Italian Villa Destination Wedding 意大利古堡风情婚礼

Wenbin Yuan

Destination wedding in Italy villas 意大利古堡远程婚礼that were mostly built from medieval times, renaissance times, and through the past 900 years of on and off renovations is becoming popular among the overachievers of American young lovers. It provides romantic feelings created by the romantic arts of Renaissance, reasoning and historical backdrops of Florence. It adds depth to a once in a lifetime event.在新一代精英的美国年轻人中，以文艺复兴为基调的始于中世纪豪门修建在佛罗伦萨远郊的山区里的浪漫建筑和精美花园中举行的历时三天的婚礼模式变得慢慢流行起来。

Renaissance times centered from Florence after the scholars brought in the classic Greek literature after the fall of Eastern Roman Empire broke the thousand years of medieval darkness in the West and started using art, science, philosophy and reasoning to conquer the world: the renaissance times. It is the the first time a small city state conquered the world by a cultural revolution that made Florence a sacred birth place of new world of civilization and scientific development.
佛罗伦萨是冲破中世纪黑暗的象征，罗曼蒂克的圣地，西方文化崛起的文艺复兴之策源的。点缀在深山之中的让人难忘的处理在山巅之上的巨大豪宅和城堡以及那些比豪宅又大了很多倍的到处是精美雕刻的花园和巨大园林，与仅仅是大片房屋的乔家大院的构思形成巨大反差。到有一点像日本的“大阪城“的以花园为重心的设计理念。美国相应的豪宅有DC的Dumbarton Oaks, 和 Mrs. Post 庄园，川普的海湖庄园（Post过去在南方过冬的“冬宫”），以及加州的Huntington Library. 但没了文艺复兴的背景还是缺乏了浪漫的情趣和文化的深度。

Milan may be more of pomps and grandeurs, Rome maybe more ancient glories and impressive archeological marvels, but only Florence holds the reputation of a birthplace for our modern world culturally.

佛罗伦萨作为东罗马帝国1475年灭亡，学者们把古希腊文学哲学和科学在逃亡过程中带往佛罗伦萨共和国的避难所，通过发掘古希腊文化和将其发扬光大使得一大批后来的巨匠出现影响了全世界，也构成了西方文艺复兴后渐渐强大的开始。在这个始于1500年的史无前例的伟大的文化革命过程中拉斐尔，达芬奇，米开朗基罗等巨匠都在佛罗伦萨留下对人类的伟大贡献。这些贡献最后是西方文明在东罗马帝国一千年后消亡在伊斯兰文明之后又重新占领世界。世界上人类第一次不用火与血来征服，而新的中国也许会开启第二次文化的征服？

我的朋友选择这个地方作为婚礼的殿堂十分理想。只是来的上百号人大都是名校毕业的精英，工作人员也都是专业操作，尽显高雅，不是一般年轻人可以随意动议的婚礼。

Although the old castle of I Bonsi is magnificent and gorgeous after 900 years of continuous renovation, Ben and Steph want to have a more natural outdoor wedding, even in the rain.

The ceremony was orchestrated by Ben or Steph’s friends, following the general format of a traditional western wedding ceremony. However, each word and step were carefully prepared to be unique to the newly weds and humorous. I have learned a lot from them as a continuous education that most of our older people never had enough.

Ben 是我看着长大的孩子，今年35岁，哥大毕业，现在是美国一个新能源储能公司项目主管。他曾经是我的围棋助教，在9岁时拿到50多个学生的围棋冠军。我女儿就此从多年围棋冠军宝座上被掀翻，吃到了失败的滋味儿，也是她人生的一个里程碑。

Villas are mostly very old and many over 809 years old. People admire their huge structures and high ceilings (usually two stories high), and the sculptures all over the places. But the gardens are the real brag of the villas in this Tuscany regions to show old glories and a gilded age.

花园和雕刻是这些有巨大屋顶的800多年山顶上老古堡的真正吸引人的地方。

Sculptures everywhere to show their affluence and artistic tastes.

Water pool is also a must in these villas. The southern Italy has a large contrast with the northern in that the northern is a lot richer in later years and has a lot better houses but not many huge villas. But Florence has a huge amount of impossibly large villas but not many large houses around them.

It is like China, the huge development was built on top of sacrificing the poor peasants.

Large terraces were constructed to show the depth of the estate and thus I Bonsi villa has over 350 acres of olive trees and forest and only five employees. The family owned it for 200 years after it was abandoned for about 100 years for the lack of funding.

Tuscany landscape is an ideal place for the rich to enjoy the tranquility and beauty of a countryside life from the buzzing city life of Florence.

We had a seven course wedding dinner, all marvelously prepared and presented in a professional way by over 20 uniformed waiters at the same time for each course. So much so that no one has to watch others eating while having nothing to do.

Wine, Appetizer, salads, rottoso, beef and fish, plus a very delicious dessert, total seven courses.

Bride’s family from NJ, NY and Taiwan

Young and rare talents

Most destination comers played a carefully crafted role in the three day process and some speeches are tear driving, like the one from the groom’s sister AnAn. She is one of the rare comers who is not from Ivy League, but she is also one of few who got her grant to finish her PhD by herself.

AnAn is now a postdoctoral fellow at UPenn studying public health challenges using her own grant in the next three years. That is also a show of rare talent among post docs who are relying their advisors for money.

I also met my daughter’s tennis buddy at the wedding. She is a young mom but graduated with a high tech job and now retired to a new stage of life. Her twin sister is finishing her medical doctors degree from the Einstein school of medicine in NY this week as one of few who’s medical school tuition’s free. How lucky are these young fantastic looking and rare talented destination attendees!

Based on NYT

“Italy is a dream destination for retirees as well as travelers. You can live in the mountains or on the coast, in an ancient walled city or a handkerchief-size town. Wherever you choose will likely be more affordable than the US equivalent and accessible to the rest of Europe. Italy can be an especially good deal for the very wealthy, Kuenzi says. A married couple can pay a flat €350,000 ($405,000) a year in taxes, then claim a credit in the US. Visa requirements are higher than in some other countries, says Mohr-Elzeki—you must demonstrate passive annual income of about $30,000 to $40,000. Visa holders can get Italian health-care coverage for a few thousand dollars a year.”

“Popular areas include Tuscany, Umbria and, recently, Puglia, the heel of the country’s boot. Living in the south can bring substantial tax benefits, such as a 7% annual flat tax for foreign retirees who move to smaller towns in less developed regions, Ingrim says. That even includes Sicily’s Taormina, the picturesque hilltop town that was featured in The White Lotus. One caveat: Italians tend to buy homes for life, he explains, so markets can move slowly, taxes are levied up front, and it can be challenging to find a rental home.”

香港大学著名建筑学教授，新郎的叔叔，在月亮河的音乐中陶醉了。薛教授著有十八本建筑学著作，是建筑学国际知名教授。专程赶来参加侄子婚礼，顺便走访地中海沿岸古建筑历史，实现着一位学者退休之后的随走随停的潇洒人生。 他们一家三位兄弟都是科技界教授，父母早期庚子赔款留美学成归国。