Title: Italian food and weekends | Il cibo italiano e il fine settimana. Extracts from a native speaker interview with Maria, a young woman who has recently graduated from the Interpreting and Translating University in Pescara on the east coast of Italy. Meals are shared with family and friends and are an important part of life. According to Maria, Italian cooking is part of Italian culture, like art and history. She also comments that Italian restaurants and coffee bars have had to reach a high standard to satisfy the expectations of Italian people and she thinks this is the reason for the fame of Italian food in the world. Then Maria talks about what she likes doing on weekends. In summer, she likes going to the beach and then having a refreshing ice cream or drink at one of the coffee bars along the beach. In winter, she likes going shopping and then having a meal in a restaurant with her friends.