A Wine-Lovers’ Honeymoon in Italy

By Christina Newberry

A shared love of local wine has always been part of Athena and Chris Huff’s love story. It was during an anniversary wine tour weekend to Niagara-on-the-Lake that Chris asked Athena to marry him.

The couple are regular visitors to a local winery near their home. When they married, the autumn vineyards offered a perfect backdrop for their wedding photos – and a huge congratulations sign greeted them as the wedding party drove onto the familiar property.

A week later, sipping the local Chianti and eating regional cheese while looking over mountainside vineyards at the family-owned Poggio Amorelli winery in Tuscany, the newly-married couple felt worlds away and yet very much at home. Their two-week honeymoon to Italy revolved around food and wine – “some of my favourite things,” Athena says – with stays in Rome, Florence, Naples and Sorrento and day tours to Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast.

Chris and Athena had done plenty of travelling together before their marriage, usually to the Caribbean. For their honeymoon, they wanted an “extramemorable” experience that was more than just a vacation, Athena recalls. Italy seemed a natural choice after hearing rave reviews from friends.

Not knowing much about the area and wanting to go beyond the usual tourist attractions, Chris and Athena worked with a destination romance specialist to plan a custom trip that fitted their own travel style.

“We’re not as into museums and history as we are culture, food and wine – in abundance,” Athena says. “We didn’t want to wait three hours in line to look at a picture. We like to do our own exploring and we wanted to take a more active approach.”

When the couple arrived in Rome, they were thankful to spot a driver waiting for them at the airport. As a special splurge, their travel agent had recommended booking private transfers for every airport and train station throughout their trip, so they never had to think about a thing once they landed in Italy.

“The worst part of travelling is the travelling,” Athena points out. “Private transfers made for a very smooth transition with zero stress. We didn’t have to worry about getting a cab or any language barriers.”

The couple dove into Italy’s food culture right away with a private pasta-making lesson in Rome. “My husband is not a huge cook,” Athena says with a smile. “It was fun for me to watch him.” In Florence, they joined a group class in a chef’s kitchen to prepare a market-totable meal of fresh pasta with Tuscan meat ragu. Cooking with local olive oil, meat, vegetables, and herbs while sharing a bottle of wine with fellow travellers from Australia and New York was a really special experience for the couple.

“Both meals were just amazing,” says Athena. “In Italy, less is more. Everything was served very simply, but was very delicious. I always figured more ingredients means more flavour, but that is not the case. It was kind of a learning curve for me, which was a great experience since I love to cook.”

In Sorrento, a harrowing drive up a narrow mountain road was worth it for the stunning views from the couple’s top floor corner hotel room looking over the Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvius from an enormous balcony.

“The drive was interesting, on a crazy road,” Athena recalls. “But actually getting to the room, seeing it all from that height was pretty incredible.”

As their one-year anniversary approaches, the Huffs are still savouring the culinary experiences they shared together on their honeymoon. Athena has started making her own pasta from scratch. For their anniversary dinner, she’s planning to pair it with the Tuscan sauce they made together in Florence and serve a bottle of Chianti the couple has tucked away in their cellar.