A word from the author: As August approaches, so does the one year anniversary of our trip to Italy. It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by since we were jumping in Lake Como, traversing back in time in Florence, and stargazing in Tuscany. A lot has transpired this past year, and as I get closer to my own wedding day, I think it’s a great time to reflect on the incredible love story and memorable wedding that brought us to Italy (and will go down in history) in the first place. So after almost a year, I now give you the finale to Exploring Italy One Wine at a Time…
After almost a week to ourselves traveling around Italy with a new adventure each day, the moment we’d been waiting for finally arrived: Ping & Alessia’s wedding. We bid farewell to Radda in Chianti and wound our way through the Tuscan mountain range (literally) out to the east coast & our final destination, Ancona.
The soon-to-be bride & groom greeted us as we were checking into the hotel, leading us to where the rest of the guests were waiting for the “city tour” led by Alessia’s father. It was surreal to see my friends, each with their own European travel stories, all congregated in another country for this special occasion. Altogether, Ping & Alessia had about 30 relatives travel from China, another 15-20 from the United States, 2 from Argentina, and the rest were locally from Italy. Quite the worldly event.
Instead of a rehearsal dinner, the visiting guests got a tour of Ancona, followed by a relaxed apertivo in the square. Given the long day that lay ahead of us, we all turned in early, saving our energy (and appetites) for the wedding.
The wedding was set for 4:30, located at the Basilica Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Ciriaco, a Roman Catholic cathedral built in 1017 atop a hilltop overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Fortunately, a bus transported us from the hotel to the cathedral, saving us a lot of premature sweating. We filed into the cathedral and took our seats, while oddly enough, tourists were walking through and reading up on the church.
Because I was one of Ping’s “witnesses,” I sat up front in the church next to his brother, and waited to hear those famous chords. They had arranged the mass so that each group could have a relatable part, since the mass was in Italian. Ping’s brother did a reading in Chinese, our friend Eric did one in English, and Alessia’s good friend did one in Italian. To top it off, Alessia’s sister was the violinist for the mass, and Ping’s aunt, who is an opera professor in Beijing, sang Ave Maria, which rang beautifully in the cathedral’s acoustics.
At this point, everyone should just give up trying to compete with this wedding…
After the ceremony, we escorted all the guests into this ginormous tour bus to bring us to the reception at Hotel Excelsior La Fonte. Considering how narrow the streets of downtown Ancona were, it was a white-knuckle situation being a passenger in this oversized vehicle. It is a wonder we were able to fit through some of these streets at all! But we made it – even stopping traffic for a solid 15 minutes to take pictures in the perfect natural lighting and setting.
As Alessia & Ping shared more details about the wedding during the planning stages, the one thing they emphasized the most was the food: how many types, how many courses, how important the food is to the whole day, etc. And they were right: the cocktail hour took place on the hotel’s patio, offering prosecco, beer, or spritz for drinks, and a large table of fresh seafood and shellfish dishes. There was shrimp cocktail, tartar, oysters on the half shell, calamari, and more; there was also a table of cheese & charcuterie, and more of the fried/finger-foods…and this was just the cocktail hour!
But luckily, we walked some of it off when we went down to the beach for sunset photos prior to dinner.
The dinner tables were set up on the lower patio, framed with twinkly lights. Once we all sat down, the servers began to bring out the courses (of which there were 5!), while the DJ kept the party going. It was unlike a traditional wedding, which would typically have had a timeline of introductions, dancing, games, etc. Instead, the games, dancing, and other entertainment happened throughout the dinner. It kept things interesting and exciting since there was never a real lull in the night.
As part of Italian tradition, Alessia’s friends organized several cheeky games for the newlyweds to play – all of which had us in stitches. Ping’s aunt & uncle (who is also an opera professor) both sang an operatic duet, which stole the show & gathered quite a crowd of bystanders above.
Dessert and the cake were served poolside. The pool bar was opened to serve digestivos, and brought some lighter music for winding down the night. All of the desserts were delicious –and yes, I made sure to get a bite of everything–including the cake, which had stunning hand-crafted flowers adorning it.
The only disappointment from the wedding was not getting a to-go bag for the desserts. With full bellies and tired feet, we slept long and hard.
The next day, we met Alessia and some friends at the beach for one last Italian hurrah. Like Lake Como, the beach didn’t have smooth sand, but the water was a delicious aqua-blue and warm enough that you could walk right in. The geography was fascinating too: you look in one direction and see the crystal blue of the sea, and in the other is towering green mountains.
It was very beautiful. Naturally, Nick and I adventured to the pier where people were jumping off of, getting some great footage on the Go-Pro. But because we had one more long drive ahead of us, we had to say goodbye to our friends – both new & old – and the comforting warmth of the Italian coast.
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By the end of the trip, we were definitely ready to go home – although we wished we could bring Italy back with us (in addition to the 4 bottles of wine, 2 leather jackets, and sun-kissed tans we brought back). Between the people we encountered, the natural and historic sights we saw, and the little cultural swaps we tried–and loved, like coffee for espresso–we left Europe satiated from great experiences and fond memories.
SubArbia 