Honeymoon is over for penniless Greek couple in NYC, begging after bank cards were declined

Newlyweds Valasia Limnioti, right, and Konstantinos Patronis stand along 34th Street and 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, Thursday, July 2, 2015, in New York. Newlyweds Limnioti and Patronis topped "the dream trip of our lives" in New York City, where their three-week honeymoon turned into a nightmare: Their Greek-issued credit cards were suddenly declined and they were left nearly penniless. Strangers from two Greek Orthodox churches in Queens came to their rescue, giving them survival cash until their flight home to Greece this Friday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (The Associated Press)

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Newlyweds Valasia Limnioti, right, and Konstantinos Patronis walk along 34th Street and 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, Thursday, July 2, 2015, in New York. The couple topped "the dream trip of our lives" in New York City, where their three-week honeymoon turned into a nightmare: Their Greek-issued credit cards were suddenly declined and they were left nearly penniless. Strangers from two Greek Orthodox churches in Queens came to their rescue, giving them survival cash until their flight home to Greece this Friday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (The Associated Press)

Newlyweds Valasia Limnioti, left, and Konstantinos Patronis talk to one another in their hotel room in Midtown Manhattan, Thursday, July 2, 2015, in New York. The couple topped "the dream trip of our lives" in New York City, where their three-week honeymoon turned into a nightmare: Their Greek-issued credit cards were suddenly declined and they were left nearly penniless. Strangers from two Greek Orthodox churches in Queens came to their rescue, giving them survival cash until their flight home to Greece this Friday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (The Associated Press)

NEW YORK – A trip to New York City turned out to be a nightmare for one Greek newlywed couple.

Their U.S. honeymoon ended in a city they always dreamed of visiting — but not penniless.

Valasia Limnioti (vah-lah-SEE'-ah lim-nee-OH'-tee) and her new husband ran out of cash a few days ago. Their Greek-issued credit and debit cards were declined. The Greek government has stopped card withdrawals as the country careens into financial disaster.

Limniotis says she cried for two days. They spent their last dollars on dinner at McDonald's.

Now, two Greek Orthodox churches in Queens are coming to the couple's rescue. The churches, along with a New York-based Greek journalist, have given them survival cash.

The newlyweds return to Greece on Friday.