I just came back from Italy as I spent a month there celebrating my honeymoon and all I can say is that this was one of the greatest experiences that I’ve ever had. First I have never been off for a month so it was great to be able to take that time to really enjoy myself with my new wife, but I never expected to be blown away like I was by the beauty and flavour of Italy. It was Magnifico, LOL.
We decided to spread our trip in 4 weeks, spending each week in a different part Italy. Instead of booking hotels my wife decided to Italy villas in each of the 4 locations. I don’t usually agree with all of my wife’s decisions, but boy was she on the money on this one.

We started our trip in the northern part of Italy in we got a villa on Lake Como that was breath taking. We were at the end of the lake with beautiful mountains all around, it was peaceful and the food was out of this world. The wine of choice in this area was a 2003 Masi, which the owner of a local restaurant had a few cases of, so we helped him get rid of a few LOL.

From here we moved on to Rome, we got an apartment in the centre of town that we rented from the same company as the rest of the villas, I am so glad we did too because we had access to all of the things that we wanted to see and do. Rome is a city that is absolutely rich with culture and history, if you are an art buff this is the absolute Mecca. Amazing churches, the Vatican took 2 days from us and we only saw a small part of it, lots of museums, great restaurants and nightlife as well. We had a great time.

Our next stop was a Tuscany villa rental. There really are no words to describe the beauty of Tuscany. I can tell you that after travelling through this area my favourite color has become green, every time that I close my eyes and I picture the beautiful green hills and fields of Tuscany I immediately associate it with the peace and calm that I felt when I was there. The villa in this place was outrageous, it was a little more money that I would of liked to pay, but man it was worth it, with the pool and Jacuzzi, the grand entrance, the grand salon, the details in the architecture were unbelievable, I felt like a movie star in my personal palace. The food in Tuscany is unlike anywhere else in the world, I am not sure if they use different spices or if it’s just the love and passion that goes into preparing, but I left every meal feeling like “That cannot be topped”. The wine of choice was a 1997 Ruffino and a 2001 Amarone.

Our last stop was a town called Positano which is located in the Amalfi coast. This place was unbelievable, I will try to describe but I am sure I will not do it justice. Picture a beautiful Holiday villas to rent amalfi, sitting on the top of a mountain with houses running all the way down the mountain, at the base of the mountain is one of the most beautiful bays of the Mediterranean and from there a marina filled with yachts. I could not believe it, it is like by luck we saved the best for last. The villa was outstanding and comfortable; the pool looked onto the sea. I don’t have enough adjectives to describe how beautiful it was. The town was very rich with culture and we met great people from all over the world. The food as you would expect was great and this was the first place that I was able to try a 2004 Sassicaia, for wine lovers out there that have never tasted this wine, believe me that it is an experience onto itself. Rich and full body is an understatement.

I hope that more than a few of you get to enjoy Italy the way we did and please try to go the villa route rather than staying in hotels, I guarantee that you will not regret it as you will get the full experience of true Italian comfort.