Our Story
How did you meet? – the question most commonly asked to a new couple. Our story technically began on March 26th, 2019 – but it really began two years earlier. After spending 6 years in Boston, Leo made the decision to move back to Athens in February of 2017. After studying at Boston University, making friends and even establishing a career, Leo knew he wanted to be back working on growing the family business alongside his father and brother. The transition back to Greece and the winery of Domaine Hatzimichalis was both easy and difficult – but thankfully Leo has an amazing family and group of friends who he was thrilled to reunite with. Leo also made many new friends from work, including one particularly supportive salesman from another winery!
One year later, Alex was accepted for a research role to work while she was going to be completing her master’s degree at the University of Michigan. However, Alex wanted to seek adventure. She started applying for master’s programs abroad – specifically in Athens, Greece. Eventually, Alex was accepted and moved to Greece. And while her family in Michigan was incredibly supportive – as were her relatives in Athens – the transition of moving to a new country with a foreign language and no friends was difficult. Fortunately, she made many great friends at business school, even one who was also from Michigan!
Back to March 26th, 2019, when two mutual friends of ours asked to set us up on a blind date. You guessed it – the wine salesman friend of Leo’s and the business student friend of Alex’s! They refused to give away any details, because in their words, “where’s the romance in that?”
Reluctantly, we agreed to meet two days later, but only if our friends would be in attendance.
Well, we weren’t necessarily excited to meet a stranger on a blind date. After all, Alex was supposed to be on an early flight the next morning to meet the Ecumenical Patriarch, and Leo was supposed to be at a Panathinaikos basketball game with his brother. In an effort to pass up on the date, Alex decided to run late – about an hour late – but our friends waited patiently. On the other hand, Leo decided that the date shouldn’t ruin the basketball game – so he showed up two hours late! Fortunately, these friends of ours were understanding and we all had a lovely evening, and we all said our goodbyes.
After, Leo went on many business trips abroad, while Alex finished up her classes for her master’s program. We both went on to travel a lot during that summer – with our own friends and with an occasional call to say hello. As fate would have it, we happened to travel to Heraklion, Crete one weekend, where we had our second date. Again, we continued our summer island hopping and travels, where we once again ran into each other in Mykonos!
Alright, we both said enough of ignoring the signs, let’s give each other the time of day and actually get to know one another. We did just that, and we’ve never been happier than every day we get to spend together. We are so thankful to have such supportive family and friends, and of course, our loving dog Ragnar!
#ALEO2023