The vain queen's wickedness has its limits.

That's Italy allows us to discover different aspects of Italian style. This first episode features Basilicata, a region offering places of astonishing beauty that few know and few appreciate.

The Basilicata region of Italy has, until recently, been overshadowed by the more popular areas of the country, but now, more and more, its very special and unique characteristics have sparked the interest of all sorts of people, from tourists to filmmakers.

Monica Bellucci is an Italian fashion model and movie actress who is now a naturalized French citizen. She talks about her career and about what contributed to her being so highly successful.

Silvano Lattanzi, from the Marches region of Italy, makes shoes to be worn by heads of state and celebrities. The shoes are carefully handcrafted and can cost up to five thousand euros a pair.

The Naples soccer team is the most popular team in Southern Italy, having won a very high number of games. They have an estimated four million fans worldwide, many of whom come to this shop to buy jerseys.

Fashion shows are not only a way to let the world know about new collections. They also show off the creativity and genius of designers who, in addition to creating new styles in clothing, create the staging and music for their shows.

A beautiful but functional modern distillery near Bassano del Grappa designed by Massimiliano Fucsas, and a look at one of the latest fashion shows in Italy, characterized by the bizarre and geometric.

Ad for Maxxi Day Vacanze [Maxxi Day Vacations], a calling card on offer to TIM clients during the summer months. Christian De Sica plays a clueless uncle who doesn't get what it's about and thinks it involves ice cream.

Go clothes shopping with Serena, who's looking for something nice for a festa, as well as some everyday wear.

Serena is still shopping for clothes, and looks at some pretty flashy shoes. In the end, though, she goes for the jacket, and she fishes in her bag for the cash. She gives us a good example of how the plural is used when talking about euros. Euro is both singular and plural in Italian. So whether we're talking about soldi (money) or euro (euros), Italians think in the plural!

Serena and Martina take you to a shop that sells both home health care products and beauty aids. This kind of shop is called a sanitaria, coming from the word, sanità (health). If you ever (heaven forbid!) need a wheelchair, ace bandage, neck brace, or even orthopedic shoes, this is the place to go. Today, Serena and Martina are shopping for more glamorous items.

Serena goes in to a shop with a friend to buy some beauty cream. She pays by carta di credito, and makes sure she walks out of the store with lo scontrino (the receipt), which is obligatory in Italy! As an afterthought, she would like Gerarda, the proprietor, to gift-wrap the beauty cream for her, so she asks for un pacchetto regalo.

Serena and Elena talk about the school system in Italy, which is quite different from that of other countries. Terminology is different and can be deceptive, so be prepared for some false cognates. Where Americans talk about going away to school (college, university), Italians talk about the university. Find out what "scuola" means to these two young Italian women.

Get the inside story on going to university in Italy! Serena and Elena talk about how the school year is broken up, where you register, taking exams and how the grading works, what grade point average you need to pass, and much more.