Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Exploring the gardens further, we come upon a grotto, as well as what looks like an ancient Roman site, replete with original statues. It was all part of Vanvitelli's plan.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
If we thought the interior of the Royal Palace of Caserta was amazing, we should get ready for even more amazement as we go outside and see the spectacular park — a true capolavoro (masterpiece) — which Luigi Vanvitelli, architect and engineer, designed, giving water the starring role.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The narrator makes us aware of the vast number of people necessary to run the Palace. We visit the most intimate place in the Palace: the queen's dressing room and bathroom. It is fascinating to learn all the ways in which it was outfitted to both pamper and protect the queen.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Alberto Angela takes us from the public throne room to the private chambers of the Royal Palace. In order to obtain the desired wall coverings, a whole complex was built for manufacturing silk. It's still operating today. Incredibile!
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We visit the magnificent, immense Throne Room, with its small but elegant throne, and vaulted, frescoed ceiling.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
It's hard to fathom the scale of this royal palace. We learn how many workers it took and how long it took to build. The grand staircase is of amazing dimensions, and, when seen from the top, our host seems like a small dot at the bottom of it.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Alberto Angela, well-known presenter of historical TV documentaries, takes us on a journey to discover some of the "wonders" — both man-made and natural — of this "treasure peninsula" called Italy. The journey begins at the Royal Palace in Caserta.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Mini decides to guide Arianna through one of the main roads of Lucca to the center of the city. It's one continuous road but its name changes several times. Arianna is fascinated by some mysterious numbers appearing on the stones of the pavement.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy Tuscan
Arianna visits Lucca for the first time, and gets some advice from a friend who lives there. Arianna and Eleonora look at the map together to get an idea of how the city is laid out. With its Roman origins, Lucca's urban space was designed with intersecting roads called 'cardos' and 'decumani'.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy Tuscan
Arianna takes us down to one of the most popular and busiest parts of the city. Many areas are primarily zone pedonali (pedestrian areas) but you still have to be very careful.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy Tuscan
Today Arianna takes us back to Florence. This time we go to a high point on the southern side of the Arno river where we get a view of the whole city in all its splendor.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy Tuscan
Arianna takes us down to a beach near Pisa, and explains a bit about how beaches work in many parts of Italy.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy Tuscan
This beautiful church is worth a stop on the way from Pisa to the seaside. Arianna shares her discovery of it. The ceramic bowls that decorate the church are technically known as “bacini ceramici” in Italian, which could be translated as “ceramic basins.” Art historians who write in English, however, also use the term “bacini” for these tin-glazed works.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy Tuscan
Arianna shows us around the Cathedral Square, where the bell tower, better known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is located.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Because Anna knows the subject backwards and forwards, she volunteers to take the teacher's quiz on Liguria, but that doesn't help much with her grade.
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