British Parliament as a model for building it, the Palace is made of limestone, a rock easily to erode, which is why you always see a portion of the building surrounded by scaffolds. This means that the old stones are replaced by new ones… all of limestone. At the time it was built, the building needed so much money, that the same amount could be used for building a town for 60,000 people!

Expensive to maintain or not, the Parliament building represents a real architectural jewel or even more than that. Perhaps thanks to the Divinity, during the Second World War, a bomb which fell in the dome of the building has not exploded, while everywhere around Budapest was destroyed everywhere you looked.

Organized Tours in Budapest Parliament…
In English, the tours start at 10 am, 12 am, 13 pm, 14 pm every day

The tour lasts about 50 minutes.For visitors of non-EU countries the tickets cost 2.640 HUF for adults, 1.320 HUF for students. You can pay in cash (in Hungarian forint) on the premises or with credit card.

Citizens of the European Union can visit the parliament free of charge. You have to prove your citizenship with an official document (passport).

The entrance is at gate X. You can collect your ticket here 15 minutes before the tour starts.

Crete is the largest and most southern island of Greece, called “The Island of Miracles”.  The island is considered to be a land of eternity with fine sand beaches, with waters like turquoise, and picturesque landscapes. The charm and the magic attraction of the island is increased by the hospitality and by the warmth of the inhabitants and by the clear water of the sea. You will be charmed by the land of this myths, the place of Zeus’s birth, the paradise that awaits tourists since the beginning of spring until late autumn. The history and natural environment of the Greek islands is very different. It is said that in the past the neighbouring islands were enemies. Ancient Greece was not at all a united state. The first Greek civilization developed on the island of Crete.
The first inhabitants of the island came from Africa in the sixth millennium B.C. In successive phases, people have built state-palaces, the famous center-palace of Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zakros. Though several centuries later, the island was conquered by the Romans and then by the Phoenicians. During the Byzantine era, the welfare of Crete was presented on the mosaic floors of the basilics and over half of churches across Greece. But many others have already put their eyes on all these riches. First, Crete has fallen into the hands of Arabs (in the 9th century) for a century and a half. In this way they founded Handak, today Heraklion. Then in 1204, the island has gone in the hands of the veniciens. They have strengthened the old castles of Handak and built new ones in other cities. They founded new towns (Hania and Rethymno) and have built fortifications necessary to defend them.

The gastronomy…
The Greeks usually use olive oil for cooking, and their favorite meat is the sheep grill. The Greek aperitif contains tomato, cucumber, melon, slices of cheese, olives and various fruits. In the traditional dishes we find the aperitifs,mezedes, made of melitzanosalad - minced eggplants with oil and garlic lemon, taramosalad - the pasta of roes dolmadakia - beef leaves stuffed with meat or rice). The way is moussaka,  hotchpoten, fried meat or fish, including spits made of lamb or pork - souvlaki. The fish and the shells are excellent. Horiatiki is a Greek salad served with the main way and consists of slices of tomato and cucumber, olives and fetta. The Crete specialities are Graviera cheese (which is yellow) and mizithra a white cheese, often served instead of fetta in Greek salad.
The favorite aperitif is ouzo and of wines retsina. The best wines are those from home and can be found in local taverns. Raki is the local fire water, with the aroma of anise, known as tsikoudo, served either plain or with water and ice.

Places to visit…

Chania is the largest city on the coast of the western part of the island. Is worth to visit the buildings for their Turkish and Venetian influences, for the port of cruise ships along which are taverns, terraces, white towers of churches and lengthy paved streets. Chania is a city full of life. You should not miss the markets full of green olives, Greek cheese, lamb, the traditional pastry specialties. Because it was built on the ruins of ancient fortresses Kydonia, one of the most important cities of ancient Crete, many of the vestiges are still visible. The city was captured by the Venetiens in 1252 and under the influence of their state until 1645, leaving behind fortifications, the main meeting place for inhabitants of the pedestrian street of the city and buildings that meet venetian manner. From 1645 Chania was conquered by the Turks, who repared the  walls of the city and transforme all the  churches into  Mosques.
Heraklio is the largest city in Crete and the main access route for tourists. The city is famous for the two main markets, Plateia Venizelou and Plateia Eleftherias. Plateia Venizelou hosts the famous The Lyon’s Fountain, which is also the center of the city and from where you can go towards all the places of interest: markets in the south, the port of north-east. Heraklio is also proud to have the second largest archaeological museum and important after the one in Athens.
Knosos’s palace
It is in the south-east part from Heraklio and it is the largest palace of the minonian period . Around the year 1700 B.C. the existing buildings on this place were destroyed by an earthquake and then rebuilt at a much larger scale, with 1,200 rooms. One of the greatest cities in the period, had around 100,000 inhabitants. To recreate a part of the atmosphere, Sir Arthur Evans, its descoverer, rebuilt a part of the old structure.

