It can be challenging for non-native Italian speakers to really understand the difference between these three common words: bello (beautiful, nice, pretty), buono (good) and bene (well, fine). In this first part of three, Daniela explains the difference between bello and buono.

More spring cleaning! Marika shows us how to dust, and what materials to use. She goes on to wash the windows, and then the dishes.

At the train station where Alessio had been kicked off the train, the police officer tells Alessio to call home to get picked up. Alessio does make a phone call, and he does get picked up, but not by his parents!

Some artists, including Gualtiero Marchesi, talk about the past: horse-drawn carts for delivering produce, artists exchanging news from abroad before the widespread use of telephones, tripe for breakfast, still-life paintings reflecting the food of the times and its preparation. There's even talk of the desire to eat paintings! Buon appetito!

Martina has almost completed her degree at the university, which will qualify her to work in the juvenile courts. She would like to evaluate the situations and problems of kids, especially immigrant minors, who have trouble in school and in their social lives, and to help them adjust. Follow the interview by Serena.

Commissioner Manara is back with a new episode, which opens, not only with the usual murder, this time in a library, but also with a care package from Manara's mother, full of Sicilian specialties such as melanzane sottolio or sott'olio, (eggplant in oil). Sottolio is a traditional and well-loved way of preserving many foods, and can be distinguished from sottaceto (in vinegar), or in salamoia (in water and salt). Of course, everyone at headquarters is more interested in the Sicilian pastries!

Spring is here and Cettina is enjoying the outdoors. Flowers are starting to bloom, trees are getting leaves, and the sunshine is warm enough to go without a jacket.

This episode comes to a close with the mystery of Cetinka solved, and everyone having a good time in the backyard. Maria proudly tells her aunt Alice how she duped her teacher into spending time with her alone. Lele lectures Ciccio (who really wants to wear his new shoes) about being truthful, but we know there's someone else he should have been lecturing... In fact, right on cue, an unexpected visitor shows up!

Because they are difficult to reach--lying off the main sea routes--the islands of Filicudi and Alicudi have maintained their natural beauty.

Adriano shares with us the story of the fox and the cicada. Apart from the usefulness of the story itself, there's a good selection of verbs in tenses we don't use every day, but which are used in storytelling.

How do three buddies, who happen to be oxen, get eaten by a lion? Adriano tells the tale, complete with the lesson to be learned. Have you guessed? It's one of Aesop's Fables.

It's time for spring cleaning. Marika shows us how, and more importantly, she gives us the names of the tools we'll need.

Daniela explains how easy it is to form the plurals of feminine nouns, even if you don't know their meaning.

In the end, Lara decides that Luca Manara isn't such a bad commissioner after all. She might even tell him that to his face... sooner or later.

Antonio introduces us to the authentic Neapolitan pizza. He's right there in a famous pizzeria called Escopocodisera [Esco poco di sera] (I rarely go out at night), where Peppe, the pizzaiolo (pizza maker), demonstrates his art, step by step. Buon appetito!