From Athens to Berlin – Recap 16

I always try to spend either Christmas or New Year’s Eve in Athens. This year was no exception, and to be honest, I’ve been looking forward to some relaxing days in Greece. As you probably remember from my December 2019 recap, I had to move out of my flat in Berlin. Apart from the tiring process of relocation, I also had to deal with both German and Greek bureaucracy. Traveling from Athens to Berlin (and vice versa) a couple of times within the last two months meant that I couldn’t travel elsewhere.

Now, every January, I always return from Athens to Berlin. I’m actually entering my eleventh year in Berlin, but the truth is that the city doesn’t feel that great anymore. While Berlin is always an exciting city with plenty of things to do, what it’s also a reality is that lots of things have changed. The Berlin of 2010 can hardly compare to what the city has become in 2020. Back then, gentrification was not the most significant issue of Berlin’s life, and everybody tried to figure it out. In 2020, after a decade of the financial crisis in Europe, an invasion of AirBnB, and something that resembles a real estate bubble, Berlin isn’t the same anymore.

I remember reading an article in a German newspaper back in 2011. I was in a cafe close to Potsdamer Platz, and if my memory serves me right, it was during the Berlinale. There was an article about gentrification, and the writer claimed that by the end of the decade, more than 30% of the current population would have to relocate to other cities due to the high cost of living. In 2011, Berlin was still a paradise for artists. One could survive with less than 600-700 euros. This included everything: rent, food, entertainment, a monthly card for the BVG. Now, fast forward to 2020: you can’t survive even with the double.

So, is Berlin still a great place to be? Sure, Berlin remains one of the most dynamic capitals of Europe. But what I also think is that the city has abolished its revolutionary spirit: there are fewer artists and more start-ups nowadays here. Berlin will always be a city to visit, yes. But, honestly, I’m not sure if Berlin is the best place to live permanently anymore.

From Athens to Berlin: a video from my return

I returned to Germany in January, and as always, I flew with Aegean Airlines to Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL). The first days after my return, I was still somehow occupied with my old flat. I had to clean it, to move the last things out, and finally give it back. It’s only now that I’m writing these lines that I feel free from any obligations regarding my previous flat in Berlin. But what makes me really happy is that next week I’m going on a journey again.

So far, I never really explored video as a medium, but I’m slowly trying to embrace it. From time to time, I posted some videos on this blog, but I can’t say that it was a priority. I want to change that, though, and in 2020 I’ll try to shoot some more videos from my journeys. The video that you see above is more of a vlog and less of a travel video. Well, maybe it’s not your typical vlog either: I’m not that keen on showing my face. Being in my late 30’s means that I probably come from a generation that isn’t very keen on making everything public.

Nonetheless, I decided to start using video as a medium and see where it goes. Since summer 2019, I’m also using a new device for my videos. I needed something lightweight without compromising in quality. That’s actually how I ended up buying the fantastic DJI Osmo Pocket, which is a tiny camera with an attached gimbal. It weighs less than 120 grams (that’s less than a smartphone!), and it can shoot 4k. I’m delighted with its performance, and I’m sure that you can see the difference from my older videos.

So, 2020 will definitely have more videos. After all, the moving images are always charming, especially when you revisit them as memories a few years later. I’m going to upload more videos on my Youtube channel, so make sure to subscribe for more.

January 2020 posts

I have uploaded several posts in January. First of all, I wrote one very extensive guide about Greece. The “One week in Greece” is a long post on how to travel for seven days around Greece. Since I come from Greece, I thought of composing a detailed guide for your upcoming journeys to this beautiful country. Within this post, I’m suggesting itineraries that deal with a variety of activities. The post also includes a thorough guide on how to spend three days in Athens.

Apart from that, I posted my travelogue from Kyiv, a city that impressed me. Of course, I also wrote about leaving my flat in Berlin and why I won’t miss my weird neighbor. That’s a more personal post, and it has a certain degree of irritation and anger.

In January, I also started a new section on the blog, called Postscripts. If you enjoy reading fiction or stories that might not always be travel-related, then this section is for you. I even wrote the very first installment of Postscripts: The Chimney Sweep.

Last but not least, there are two extra articles. The first one is a long Ukraine International Airlines Business Class review. I planned to post it one week earlier, but due to the accident of the airline in Tehran, I decided to postpone it out of respect. As for the second one, that’s a photo-report from one of the most original places I’ve seen in Europe: the Konstablerwache Markt. That’s a big outdoor market in Frankfurt, Germany. I had the chance to spend a Saturday afternoon there and decided to cover it.

From Athens to Berlin (plus two from Kyiv)

This section of the blog, the so-called Recaps, started as a visual diary. And that’s what I always want it to be, especially for people that prefer more images and less text. So, here I will add some photos (as always) from my latest journeys. For one reason or another, those images didn’t find a place in my travelogues or my travel guides, but I somehow want to present them to you. So, here’s how my January 2020 looked like.

(By the way, the cover photo of this post is the statuette of Conrad Schumman. Read more on my Polaroid Diaries from Berlin.)

Huawei P20 Pro photos

As of December 2019, I have a new smartphone, the Huawei P20 Pro. Since it has Leica Optics, I thought of experimenting a bit with its camera. It won’t, of course, replace my Ricoh GR ii, but the truth is that it’s nice to shoot some extra photos. Here you can see some images I took with the Huawei P20 Pro in Athens and Berlin.

So, that’s it with the From Athens to Berlin – Recap 15. Next month’s recap will be more eventful and will contain new journeys. Subscribe below for more travelogues and travel tips, and don’t forget to follow me on Youtube.

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Last Updated on December 12, 2020 by George Pavlopoulos