Even if we have never been to Venice, we all know a gondola when we see one, but let's find out more about this elegant Venetian symbol.

Everyone has heard of St. Mark's Square, but Marika gives us some interesting tidbits of information and then takes us to a see a very special staircase.

Marika takes us to the piazza where Marco Polo supposedly lived. But which house is it? She asks a local. The name of the square is Corte Seconda del Milion. Il Milion is the Italian name of the book, The Travels of Marco Polo.

A short boat ride takes us from Venice to Murano, where they make some of the most beautiful glass in the world.

The Venetian island of Burano is famous for its multi-colored houses and for its lace. It's time to get your camera out, if you haven't already.

The last stop on our trip around Venice is the beautiful, uninhabited island of Torcello. Marika has a few stories to tell about it.

Writer and scholar Fulvio Benelli shows us a part of Rome that tourists always flock to: Piazza Navona. But he tells us the fascinating story of how it came to be.

Fulvio shows us one of the most enigmatic monuments of all Rome, the Pantheon. He gives us some history, some interesting facts, and a legend, as well.

Fulvio describes the monument we look at in this segment before telling what it is. The story has some pretty surprising aspects.

In 1749, King Charles of Bourbon (Charles III of Spain) or Carlo Terzo di Borbone, who was King of Naples at the time, commissioned an important campaign of archeological digs in an area near that city. Marika tells us the story.

After Stabiae was razed to the ground in a war, the Romans decided to build some luxury villas in the area. Luckily, some archeological digs led by archeologist Libro D'Orsi were effectuated in the 1950s, and 3 villas came to light.

The Villa San Marco is an amazingly well-preserved luxury villa from the Augustan period, with a wonderful panoramic view of Vesuvius and the gulf of Naples. Marika shows us around the four nuclei of the villa.

The name of the villa was inspired by the story of Dionysus who watched Ariadne while she slept. It was excavated first by the Bourbons but was buried again. Later in the 50s, digs were resumed and now, it can be visited in all its glory.

The last stop on the trip to Castellammare di Stabia is the seafront, called il lungomare in Italian. There's a great panorama, a lovely sea breeze, and it's a great place to just walk around. Marika mentions the famous natural spring water of Castellammare, both for thermal baths and for drinking.

Fulvio shows tells us the story of a door, a very famous door, called the Alchemist's Door, also called the Magic Door, or the Door to Heaven, a monument built by Massimiliano Savelli Palombara, Marquis of Pietraforte on the grounds of his villa in Rome.