Parco della Cascine, one of the largest parks in Florence, also has a weekly mercatto (open air market), selling everything from plants and flowers, to clothing and leather goods, to housewares and toys, to fresh seasonal fruits and veggies. Opens weekly on Tuesdays, and not to be missed. Bring cash. The market is vast, from Ponte della Vittorio to the new overpass. The park is on the Arno river, and an easy walk from the train station, or take a bus 7.
Parco della Cascine, is great to walk around and enjoy with your family and kids, as it has various playground stuff like swingsets, and just in general a pretty and enjoyable place to explore. Lots of things to see nearby, or find randomly if you just walk a few blocks away from the main city.
Nearby is a music school and the Russian Orthodox church, a few other markets, and a lovely hidden courtyard park. If you take the bus 7 again, also still going away from the main city, you will end up about half an hour outside Florence, in Fiesole, which has beautiful views of the city of Florence, and many beautiful Italian villas, lovely wooded walks down to the city, and many hidden gardens etc to explore. You can walk up, of course and down, but it will take a long time....my compromise was to take the bus partially each way, and walk lots also which let me see many things otherwise I´d not have had time to see, and also enjoy the views from the leisurely bus ride (compared to having walked the entire way up and back down). The bus was a few Euros.
From Fiesole, there are many things to see, which I will point out in my next post and update with photos on next visit. I hardly took any last trip, as it was cold and rainy and I was tired, and cold and wet, so not in the mood to take lovely photos (rain hardly shows up in photos,))
