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Last night on television a very popular programme was being shown. Superquark is hosted by the UK’s equivalent of our David Attenborough, the mighty Piero Angela. It’s a very comfortable programme; the studio into which you are invited has a living room feel with the decadence the setting from the 1960 George Pal film, The Time Machine.  It’s very easy watching, and they tend to let an excerpt from documentary roll, and then return to the studio for a discussion about it.

The point of this post has to do with health. One of the polls they ran last night was on how many litres of water a person should drink every day. Most of the people that were questioned in the street responded that they drank at least 1.5 litres of water every day. Even if the actual statistics presented by an expert afterwards suggested that the amount of water consumed by Italians was, on average, half, it did make me think….If we did the same poll in the UK what would the response be.

Could the secret to a long life of Italians be because they drink a lot of water? I don’t know, but I do know that in the UK people prefer something fizzy or enhanced over something naturally pure, and I think this would be a positive leaf that us Brits could take out of their book.

I know there must be some truth to what I am saying because whenever I return to the UK the only water I can get in a bottle consistently is Volvic, which if you’ve ever drank at room temperature, tastes foul – you might as well be drinking plastic.

By contrast, go to an Italian supermarket and you’ll find a water offering of at least 15-20 different brands. Now it’s also true that we drink a lot of water over here because our tap water tastes like a swimming pool, but I still think there is a key message here:

Give water a big vote of confidence..and if you want the best…there is only Levissima in my book!

The Cascine Park Woods

The Cascine park lies to the west of the historical centre of Florence. This map shows the exact location. For tourists the easiest way to find it is to come out the Uffizi Gallery facing the Arno river and head in the direction of the Ponte Vecchio, at the bridge don’t go over it but continue along the same road that runs following the Arno. At the end of this road is the Cascine Park (about 20 minutes walk).

The Parco delle Cascine is the largest park in Florence and takes about 40 minutes to walk end to end. On Tuesday morning around the Via Della Catena is a weekly market selling everything from clothes to fruit and veg. It’s also the location for various markets and exhibitions throughout the year.

The park is naturally divided into two big fields. During the summer months a horse and cart will take you on a short 25 minute spin around the park, this is a pleasant way to see it. The horses leave from the first big open field you come to when arriving from the Ponte Vecchio.

Trips by horse and carriage during the summer months.

In the third and final field there is an old Roman Ampitheatre. A few years ago this was a fantastic venue that had beer tents and music during the summer months. It seems that now the local council don’t want events to happen here anymore, this is a shame because used to be the most amazing way to spend an evening in the city.

Roman Amphitheatre

Finally a word of caution, the park can be enjoyed during the day but during the night you won’t find many locals heading in there unless they are going to one of the nightclubs that operate only at the start of the road that runs through it. Just as in any city, Florence also has it’s share of alternative nightlife.

During the daytime the park is a place to enjoy a walk and some peace and quiet, while taking in Florence from a distance.