I and mine chose the Bosphorus instead of the Tiber.
It was still the case when I was growing up (in the 50s and 60s) that a nice Greek girl would not marry a non-Greek boy. A friend of my dad's fell in love with a beautiful girl, but her family would not allow her to marry him and she sadly acquiesced. Very sad, but I think it would have been a difficult cross-cultural marriage 40 years ago. My Big Fat Greek Wedding to the contrary notwithstanding.