Just pretend you are leaving for a trip to the countryside and – even if the weather is good – take a sweatshirt and wear your comfiest shoes, take a ball, a bike and some friends… Anything you think you will need to enjoy your trip! Just don’t overdo because sometimes it is nice to enjoy just the greenery and the fresh air while wandering around… Stop and stare, and lie down on the grass if you are tired! Firstly: do you know why it is called Parco delle Cave?
Once – nearly 100 years ago – this area wasn’t a park, it was a place where sand and gravel were dug out to make cement… Dig dig dig a-dig dig and that’s how big holes and hollows – filled with groundwater – were formed… (Just like when you dig a hole in the sand and dig dig dig a-dig dig… You find water!)
Therefore, fishermen started to fish in these ponds and create their clubs… But this area wasn’t so beautiful much less pleasant to cross… Just 40 years ago some people started thinking about a big park! An ambitious plan that – finished 20 years ago – thanks to which you can now enjoy this beautiful, reclaimed and safe area! A green oasis with watercourses, lawns, dirt roads and bike paths. You will see many buildings surrounding the park that will remind you to be in the city… Just turn around and ignore them! You can choose the entrance you prefer the most but yet – unless you already have a destination – we advise you to go in through the central entrance so that you can decide what to do and have everything at fingertips!
Before going in, pay attention to your grumbling tummy needs! Since you are a bit far from the city you will not easily find a bar nearby, so decide what to do with your friends… If you have your packed lunch, you can enjoy it in the south part of the park in the picnic area or lie down on the grass… If you just want a fresh drink or a coffee, at Circolo dei Bersaglieri (Bersaglieri club) you will find a refreshment bar (west part of the park )… If you don’t like picnics and you want to sit down at a table, we advise you go to Baggio (west side of the park) where you can comfortably eat a bite… You can choose Osteria Alla Grande, an old traditional tavern that will not let you down!
Otherwise go to la Pucceria, a baker’s selling typical delicacies from Puglia that you can buy and eat at the park… If you’d like something sweet, Pasticceria Gammino is the place to go to: a bakery with its own laboratory, so delicious!
Once you have decided where to eat, go on and discover the park! In the North area there is one of the few Milanese working farms: if you want to walk up to there, you can see horses, cows, and chickens – as if you were in the countryside.
Here – at the Cascina Caldera – the staff is very kind and you can go in, just remember you are guests and that you have to behave… The animals are used to a quiet environment!
On the opposite side, in the southern part of the park, there’s another working farm that seems a little bit old, but its owners still love it and work for it: it’s Cascina Linterno. Just think that this place was one of the houses of the famous poet Francesco Petrarca: it may be the first time you hear his name, but your parents surely know his fantastic poetries. Then, between the First and the Second World War, this place hosted many ill people that didn’t trust anymore in medicine and decided to be cured by “el Pret de Ratanà”. His real name was Don Giuseppe Gervasini, a strong and beloved priest: he was famous for healing people!
What really matters is that here at Cascina Linterno *, many initiatives are set up, such as the Falò di Sant’Antonio in January, the fantastic “Lusiroeula” (Lucciolata) at the end of May in the Quarries Park and the observation of shooting stars in August… Another great initiative is the Saturday market called Bee Happy Family, where you can find a big variety of seasonal products and food,directly carried by the producers. You can even taste different types of honey and meet Mauro Veca, the so called “father of bees of the Quarries Park”. And only for you, many workshops about honey!
While walking alongside the ponds, be careful and look carefully: you can see many bird species that are not afraid of humans, but you have to respect…White goslings, colourful ducks and much more… Even rabbits and foxes!
During the night, the park teems with barn and little owls that help keeping the area free from mice! Thank goodness! If you want to know something more, along the path there are explanatory signs telling you which plants and animals you can see and how to behave!
How wonderful! Don’t you think so? And for those who want to go in for sport – besides the course for floor exercises – you will find throughout the park very well-kept football and basketball courts…
And if you came here with your grandparents, they will certainly find something interesting to do in the south part… Go with them to the bowling green, they deserve to have a good time too!
USEFUL INFORMATION
Entrance via F.lli Zoia,
Entrance via Bianca Milesi,
Entrance via Cancano,
Entrance via F.lli di Dio,
Entrance via Buonaventura Broggini,
Entrance via Pompeo Marchesi,
Entrance via Caldera
how to get there:
Entrance F.lli Zoia: tube line M1 Gambara + bus line 80
Entrance via Bianca Milesi: tube line M1 Bisceglie + bus line 63
Entrance via Cancano: tube line M1 Bisceglie + bus line 63
Entrance via F.lli di Dio: tube line M1 Bande Nere + bus line 67
Entrance via Buonaventura Broggini: tube line M1 Bande Nere + bus line 67
Entrance via Cascina Barocco: tube line M1 Bisceglie + bus line 63
Entrance via Pompeo Marchesi: tube line M1 Bisceglie + bus line 78/ tube line M1 Primaticcio + bus line 63
Entrance via Caldera: tube line M1 Gambara + bus line 72/ tube line M1 Primaticcio + bus line 63
bus line 63/67/72/78/80
tube line M1 Gambara/ Bande Nere/ Primaticcio/Bisceglie
* Cascina Linterno
Via Fratelli Zoia, 194 Milan
www.cascinalinterno.it
amicilinterno@libero.it
334 7381384