Brazil the land of the carnival, the land of sexy girls and joy. When it comes about Brazil many are trying to reduce the diversity of the places to the most know town Rio de Janeiro. Despite the fact that Rio is a wonderful city representative for the Brazilian people and culture you should take in consideration also this 5 amazing places from the country of Samba.

The first attraction is Salvador Bahia the home of the Afro-Brazilian beats. From here the carnival spredead to all the Brazil.Here you will find many of the most brazilian samba music bands like Olodum, Timbalada. The joy for leaving expressed in their songs will bring the rythms of the brazilian to your body and soul. You will see allover the places on the streets bands, dancers of Capuera.The city is mainly a touristic city divided in the new city and the old city.You can pass from one part of the city to another using a huge elevator. Don’t be surprised if everybody is starring at you in the elevator only if you have values with you. It is recommendable to not wear any jewels.

The second attraction, Buzios is a tropical paradise, good food, nice beaches, the perfect place to relax on the beach with a Capirinya in your hand.Capirinya is the traditional cocktail of Brazil made from Casacha(the wisky of brazilians) and lime with canned sugar. Here you can also choose to go fishing to rent a boat or to do sightseeing . You should go to see the statue of Brigitte Bardot, who helped a lot Buzios to become known in the 60’s. Also should visit the Armação Beach to see The fisherman statue, a very original statue placed on the beach in the water of the ocean.

Another attraction is Ilha Bella.This is a very nice place a very select location. Here it’s a must that you have to do scubadiving or at least snorkeling. The bottom of the ocean is fantastic plenty of coral fish.Here also you must eat traditional food at a good restaurant and finish the day at the beach and enjoy an amazing sunset over the land of joy and samba.

When the first celts have dared to adventure in the northern ocean from the end of the earth, they found what they imagined to find and that was probably the island at which they thought it was at the end of the world, inhabited only by birds, foxes and little mice, a land rocked by volcanoes and gheizers , a land covered by icebergs and heated by thermal springs, a land for elfs and trolls. A couple of centuries later, when the vikings spread all over the coasts of Iceland, one of them named Leifur Eiríksson or Leif the Lucky, thought that the end is not here, and he travelled until he discovered America. Redealing into a kind gesture the Pandora myth, he opened the treasure, and he saw what was there and then quickly closed the box. America had not yet been discovered on the record.

In Europe, Iceland is the country less populated, the second largest island, after the UK, and one of the best young pieces of soil, still in training in terms of geology. Although it was once covered by forests, because of the harsh climate, ocean, wind and volcanic frozen soil in Iceland we do not see many trees. Although more trees are planted here than in any other country, the only true forest is Hallormstadaskógur.

Touristically, the island is particularly interesting, offering a spectacle of water and firewood. Despite the isolation, the country has a high standard of living, coupled with very high prices. People are cold and detainees at first glance, but once the tourists broke the ice the inhabitants prove to be very friendly. Ideal is a stay in Reykjavik where week-ends prove to be true source of entertainment for both tourists as well as for the inhabitants.

One of the main things that must be understood about Iceland is how little is the number of the country’s population and how pleasant it could be to live here, for this reason. There is a feeling that, on this isolated island, everybody knows everybody, or at least, everyone is linked with everyone. In other parts of the world, it is said that Iceland is the last virgin wild area of Western Europe because of its beauties. But the truth is that once you pass the paths beaten in low coastal areas, where everyone lives, and you start climbing, there are only few roads and they are all bad, so that the miracle of natural Iceland were inaccessible and unknown even to his own people.

