Arianna takes us around Florence. In this part, we walk from the main train station to the famous San Lorenzo market, where it's time to find some lunch.

Arianna is still a bit hungry, so she looks around for something else to eat. After lunch, she takes us downstairs to the actual market.

Arianna shows us the outside market near San Lorenzo, and we discover where the train station got its long name Santa Maria Novella. Arianna also gives us some important information about how to get to and from the airports of Pisa and Florence.

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.

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.

Gianni takes us up to an abandoned villa, and reflects on the tremendous challenges the builder faced.

Gianni explores the interior of the abandoned villa, imagining what it might have been like before.

Arianna shows us around the Cathedral Square, where the bell tower, better known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is located.

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.

Arianna takes us down to a beach near Pisa, and explains a bit about how beaches work in many parts of Italy.

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'.

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.

The best way to get around Lucca is by bike. Arianna rents one and enjoys riding along the amazing walls of the city, still intact after centuries.

There are a lot of interesting places to see from the walls, as Arianna rides around on her rental bike: the botanical garden, a tower with trees on it, and the entrance to a pilgrimage route to Rome.

Marino tells about Marechiaro, a small village in the area of Naples called Posillipo. Marchiaro gives its name to a very famous Neapolitan song by Salvatore Di Giacomo.

Arianna and Simone show us the historic center of this city on Sicily's west coast. Points of interest include its Casbah, where ceramic tile artworks tell of the city's Arab history, an unusual central-plan church; and the Satyr Museum.

Arianna and Simone take us through the narrow lanes of Mazara to the little theater, built from leftover materials from ships, and on to the Casbah, full of ceramic artwork.

We visit some of the narrow alleys with names that have special significance. Arianna and Simone tell the stories of these names and show us some of the beautiful ceramic pots placed around the town.

Arianna explains what a casbah is, and she and Simone take us around to the Tunisian consulate and the old washhouse.

Marika takes us to Venice where we have a look around through her "eyes." We start out near the Doge's Palace.

Marika shows us a famous bookshop in Venice. It's in a critical position with respect to the water level, so special precautions are taken to protect the books when there are high tides. Fascinating!

In Venice, the concept of "streets" and "roads" is totally different from most other places in Italy, so there are some new words to learn that apply almost exclusively to this wonderful city. Marika does some show and tell to help us get the picture.

Marika takes us to see a special statue, a fish market and two famous bridges.

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.

Rossella tells us how she came to be the solitary inhabitant of a beautiful, abandoned village in Calabria, called either Pentedattilo or Pentidattilo.

What a wonderful place Pentidattilo had been, but then plastic arrived and pretty much ruined everything.

Rossella feels that it's her mission to show people this marvelous place. She dedicates part of her home to guests from all over the world.

Rossella talks about why she likes Pentidattilo so much, and imagines what it would have been like when it was populated by families. She has managed to preserve the magic of the place, where time has stood still.

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.

Fulvio tells us plenty of interesting things about the history of one of the symbols of Rome, the Colosseum. To begin with, it wasn't always called the "Colosseum."

Take your time with this episode about Rome because it is chock full of information. Il Campidoglio, also called Monte Capitolino, is the smallest of the seven hills of Rome, but it's the most important because that's where the mayor's office is, as well. Where did the word "capitol" come from? Fulvio has the answer. He also talks about where the word "money" comes from. And you will recognize the name of the architect who designed the piazza and its surrounding buildings.

To take a break from the hustle and bustle of Rome, there is a place waiting for you, just 40 minutes away, where horses and cows graze in the wild, and where there is plenty of interesting flora and fauna to observe: The Sorbo Valley.