Being just 15 miles south east of Florence, the historic town of Figline Valadarno is only about 85 miles from Torre del Lago Puccini but; in terms of the weather, it was a million miles away as we arrived. The sun was shining; there was barely a cloud in the sky and; it was warm. Moreover, it was set to stay that way for the forseeable future.
I know I’ve been rather going on about campsites during the last weeks (which is rich coming from someone who used them only rarely in his early tours) and I’m sorry about that but; Vanya once again did us proud with the 5 Star Hu Camping Norcenni Girasole Club just outside of Figline Valadarno. I’ll write more about the Norcenni Girasole at the end of this blog (such that you can skip it and move on if you are not particularly interested in camp sites). For now it will suffice to say it is to be listed as an Excellent Campsite – only our fifth in the last 7 years.
Figline Valdarno is, for me, a quintessential Italian town; not necessarily for it’s landmark attractions and monuments (although it does have a couple of places of interest) but; for it’s pure Italianism. It’s one of those places where I’m content to lounge in the main square over a coffee; watching and listening to old men noisily playing cards at tables outside the cafe-bars and middle aged women chatting and laughing with neighbours by the fountains or haggling good humouredly with shopkeepers over the price of tomatoes – all of it so very Italian. I did just that for an hour. I sat in the early morning sunshine, sipping coffee outside a bar on Figline Valdano’s main square (the Piazza Marsilio Ficino) and revelled in it.


The Piazza Marsilio Ficino (named after a famous 15th century humanist philosopher whom, I confess, I have never heard of) is in itself one of the town’s principal attractions. It’s a large rectangular piazza (more like a trapezium really) which was designed to hold a large farmer’s market. It is almost entirely surrounded by arcades except for access points and one corner where the town’s 13th century Collegiate Church of Santa Maria holds pride of place. I cannot say for sure that the piazza is still used as a market place (it probably is) but the arcades are home now to a handful of bars, a few shops, some offices and, at the opposite end of the piazza to the church, a former 14th century hospital (the Spedale Serristori) which closed in 1890.






Alongside the Piazza Marsilio Ficino, near the church, is another much smaller town square, Piazza Bianchi. This holds the 14th century Palazzo Pretorio with it’s attendant tower. Originally home to the town council, it is now used to store town records but, for a short period in the 19th century, it was also used as a prison. At the foot of the tower is a small chapel dedicated to the town’s soldiers who fell in WWI.


Another significant building in the town is the Teatro Comunale Garibaldi. This 19th century theatre, named after Guiseppe Garibaldi, is used to host theatrical and/or musical performances and can accommodate an audience of about 500. Judging by the many old posters adorning it’s walls, especially on the stairwell, this theatre has hosted some quite spectacular events since it’s inauguration in 1872. I was unable to access the auditorium. The entrance was closed whilst, inside, a pianist was rehearsing a movement from Beethoven’s 9th (the Choral Symphony). It was a joy standing outside listening for a short while – an Ode to Joy, I hear you say. Sorry.




Outside, to one side of the theatre and underneath some of the old town walls, is a fenced off area which is used as a summer arena (music and theatre productions) and can accommodate an audience of up to 180 but, again, I couldn’t gain access.
I wandered the town for a while but, because I had spent so much time ‘people watching’ on the Piazza Marcilio Ficino and ‘eavesdropping’ on the pianist in the Teatro Comunale Garibaldi, I didn’t get to see much else but; I don’t regret a minute of it. I suspect we’ll return at some time in the future.




Okay, a little about Hu Norcenni Girasole Camping. It really is first class. From the moment we started the check in process until the moment we left, it was almost perfect. We booked in for two nights and almost immediately increased it to three so that Vanya could enrol in a cookery class and perfect her Ravioli. We would have stayed longer except we had already lingered in France for 7 days at Esterel Caravaning and we needed move on, deeper into Italy. Having said all that (and this is a postscript), we returned to Hu Norcenni Girasole for another night when retracing our steps through Italy.
The site is super pet friendly and has all the facilities you could need and more. It provides a regular shuttle service into Figline Valdarno and coach trips to Florence and Siena when demand warrants it. We have stayed at three Hu Campsites in total and all are good but Hu Norcenni Girasole is very much a step above the others. The service ethos from it’s staff is as good as I have seen anywhere (and that includes some of the world’s top hotels) and it operates two features which set it apart from the others: a well stocked enoteca and well informed sommelier (where we chose to drink wine most nights, in preference to the more crowded and noisier bars) and; a top chef who offered cookery lessons to small groups. Under Chef Mario’s tutelage (the chef has worked all over the world and even cooked for the late Queen Elizabeth II), Vanya was able to perfect a home made ricotta and spinach ravioli which even I enjoyed (and I’m not a great one for pasta and have never been keen on spinach).







Oh! And the cooking…






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