Travel: A tennis holiday in Florence

Published on Tuesday 8 March 2011 11:47

When the idea of a tennis holiday was first mooted I thought it was a joke.

I'm not ancient but the last time I played tennis the rackets were made of wood and the thought of a holiday based around the sport sounded far too serious, if not a little daunting.

However, when I found out the location would be Tuscany and the accommodation outside Florence was on an estate owned by the Martini Rossi family, my interest was piqued. Added to this is the fact that our children are now in their early teens and perhaps need a little more focus in their holidays than they did when they were younger.

Andy Murray is under no threat from them either, but they were keen to learn more, particularly when they heard the tennis club also has a good-sized swimming pool where you can relax after coaching.

Deciding to take the plunge, we were still a little apprehensive when we turned up at the club on the first day to find it was protected by large iron gates and Cyprus trees through which could be glimpsed some extremely well maintained courts and a swish-looking clubhouse.

There we stood in our fashion trainers and squash shoes, like refugees from our local Scottish sports centre, before one of the top tennis academies in Italy.

Filippo Volandre and other aspiring professionals train here but not only that, we were to be coached by Patrizia Murgo, a former number 3 seed in Italy and 138 in the world rankings in her professional days. She is now a Maestro, which means she holds the highest coaching qualifications obtainable in Italy.

What on earth would she make of us, a very poor foursome who had managed only a few brief sessions on the local weed-strewn tennis court before arriving at the Florence Tennis School?

Fortunately she was completely unfazed by our lack of skill, as the club caters for everyone from beginners to professionals. We were also relieved to find that the atmosphere was not in the slightest bit snooty with everyone being extremely friendly and welcoming.

It helps that they're used to Scots coming over to play on the 16 courts (11 clay) as Ian Campbell, the Glasgow-based founder of Tuscany Tennis Holidays, has been organising holidays here for the last 16 years. One of the top tennis coaches in Scotland, he is a former Scottish internationalist and established Tuscany Tennis Holidays after living and working as a coach in Italy for nine years.

Together with his business partner, former Scottish Internationalist Laura Middleton, he hosts special coaching weeks during the summer, but as those dates did not suit us we opted for the alternative of being coached by a resident Italian.

The first day is a tennis assessment and two hours of play followed by lunch at the club and a further ten hours coaching per week, with a maximum of six in the group.

We were all much of the same standard - that of a 12-year-old who doesn't play very often. As a result we were nervous to begin with, but Patrizia soon put us at ease and began giving us helpful tips in her excellent English.

She quickly established that all our grips were wrong and once those were corrected we got on in leaps and bounds. The first two hours passed quickly and were followed by an excellent and very reasonable lunch at the clubhouse. We stayed to watch the professionals train for a while in the afternoon then relaxed by the pool, which was incredibly tranquil considering the club is on the outskirts of Florence.

Our days could easily have been spent in a similar fashion, but with the club being so near the city it seemed a shame not to pay it a visit.

Be warned, however. The city council have recently introduced hefty fines for cars without permits that travel into the city centre and there are cameras everywhere to weed out offending vehicles.

A good alternative is to splash out on a taxi from the club as it is only 9km from the city centre, or take a bus in from the outskirts.

We did drive in but parked at Piazza Michelangelo above the town, site of the iconic views of Florence and just a ten-minute walk from the centre.

While the wonders of the world-famous Uffizi gallery may still be a little beyond younger children, Florence has its attractions for kids and young teens. Ours enjoyed walking in the main piazzas, looking at the statues and the people painting outside the Uffizi; they marvelled at the magnificent Duomo and the highlight of the day was climbing to the very top for fantastic views over the city. Well, that and the gelato afterwards.

Our accommodation was a mere half hour's drive from Florence and was just superb. La Fattoria Torre a Cona is set in the midst of rolling hills, south east of Florence among vineyards that have been famous for their top-quality wine for centuries.

The 200 hectare estate's self-catering apartments were all renovated recently in traditional Tuscan style, with the tasteful furnishings and decor chosen by Contessa Rossi herself.

Our two-bedroom apartment was on the first floor of a very distinctive villa and boasted views of the valley and surrounding hillsides dotted with olive groves and vineyards. A private garden was the perfect place to eat and contained rosemary, sage and mint that we could use to bring out the flavours of the wonderful Tuscan food. What's more, a simple meal of pasta, olives, cheese, and sun-ripened tomatoes can be dressed with the estate's own olive oil and washed down by their high-quality and reasonably priced chianti.

A little path bordered by wildflowers winds up from the villa to a private pool and there are walks through the woods as the Renaissance Trail borders the estate.

The Rossi estate is on the edge of Chianti country and the little town of Greve is a short, scenic drive away. Here you can visit Le Cantini di Greve, the biggest wine store in the region where you can taste a variety of the best wines in the area.

From Greve it is a beautiful drive to Siena, which is well worth a visit, especially if your Tuscan trip coincides with the famous Palio horse race round the Piazza del Campo.

Volterra, Lucca, Pisa and San Gimignano are all within easy reach of both the club and Torre a Cona - if you can tear yourself away from the very pleasant routine of tennis coaching, lunch, watching the pros and relaxation at the pool. There is also a gym, sauna and TV room at the club.

Thanks to the expert coaching we quickly improved and could easily have spent the whole week practising. We will never make Wimbledon but we are no longer so embarrassing at tennis, and more importantly we can all play together for fun without anyone breaking a racket in frustration.

THE FACTS

A typical tennis programme run by Tuscan Tennis Holidays costs 270 per person and is hosted by TTH's resident Italian coaches, who all the hold the highest coaching qualification in Italy (Maestro), speak fluent English, and have extensive knowledge of the Tuscan area. Ian Campbell himself hosts various weeks at all TTH Italian locations throughout the summer, see www.tuscanytennis.com for details. There are a variety of options for accommodation at Torre a Cona with prices for a one-bedroom apartment starting at 470 per week.

www.tuscanytennis.com/locations/florence/accommodation

• This article was first published in The Scotsman on March 26, 2011