As you park your car in front of the hotel, a valet warmly welcomes you and directs you to the reception. The decoration is just amazing. It definitely is not a place if you are not willing to pay, which was of course not the case in the 50’s. Due to high popularity with Hollywood blockbusters such as Under the Tuscan Sun, Only You, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, the prices have increased over time.

Though you do get what you pay for; the elegance, luxury, view and the breakfast is just amazing. If you would prefer, you may spend the day by the pool at the hotel or wonder away, go for a hike on the steep hills or a drive to near towns such as Amalfi.

If you wish to stay at the hotel for lunch or dinner, you are advised to make a reservation before hand, since the restaurant at the hotel is the best in Positano. They have new menues for each and every day, thus you have a low chance of eating the same food if you were to stay there for a week.

Since it does get quite hot during the summer, you may opt not to leave the hotel during the noon hours and be off the sun. If that is the case, you are entitled to a selection of 600 DVD’s available at the Spa. Every room is equipped with a DVD player. In each room there is a BOSE Sound Dock for your IPod. If you lack your Ipod for this trip, you may get one at the reception for your time at Le Sirenuse.

One other grand services is the boat trips. If you want to go to Capri Island in privacy, which is only about 30-45 minutes depending on your boat, you may rent one from the reception. We have not done so, since we have both seen Capri on our previous travels, but there are two Riva’s available for rent for 1000 Euros/day (Quite steep I know, but worth it if you have the dough). Since there is a line for this boat, you are encouraged to sign-up before you get to Le Sirenuse.

At nights, the restaurant is open with a new menu and a wide selection of wines. If you would like you may enjoy dinner at the Oyster and Champagne Bar…

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This place was first discovered by the Greeks; they were the first ones to settle in this region. Close to this province, you may visit the islands where the mythical “Sirens” seduced the seamen with their music and sunk their boats.

Not another building has been built nor a single nail has been nailed, that would change to look of the town, for the last 50 years, which is remarkable and sets and example how such treasures of a country should be preserved.

The cork-screw roads with no-passing for miles, each by which your expectations rise, lead you to this breath-taking place.

Known to many by the movies taken for tens of years, the spectacle town does not fail to astonish one with its beauty.

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From the time we have decided that we should have our wedding in Athens, Yanni has literally ‘owned’ our organization and prepared all the meetings with Grand Resort Lagonissi, the flower shops, the music organization company, transportation, lodging for the guests, the works… For a few times he referred to our wedding as “my wedding,” which might give you an idea of how much he valued it. Of course I owe this to Zeynep, my wife, and her close friendship between them.

Our wedding would have not been such a successful event if it wasn’t for you Yanni. Thank you for being there for us.

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…we have him,

…he rushed our wedding for “just in case”,

…he was there for and with us, on our day.

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You would expect to be more nervous, yet in actual, it feels just so right… No obligations, no worries, no regrets, just the lightness of pure happiness that floats you through…

The fact that we had our official wedding at the Consulate General of Turkey, we have figured, we should be there with our guest from the beginning till the end. Normally, in Turkey, the couple to be married makes a grand entrance for the ceremony, which is usually after the cocktail, if there is any, or during the dinner, again which is about a couple of hours after the guests actually arrive at the place. We did not want that. First of all, we could not have done that to our guest who have came from all over the world just to see us and to be with us, but more importantly, the place we had the welcoming cocktail, Veranda, is not a place you would want to miss. Just a view to die for…

…and since we were the reason for this event, we should have enjoyed every single second as we surely did. One minor set-back we encountered was the nature itself. Due to high wind, we could not continue our dinner on the terrace, but it just turned out more than fine indoors.

We are in Greece, by this time we had quite a bit of experience of dancing the Greek style, can you think of a better music? Well there isn’t… The Turks, the Greeks, the Americans, the young and the not so young :-)… It was a sight to see, a night to live…

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By this time, most of our guests have arrived from Turkey and the rest of the world. We may not have had a  traditional Greek Wedding in Greece, but since we were already there, one more night of fun, the Greek way,  would be in order. Below is a picture of the bride, groom, our dear friend Georgia and Yanni’s father doing Sirtaki dance.

Just about a month before our wedding, we have taken Sirtaki lessons, 2 of 4 which I have missed due to work, but it did not stop me trying my best…

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…below is as the newly wed bride, my bride, being presented with the Certificate of Family by the Consulate General Beyza Unatan.

Presenting to you the new Tekin Family…

Unfortunately, my sister and my niece were not with us due to the sickness of my niece, which I have mentioned on my previous posts. None the less, they will join us for our wedding party tomorrow.

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Even with our foremost efforts, we could not get the Consulate General to come to our wedding at the Grand Resort Lagonissi due to jurisdiction reasons. So we are to be wed at the consulate, which is the Turkish soil. Below are from our departure from GRL.

As Zeynep and I arrive at the Veranda to meet our guests.

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The Italian food is one of the best, at the least, you may eat outside of Italy as the delicacies of the Italian chef  are introduced to you by himself very articulate and the taste of his dishes are boosted with a wide selection of wine from all over the world.

We had to enjoy our dinner in this amazing view without the presence of my mother, my sister and my niece as they had to take my niece to the hospital due to her high fever, as I was informed of her situation when I arrived at the restaurant.

Right after dinner, I left Lagonissi to meet my mother and sister at the hospital and companied my sis there for the rest of the night.

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Well I had to find the answer of this question the hard way, as Azra came down with a high fever right after spending only one night in Athens. As she was sick for more than a week back in Istanbul, but thought to have recovered, and had to be hospitalized after these pictures were taken later that day.

The worse part is that even though Greece is a European Union country, the public hospitals are no better than the ones in Turkey. One better side is that the doctors are good no matter the condition and in which the state of the hospital facilities are…

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