|
 Firenze's
best park is the Medici grand dukes' old
backyard to the Pitti Palace, the Giardino
Boboli. Less scenic, but free and more jogger-friendly,
is the Parco della Cascine along the Arno at the
west end of the historic center. Originally a
wild delta of land where the Arno and Mugnone
rivers met, the area later became a Medici
hunting reserve and eventually a pasture for the
grand duke's milk cows. Today, the Cascine is
home to tennis courts, pools, a horse racetrack,
and some odd late-18th- and early-19th-century
features like an incongruous pyramid and funky
neoclassical fountains.
There's a flea market here every Tuesday morning.
Though perfectly safe in the daylight, this park
becomes a den of thieves and a hangout for
heroin addicts after dark, as do most sections
of the Arno's banks, so steer clear.
|
