How the winners of TPG's second honeymoon contest recreated romantic moments after 50 years together

Legend has it that tossing a coin into Rome's legendary Trevi Fountain means you will one day return to the Eternal City.

When Mark and Joani Share of Concord, California, participated in this historic ritual on their honeymoon in the summer of 1970, it's unlikely they could have imagined their eventual return would involve business class flights with gourmet meals and lie-flat seats on United preceded by a visit to United's Polaris Lounge.

Or, that they would luxuriate in a suite at The Tribune, a boutique Hyatt property, near some of Rome's most iconic tourist spots, including the Trevi Fountain.

Though they may not have pictured this exact scenario, when TPG announced a "Honeymoon Take 2" contest in the spring of 2022, the Shares immediately thought they had a pretty good shot at winning the grand prize — a chance for a second honeymoon — and a return to Rome.

To enter the contest, hopeful participants had to submit a two-minute video with details of their original honeymoon and explain how they would recreate that trip with the grand prize of around $20,000 from TPG and our expert help in planning an epic second honeymoon.

Not only were Mark and Joani just months away from celebrating 52 years of marriage when they entered the contest, but they also had a pretty extraordinary honeymoon the first time around.

"I thought our story was unique," Mark shared with TPG.

After learning the details of that original honeymoon, I couldn't agree more.

The newlywed's original honeymoon

Mark and Joani were married on July 5, 1970.

"That night, we got on a teacher charter flight (a chartered flight specifically for teachers who were free to travel while school was out for the summer) to Amsterdam and spent the next two months driving across Europe.

During that time, the Shares visited eight countries, drove more than 3,700 miles, stayed in more than 20 hotels, pensions and guest houses, and made countless memories.

The first time around, the Shares were on a tight budget.

"We were teachers just out of college," Joani said. "We stayed in some pretty cheap places, but at that time, it was easy to travel around Europe without spending a lot," she added.

In addition to the paper maps that helped them navigate from city to city, their "bible" at the time was Frommer's "Europe on 5 Dollars a Day."

A second honeymoon, courtesy of TPG

This time, they had a much larger budget provided by TPG with which to recreate the most cherished moments from their first honeymoon.

Their first stop, fittingly, was Rome. The couple enjoyed a celebratory glass of wine and some snacks at San Francisco International Airport's (SFO) United Polaris Lounge before settling into their business class seats (Joani slept while Mark watched "Top Gun: Maverick") for the long flight.

During their six-hour layover in Frankfurt, the Shares visited the Lufthansa Business Lounge where Joani, a retired art teacher, cut up foreign language newspapers for art projects she planned to create after their trip.

After their short Lufthansa business class connection between Frankfurt and Rome, it was time to start recreating the romance.

Mark and Joani met with local photographer Guido with Flytographer at the Trevi Fountain and tossed coins over their shoulder while the photographer snapped away.

While in Rome, they also visited the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Colosseum, the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. They also took a walking tour of Rome's Jewish Ghetto with Jewish Roma Walking Tours, visited a handful of other churches and spent time exploring the city's many markets, alleys and piazzas.

Before traveling on to Spain, the couple took a train to Cinque Terre and spent three nights exploring the five historic fishing villages that comprise the area and even learned to make pesto, gnocchi and sea bass at the Cinque Terre Cooking School. They ended their time in Cinque Terre with a sunset cruise by Cinque Terre del Mare Tours that allowed them to bid farewell to all five villages.

From there, they took a train back to Rome to catch their flight to Barcelona, where they stayed at the Kimpton Vividora in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter.

What they were most looking forward to seeing in Barcelona was La Sagrada Familia. Construction on the yet-unfinished church designed by Antoni Gaudi began in the 1880s. Prior to this trip, the Shares visited the church twice, giving them the opportunity to see it in various states of construction.

In 1970, they had a difficult time imagining it would ever be completed.

"You could see the outside of it, but there was nothing to see on the inside," shared Joani. "There were huge groups of carvers chipping away at the stone and it was just this bizarre gravel pit and part of a building. You had no real sense of what it was going to look like."

When they returned in 2014, there was progress, but the Shares held on to their doubt that Gaudi's vision would ever be realized.

Finally, during their most recent visit on their second honeymoon, they noted the interior of the church looked to be just about complete and marveled at the beautiful stained glass windows and plethora of intricate carvings on the exterior.

The rest of their time in Barcelona was spent visiting the Dali Museum, taking in an orchestral performance at Palau de la Musica Catalana and visiting Mercado de la Boqueria, Barcelona's largest indoor market.

The couple also explored Casa Mila (also known as La Pedrera) and Casa Batllo, both of which are Gaudí masterpieces. They scheduled a private paella cooking class at Savour Academy — which they say has ruined them for restaurant paella forever.

Additionally, they took a day trip to Girona, a more than 2,000-year-old town with beautiful medieval architecture that also served as a filming location for "Game of Thrones."

Alas, Barcelona was the final stop on the Shares' second honeymoon. All that was left to do was cozy up in their United business class seats and reminisce about their romantic re-do on the long flight home.

The flight was long enough that Mark enjoyed a "Top Gun: Maverick" rewatch and Joani commenced work on her art projects.

Europe — then and now

Though there were obvious differences between this honeymoon and their first, many elements remained the same. Of those, Mark and Joani took particular notice of the fact that the people and the food had not changed.

"On this trip and our trip 52 years ago, the people were really nice," Mark said. "They go out of their way to help you."

As far as the food, it's just as much a way of life and ingrained in the culture as it was in 1970.

"Whether you pay a little bit of money for a meal or a lot, it's always good," explained Mark. "Food is part of the environment. It's just fun and it's always worth eating. Going the extra mile and learning how to prepare some of those foods this time around made those meals even more enriching."

Mark and Joani's future travel plans

The Shares are intrepid travelers. They've been to Belize, Mexico, all over Europe and the United States. This year, they already have plans to visit Israel for a bar mitzvah, and they are taking their granddaughter to the Grand Canyon.

While there are still a lot of new places they'd love to explore, there is one spot from their honeymoons that they plan to revisit.

"When La Sagrada Familia is finally finished, we want to go back to Barcelona to see it one more time," the couple shared.

Of course, those fortuitous coins tossed into the Trevi Fountain seemed to have worked pretty well the first time around. Based on that, it looks like a return to Rome may be in Mark and Joani's future.