Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez to spotlight Venice's artisanal heritage during upcoming nuptials
VENICE, Italy — Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez have invited celebrity friends like fellow space traveler Katy Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger and Ivanka Trump for their Venice nuptials later this month, but the couple hopes to put a spotlight on Venice's traditions during the celebrations.
They are sourcing some 80% of their wedding provisions from Venetian vendors, according to people close to the couple, as a way to share their appreciation for the romantic lagoon city. The wedding will take place over three days in late June, with events kept private.
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Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez to spotlight Venice's artisanal heritage during upcoming nuptials
VENICE, Italy -- Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez have invited celebrity friends like fellow space traveler Katy Perry, Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger and Ivanka Trump for their Venice nuptials later this month, but the couple hopes to put a spotlight on Venice's traditions during the celebrations. They are sourcing some 80% of their wedding provisions from Venetian vendors, according to people close to the couple, as a way to share their appreciation for the romantic lagoon city. The wedding will take place over three days in late June, with events kept private. Two historic Venetian companies will add artisanal touches to the celebration: Rosa Salva, the city's oldest pastry maker that has been crafting donut-shaped fishermen's biscuits since 1876, and Laguna B, a design studio known for its distinctive handblown Murano glass prized by fashion and design clients. Antonio Rosa Salva, the 6th generation in his family to run the business, said the wedding order of a selection of surprises for goody bags was important recognition of his family's long tradition of baking Venetian specialties dating back 150 years. They include the bussola buttery biscuit that was long a fisherman's staple, and small zaletti cookies, made from the Veneto region's corn meal, flavored with raisins and lemon zest. 'We try to maintain the old recipes,'' said Rosa Salva, whose family business includes a catering service and four locations in Venice's historic center and one on the mainland. 'We do everything with love. It's a pleasure and a privilege.'' Rosa Salva, whose business regularly caters large events for 1,000 or more people in Venice, is perplexed by posters that have gone up around the historic center protesting the use of the city as a venue for the Bezos-Sanchez wedding. 'Events like this bring quality tourism to Venice,'' he said. 'I don't see how an event with 200 people can create disruptions. It's responsible tourism. It's prestigious that a couple like this, who can go anywhere in the world, are getting married in the city.' Laguna B was founded by Marie Brandolini, who became known as the glass countess, in 1994, and the company is now being guided by her son, Marcantonio, from the family's palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal. The younger Brandolini said his vision is to restore the Venetian tradition of running creative enterprises out of Venice's grand palazzi, which historically dedicated the ground floor to work spaces for the merchant nobility. His is a good example. The company employs 14 people under 30 out of offices in the back garden and a boutique in an adjacent alleyway, in a sector, he underlines, 'not related to tourism.'' His upstairs neighbors are Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller – close friends of Bezos and Sanchez, but he doesn't think that is why the wedding planner singled out his company, which is well known among a small network of collectors. Laguna B won't disclose what his master glassblowers on Murano have created for the wedding, but the company is known for distinctive glassware that at times feature an undulating lip – no two alike. 'I hope they like what we did for them,'' Brandolini said. 'For us, it's a great opportunity, it gives extra support for our growth.'' While the business thrives on such important orders, Brandolini said he is equally gratified by young, discerning customers who seek out the shop because they admire the company's commitment to community building, reviving Venice's artisanal heritage and projects to help protect the fragile lagoon. They might buy just a single drinking glass. His is a message of inclusivity, which he also applies to the Bezos-Sanchez choice of wedding venue. 'The world is for everybody. Whoever wants to do something, should be able to do it, following the law.' Unsurprisingly in a city whose future is fiercely debated at every turn, the wedding has attracted the attention of protesters, who on Thursday hung a banner on St. Mark's bell tower with Bezos crossed out. They cite the risk of disruptions in a city so overrun with mass tourism that officials are for a second year requiring day-trippers to pay a tax to enter on key summer days. City officials have pledged that services will function normally during the wedding, and issued a denial in late March to reports that the wedding organizers had booked half the city's water taxis and blocked out rooms at luxury hotels. 'We are very proud,'' Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told The Associated Press this week in St. Mark's Square, saying he hoped he would get the chance to meet Bezos. 'I don't know if I will have time, or if he will, to meet and shake hands, but it's an honor that they chose Venice. Venice once again reveals itself to be a global stage.''
