It’s again this time of the year: I have to look back and try to wrap up what happened during the past 365 days. However, this year I feel relieved. My 2022 year review won’t have the aggressiveness of my 2021 recap, nor it’ll have the thunderstruck sentiment of 2020. Things seem to be getting better. But is it really like this?
While Covid is still around us, lockdowns aren’t. So 2022 feels like a giant leap toward normality, even though nothing is actually very normal. There’s a war in Europe, inflation is killing incomes and jobs, the virus still circulates, and most of us worry about the (near) future.
Ever since I started this blog, the “Year in review” has been my most freestyle article. And although I never look forward to writing them because we all get a year older, the annual reviews give me some freedom to express myself. So, for 2022, I chose to make this article more visual: it’s split into twelve sections, and I share impressions and images that marked each month of 2022.
So, let’s see how 2022 unfolded.
The 2022 Year Review
So, here’s a selection of 2022 moments. After this section, you can also see some of my smartphone photos and a couple of videos I shot this year.
January 2022: White days and nights
It doesn’t happen that often, but this year it did. On January 24, 2022, a severe snowfall hit Athens. The Greek capital enjoys pleasant weather year-long, and sunny days are the rule even in the winter. However, on the last days of January, a cold front invaded the city, and it snowed even in the seaside suburbs.
Some meteorologists warned about the snow, but no one expected what was about to happen. In less than 24 hours, the city was covered with a thick blanket of snow that resulted in severe problems: hundreds of drivers had to be evacuated from the biggest motorway in the city, and power cuts left thousands of households without electricity and heating for one or more nights.
I didn’t have electricity for more than 24 hours, and the low voltage destroyed my laptop’s battery and damaged its screen. Seen from a distance, staying next to the fireplace all night long and looking at the silver sky sending half a meter of snow overnight can easily be romanticized. However, it was a freezing night -and the damages weren’t compensated.
It took several days for the snow to melt.
February 2022: Stop the war
I couldn’t wait for the Berlinale. I love watching films during Berlin’s dark days and cold nights every February, and returning to the cinemas after the pandemic sounded like a February 2022 highlight. And indeed, I watched movies at the 2022 Berlinale wearing my face mask uncomfortably. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the month’s highlight.
On February 24, 2022, Russia’s War against Ukraine was initiated. A war in Europe (or, a war against Europe) was unthinkable. Yet, from late February on, Ukraine was under attack.
I’ve visited Ukraine several times in the past few years. As I often said to friends (and on this blog), I found it one of the most original countries in Europe. A year before the war, I was in Kyiv; two years before, I was in Odesa. And now the country had to suffer from an unfair war.
On February 27, a massive anti-war protest took place in Berlin. It was the biggest in Europe, and more than half a million people participated. I joined the protest, and seeing a peaceful crowd walking in the streets of Berlin was definitely a moment to remember.
March 2022: back on (solo) track
I’ve been a solo traveler for my entire adult life. However, the pandemic made me almost forget how to travel alone. But in March 2022, after a tiring winter, I decided it was time to be on the road again. But it seemed I had to learn everything from scratch.
Where did I check for tickets? How did I decide on a hotel? What did I pack the last time? Did I ever prepare myself psychologically for traveling alone? And: why on earth did I travel so much alone?
I felt I had witnessed these questions for the first time. But, the day I decided to visit Gothenburg in Sweden, all these questions didn’t matter anymore. It felt as if the mind knew from its experience how to handle everything -and the body just followed it.
Gothenburg saved me -and it saved the blog. I flew to Sweden’s second-biggest city on March 18. It was cold but extremely sunny, and I think I even got a sun tan. Walking and cycling around a foreign city reminded me of what it feels like to escape from daily life for a couple of days and call home a random hotel room.
For me, that’s the only definition of luxury.
April 2022: alive in silence
The solo traveling mindset returned for good. I was hungry to see new places, and shortly after returning from Sweden, I booked a flight to a warmer -in terms of climate- country.
In April 2022, I visited Malta for the first time. Despite being a popular destination close to Athens, I always failed to visit it. But I was sure early spring in Malta sounded like a great idea. And indeed, it proved to be fantastic.
My faith in wanderlust was restored. I walked extensively around the tiny capital, Valletta, and I tried to trace Thomas Pynchon’s “V.” locations in the city. Then, I took a ferry to Gozo and visited the Silent City another day. I shot polaroids, I drank cocktails, and I saw art.
In Malta, I felt alive again.
May 2022: pocket neighborhoods
After exploring Osnabrück and attending a fantastic exhibition called “The Art of Replication,” I headed to Bremen.
Despite living for over a decade in Germany, I’ve never been to Bremen. In fact, I didn’t know that many things before deciding to visit it.
The city impressed me with its calm rhythms, but this was just the surface. I explored two pocket neighborhoods in Bremen: the medieval Schnoor and the red-brick Böttcherstraße. And while Schnoor covers a few blocks, the Böttcherstraße is just a street. Nevertheless, both had their secrets, and the sunny city of Bremen proved to be a great escape.
Germany, you are so pretty when you are sunny. Please try to be bright more often.
June 2022: by the sea (& the volcano)
The summer kicked in. After a long winter, I couldn’t wait to be next to the sea.
One night, I asked Barbara: where shall we go? We both knew that parts of this question were already replied: somewhere warm, without loads of people, somewhere where the food is nice, and the sea is welcoming.
We opened an analog map, brainstormed, and we considered the options.
As it turned out, there was only one option: Greece.