Around the two major tourist cities, Reykjavik and Akureyri, you can make trips to the discovery of many memorable tourist attractions. In cold months, many tourists come to attend the show offered boreal aurora. Among the tourist Attractions there are
Blue Lagoon, famous swimming pool and health centre. It is a geotermal spa located in the middle of a field in Reykjavik city area.
Thingvellir National Park, designated the World Heritage by UNESCO
Gullfoss, the Gold waterfalls, created by Hvita River, 60 miles from Reykjavik
Kerio, the volcanic lake
Geysir, a geotermal point
Myvatn, a lake situated near Akureyri in the north
Skaftafell National Park
Dettifoss - the largest waterfall in Europe.
Icelandic cuisine abounds in lamb meat and fish, cooked in different ways. Hangikjöt, smoked lamb, skyr, hardfisk, pieces of dried fish, served as a snack, butter, hákarl, famous delicacies cubes delight any traditional meals.

Norway, officially called the Kingdom of Norway, is located in the western part of the Scandinavic Peninsula, with the capital Oslo.

Norway, the country of fjords, is an exotic country and at the same time ultra-modern, being a real Monarchy. The country’s towns continue with the suburbs, but are so much lower than other European cities. They have few commercial high buildings and it lacks the pace of life alert which is located in towns with developed industry in other states.

The most characteristic city for Norway is Geiranger. Here the mountain is joins the sea. Also here we find the Norway fjord along which are the waterfalls “The Bride’s Veil” and “The 7 Sisters” (7 waterfalls which are small, one near another). They have their source in the mountain called “The Devil’s Hole”. We can also find here, in Geiranger, the Galsnipa mountain, which can be climbed up to the top. From there you can see, in all its splendor, the view of the city and especially the fjord. Here, tourists have the opportunity to leave a great memory. On the mountain there are a lot of little stones of which you can make some memories, in a place chosen by them. This will remind them later that they went over there. There are a lot of such figurines on the mountain. We can even say that in the top of the mountain met all the civilizations of the world. In Geiranger there is a living legend about the trolls. Nature itself has inspired myths and legends about trolls and other fantastic little animals which lived in isolated mountains and forests of northern wild. Nobody knows exactly, but if there were, or still exists, but Geiranger Norwegians still believe in them and even made some wooden statues.

One of them, very large, is by its imposing size, one of the tourist attractions of the city. In Oslo there is a park with monuments, named Vigelandsparken, where there are over 192 sculptures, summing together 650 human figures - a true people’s park. Amazing is the fact that all statues are made by a single person: the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland. It is a huge park, in which art joins nature and a single day is not enough to visit it from one end to another.
Lillehammer, the city museum
The city centre still bears the imprint of the Nineteenth Century, with great wooden boxes and sinuous little streets. As tourist attractions in Lillehammer there are the Maihaugen museum, the largest open-air museum of Norway, the Flygelet Museum of Art, but also the wood Garmo church, built around 1150.Lillehammer is a perfect destination for ski lovers. There are a lot of tracks in the snow there and you must visit the Olympic Games park.