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CNN
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‘You look hot,' she told the Italian stranger. For both of them, it was love at first sight
In travel news this week: the secret rules of British pubs, what it's like inside one of Asia's biggest fish markets, plus lasting love connections that began on trips to Italy and France. It was summer 2022 and California-based model Ambika Mathur was 'feeling kind of stagnant' after breaking up with her partner and moving back in with her parents. The Netflix show, 'Emily in Paris,' inspired her to set off on her own European adventure, which is how weeks later she found herself cat-sitting in Milan. Then, out of the blue, came an invite to a party on the Amalfi Coast. That's how she opened the door to an intriguing fellow guest. 'He was glowing and glistening,' she says of the Italian man, 'all tan and blue eyes.' Within days they were talking about marriage. Here's what happened next. There was an immediate attraction, too, when American Kerri Cunningham met Hugh Grant-haired Brit Dirk Stevens on a ferry to France in the summer of 1993. The problem was, they were only teenagers on vacation with their families. More than a quarter of a century after their teen romance had concluded and their lives were overtaken by marriage, bereavement and family ups and downs, they reunited in Ireland. 'It felt like some divine intervention that we were there for each other,' says Kerri. Before she left for the airport to return to the States, Dirk asked her, 'Maybe we can make this work?' British pubs have their own set of unwritten rules that it pays for international visitors to know. For example, flat-roofed pubs should be approached with caution, bags of crisps (not potato chips) must be split open on the table, and warning bells ring out twice at the end of the night. Find out more in our 21st-century guide to the great British boozer. One chain of 800 British pubs requires further introduction for outsiders. Wetherspoon pubs are a cult-like institution in the UK, both among admirers, who love the real ale and 'pub grub' sold at incredibly low prices, and detractors, who see them as everything that's wrong with the country at large. Here's the astounding story of the 'Spoons' empire. At the other end of the scale, and on the northern edge of the island, Scotland's 'ghost' whisky distilleries are coming back to life. The reborn Port Ellen distillery on the Isle of Islay offers a luxury visitor experience, which includes, surprisingly, Chinese tea service. California man Cameron Mofid has struggled with obsessive compulsive disorder since childhood, but the one thing that's helped him cope is traveling the world. Earlier this year, he became one of a handful of people in the world to have visited all 195 UN-recognized countries and territories. 'Visiting every country wasn't just about geography,' he tells CNN. 'It was about learning how to live with uncertainty, find calm in discomfort, and connect with people from every walk of life.' Music is the message for Danny Kean, who has been traversing North America for 20 years, improvising on a piano in the back of his pickup. On each of his outings, he invites passersby to tickle the ivory for themselves. 'I love the idea of strangers becoming less afraid of each other,' he says. 'This love for humanity drives me to keep doing good.' Writer Kim Davis lost 10 years of her life to illness, injury and personal tragedies, which spurred her to seize the moment and set off to travel the world for a year. Packing, of course, was a meticulous business. She told our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN, what she's brought with her. CNN Travel's Lilit Marcus tasted her way through the many rows of Seoul's Noryangjin Fish Market, famous for its hundreds of vendors and its wide variety of fresh fish and live seafood. When she tried live octopus, however, she may have bitten more than she could chew. This tiny Southeast Asia runway was once considered 'the most secret place on Earth.' It was a Cold War base for the CIA. It had become a shabby relic. Now one of Europe's grandest hotels is being restored to its former glory. A man posed as a flight attendant to get dozens of free flights. He's awaiting sentencing for two convictions. Nearly $10,000 for 500 grams of old tangerine peels? Welcome to Xinhui, where 'gold' grows on trees.