On late June 2022, we landed in Kos and took the ferry to Nisyros. It was the first time for both of us in Nisyros. What an island! The vibe of the active volcano is terrific and Mandraki, the island’s main settlement, is one of the most beautiful I ever saw. Then we took the ferry to Tilos. And then back to Nisyros. And then, to Kos.
What a fantastic holiday that was.
July 2022: a night with Autechre
It’s been a while since I last went to Herodeion for a concert. But summer nights are ideal for hanging out in the city center, and when my friend John mentioned that Autechre would play at Herodeion, I knew we had to go.
Barbara was also in town, and the three of us went to the concert. But it was not just a concert. It was an experience. The legendary duo Rob Brown and Sean Booth transformed not just the iconic Herodeion in Athens but the whole city. Eerie sounds combined with electronic music created an unforgettable spectacle.
Even though the Autechre concert in Athens took place in early July 2022, it was hands down the highlight of the month.
August 2022: long, lazy summer nights
There was not a single highlight in August 2022 -and this is a highlight by itself. During the darkest winter days, one of the things I daydream about is hanging out with friends in August. The days are hot but hanging out around my neighborhood in Athens is part of relaxation.
I work during the day, but at night there’s only one thing to do: go out, stroll around, have a drink, and cycle back home early in the morning.
And that’s exactly what I did. No highlights and no traveling. Just long, lazy summer nights.
September 2022: the return to paradise
Once again, Barbara and I returned to Anafi. That beloved September ritual is the time to visit Anafi and have vacations.
The warm days, the hike to Kalamiotissa Monastery, the delicious food, and seeing friends on the island. No, it didn’t last all September long, but it was a marvelous ten days vacation.
It was the first time I didn’t write anything new about Anafi. I just shot a POV video from the hike to the so-called Upper Monastery (you can watch it in the video section of this article). It was all about the sea and enjoying the priceless time on that return to paradise.
October 2022: we are back home
No, I’m not talking about returning home to Athens or Berlin. Instead, October 2022 was about an uprooted football team, AEK Athens, returning home after almost 20 years.
The 1999 earthquake severely damaged the home ground of AEK, and after countless adventures, the new stadium was inaugurated in September 2022. However, the first match took place on October 3, 2022, and this was a long-awaited moment. It wasn’t easy to find tickets, but no one could imagine being absent.
We arrived late at the stadium and entered something that felt like a dream. The pyro smoke had made everything invisible, and we tried to navigate through that artificial fog. Then, slowly, everything became clear, and the match started. Since then, we are back home.
November 2022: cold cats on the roof
The first part of November was mild. I kept cycling daily in Berlin, and one could easily sit outside for lunch without a jacket. But then, the temperature dropped around mid-November, and the days never returned to their previous warm status.
It was around the days of the first cold that I decided to visit Riga. I haven’t been to Latvia for more than 15 years. The timing was far from perfect: it was freezing in Riga. In Latvia’s capital, I also saw the first snowflakes this winter -but gladly, they didn’t stick.
I spent the days in Riga exploring its neighborhoods, the House of the Black Heads, and its fantastic art nouveau architecture. However, the cold was so severe that I returned to the hotel straight after sunset and spent two hours beneath the duvet. And yet, this wasn’t enough to get warm.
While I had a great November in Berlin, the days in Riga were the month’s highlight. And I crossed several times that famous house with the sculpted cats on the roof -I plan to write about it soon. I could only imagine how cold it was up there.
December 2022: new polaroid zines
I love creating polaroid zines. But during 2022, there wasn’t enough time to make new ones. Although I shot loads of polaroid films, I never had enough time to sit down and design new editions.
Gladly, I decided to make two new volumes on the cold December days in Berlin. I promised myself that the moment I’d step foot in Athens for Xmas, I should have the zines ready and go to the print shop first thing in the morning.
But since I watched several matches of the football World Cup, it meant that I should actually invent time for the zines. I ended up working on them always past midnight and before going to bed. And I managed to make them and print them when I got back to Athens.
I’m delighted that Polacosmic now has five editions. So, in December 2022, I added to the catalog the zines “Divided Berlin Reunited” and “Greek antiquity.”
I’m proud of these zines. You can see all five editions here.
The 2022 Year Review: smartphone photography
I rarely shoot photos for the blog with my smartphone. I don’t think I shared more than 3-4 mobile photos over the years here. However, since the annual reviews always give me artistic and blogging freedom, I thought of adding some images this year. These are all taken with my old Huawei P20 Pro smartphone, and the photos below are post-processed in the smartphone.
Sharing them here makes me feel uncomfortable. But I think it’s nice to show some photos I don’t share on Instagram or elsewhere.
So, here’s the 2022 smartphone diary (click to enlarge them).
The 2022 Year Review: Videos
My 2022 year review wouldn’t be complete without some videos. While I wasn’t that productive in 2022 in videography, I shot some footage and made videos for my YouTube channel. So, if you are more of a visual person and prefer videos over text, here’s your chance to see some of the places I visited.
A video from the 2022 snow in Athens
My video from Gothenburg Sweden
My Malta 2022 video
Hiking in Anafi, Greece
The KGB Building in Riga, Latvia
Here’s to a great 2023!
I hope that you enjoyed reading my 2022 year review. I’d like to thank you for following my journeys and my blog over time. It doesn’t matter if you are a new or a veteran reader of the Letters to Barbara. What matters to me the most is that you embraced this blog and encouraged me to continue writing it.
I’m thankful for your e-mails, comments, appreciation for the shop’s products, the social media follows, and everything you do to support the Letters to Barbara. I wish you a happy 2023!
Read more: All the “Year in review” articles
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Last Updated on December 24, 2022 by George Pavlopoulos