Rome is the capital of Italy. The foundation of the city is based on numerous crimes, intrigues, or even the kidnaping of young virgins, in order for the fortress to extend its territory and to subdue all its opponents and enemies, and then to conquire the entire world. The legend says that the city was founded by two twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, from which the city draws its name. The city was to become the capital of the Kingdom of Rome, of the Roman Republic, and finally the capital of the Roman Empire. These successes depended on the military conquests, economic domination, as well as selective assimilation of the surrounding civilizations, notably the ancient Greeks and Etruscs. In the year 64 during the reign of Nero a large part of the city was destroyed by fire. The city was rebuilt especially during the reign of Traian, Adrian and Caracalla.
Within the city it is easier to go by walking, because tourist targets are at small distances. There are only two subway lines, but they stop only at important destinations (such as the Vatican). A journey by bus costs only 1 euro.
The best known restaurants in Rome are…
Al Picchio - a minute from Fontanna di Trevi. You should try bruschetta and risotto. A food costs under € 10
Bar Gelateria - although it is called gellateria, you can buy pizza too with only 6 €. You can also hear the water from Trevi fountain.
American Bar - combo-menus, that is a cola and pizza at a 5 € or a sandwich and a cola at 4 €
La Caravella - combo-menus for 11 €, with the wide variety of meals
During the night you can visit…
Trinity College Bar - one of the largest and popular bars, which  becomes the terrace during the summer. It has three floors and a live DJ every evening
Campo dei’Fiori - a market in the western city, with a lot of bars and pubs, including The Drunken Ship, Sloppy Sams and Taverna del Campo
Jonothan’s Angels - an excentric bar , with a unique decor
Parish Testaccio - Rome area best known for its clubs
Rome is a major tourist centre. Among the most famous monuments are the Colosseum and Trajan’s Column. Colosseo, whose name was originally Amphitheater Flavio served during the Roman Empire to shows with gladiators. The construction was started by Vespasiano, but was inaugurated by Tito, in the year 80. The Collosseum is a symbolic building for ancient Rome. Other tourist attractions: Vatican Museum - the most spiritual experience in Rome. Besides St. Peter cathedral and the Sistine Chapel, you must also see the Map Gallery and the Chamber of Imaculate Conception, Fontana di Trevi, the most spectacular fountain of Rome. They say that if you throw a coin over your shoulder in the water, you will return to Rome. Other touristic attractions are the Pantheon, Fontana dei Fiori, Augusto di Foro and Foro di Traiano.

The island of Mauritius is known for its diversity. Here live Indian, Chinese, Creole, African, European and Malagasy populations. They all live in a perfect harmony, and they all respect each other’s traditions. The inhabitants of the island are friendly and hospitable. They believe that their success is due to this fact, how they treat their tourists. All this, including the variety of religions, make the island of Mauritius one of the most visited touristic places. The multi-ethnic characteristics of Mauritius make it a multi-lingual country with ethnic languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Urdu, Mandarin and Cantonese being commonly used. But the true language spoken in the island is Creole, which resulted from mixing French with the language of the African slaves.
Among the festivals celebrated in Mauritius, there are :
Yaum un Nabi January ( Day of death of prophet Mohammed for the Muslims)
Spring Festival February (The Chinese New Year is celebrated each year on a different date, owing to the differences between the lunar and the solar calendars)
Eid-Ul-Fitr February (The Id-El-Fitr festival signals the end of the Ramadan - the fasting period for Muslim people)
Independence Day 12 March (Republic Day)
Divali September / October (The Festival of Lights is celebrated in a spirit of pure joy, in the month of October or November. Small clay lamps line the walls, balconies and yards for Hindu people).

Mauritian Sega – the traditional dance…
The Sega is the national dance as well as a musical genre met only in the island of Mauritius. Introduce in the island by the African slaves, the sega is a passionant dance, exotic, but it can become erotic also. In general it is danced by women dressed with large, colorful dresses. Among the songs, the best known are “Li tourne, li tourne” by Alan Ramanisum, “Le Morne” by Cassyia, and “Let me fly” by King. All these are emotional songs, which they hide true stories.

Mauritian Cuisine…
Mauritius is a paradise known not only for its views, but also for food. Each religion has a specific type of food. Culinary traditions from France, India, China and Africa, the best-known and appreciated cuisines in the world, have been passed on through generations. The combination of curries and rougailles along with white rice and other beans is popular with the locals and is generally included in their everyday food. The unique interblending of spices with vegetables, meat and fish is what lends that distinctive, unique charm to the food of Mauritius. Among the Mauritian dishes there are dholl purri, farata, gâteaux piment and samosas. Mauritius food includes also sea food, like the “Millionaire’s salad” comprising of oysters, shrimps, crayfish and crabs. It is said that to get the taste of real Mauritian food, you must have a dholl puri with a large glass of Alouda or tamarind juice.

Mauritian Beer…
Mauritius produces a wide range of cane rum. It is very cheap and is a nice drink when mixed with cola and ice. While drinking it, you must put coconut water with a dash of lime and a splash of local rum over ice. The local beer Phoenix is considered to be one of the best in the world.

Today we continue the wonderful story of the island of Mauritius. In this issue we talk about Dodo bird, considered the symbol of the island, and about the region Le Morne, the symbol of the slaves’ sufferings.

Dodo bird…

As I mentioned, Dodo bird is considered to be the official symbol of the country. However, very few things are known about this bird, although it has spread only 300 years ago. The irony of faith is that although the bird lived in a period of written history, we know more about the dinosaurs themselves, than we know about this relative of the pigeon. The development and even extending of this bird remain a mystery. All that is known about this symbol of the island was found in the writings and drawings of the sailor who visited the island in the 17th century. The birds have a huge size and have only lived in the island of Mauritius. Due to the size of the wings (they were very small) and due to their body shape, the birds could not fly or run to escape from danger. The story of Dodo bird is tragic indeed. First of all visitors, especially the Dutch, were hunting the bird for food. The ones which survived became very soon food for rats, pigs, or even monkeys, which were brought on the island by sailors. By the year 1681 died the last Dodo bird. Tough later scientists discovered a Dodo bird grave in the island, and they suggested that the bird might have died of natural death. But this is a fact we will never know…
Le Morne…
Le Morne Brabant is a Peninsula in the southwestern part of the island. The Peninsula is surrounded by a very beautiful lagoon. Two very rare plants grow in the region ,the Mandrinette and Trochetia boutoniana. The hill became very famous in the 19th century when the slaves used Le Morne as a mean of escape. After banning the slavery in 1835, an expedition of police in the region went to say that the slaves are free people. However, many of them misunderstood, and they jumped into the ocean from the top of the mountain. This episode is reported in Cassiya’s song, Le Morne . Since then this day is the day celebrated by all the inhabitants of the island as Annual Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery.
Today, Le Morne is a small village known for surfing, paragliding, and kite surf. It is quite windy on this side of the island. The lagoon of Le Morne is known to be one of the largest, with its blue turquoise water. From the beach there is a beautiful view of the Le Morne mountain.

Mauritius is a small island situated in the Indian Ocean, near Madagascar belonging to the African continent and to the Commonwealth organisation.

The island was first discovered by Arabs, but this being off the record. Though the first official evidence of the discovery was the Italian Alberto Cantino’s map in 1502. Cantino’s map to exposed the names of three islands discovered: Reunion called diba margabin, Mauritius, called dina aroby and Rodrigues called dina morare. Another oficial discovery of the island was made by the Portuguese between 1507 and 1513.The island was discovered in random in an expedition organized on the coast of the Gulf of Bengal, leaded by Tristão da Cunha. However the Portuguese have not shown any interest in these isolated islands and have not installed in the area any permanent colony.

Between 1598 and 1637 followed a series of colonizations and conquests in the island. Following an expedition started in Texel (Netherlands) under the leadership of amirals Jacques Cornelius Van Neck and Wybrandt Van Warwyck on the Indian continent, the Dutch have discovered the island. The eight vessels were separated from Cape of Good Hope. Five of them went in recognition on the island under the command of the amiral Wybrandt Van Warwyck. The Dutch were also the ones who gave the name of the island after Maurits prince of the Netherlands, whose name was Mauritius in Latin, as well as the name of the city in the Northwestern part of the island, Port Louis, which later on became the capital of the country. Thus the Dutch abandoned the island in 1710.

The slaves were not very well treated by the inhabitants of the island. They were punished very severely. Some of the punishments consist of amputation of several parts of the body and their exposure as an example for others in full day, possibly ending with the execution of the sentenced slaves at sunset. The region which reminds them most of the slaves’ sufferings is the Peninsula Morne Brabant,in the Southwestern part of the island. Those who did not rezist the pains and sufferings came here and they jumped into the ocean from the mountain with the same name. This emotionant story of the slaves is also the theme of the song entitled LE MORNE interpreted by Cassiya. All the inhabitants of the island listen today with emotion the story of the slaves and of the Le Morne mountain.

Abandoned by the Dutch, the island was conquered by the French, being called “Ile de France”. During the Napoleonic wars, “Ile de France” has become a base where French corsairs organized raids on the English fleet. By the year 1810 the island was under the domination of the French government. However, the situation is changing in the same year when the British arrive on the island and they beat the French. By the Treaty of Paris in 1814 the island is now under English domination. Also under English domination the slavery is abolished. The island won its independence in 1968, on March 12th after a referendum for independence.