Week in My Life: Packing, Spotting Cats, and Trip Reveal! | Living in Athens

Summary

Follow the everyday adventures and little surprises in Athens, Greece with this week in the life of a traveler living abroad. The video showcases a mix of routine activities including Greek lessons, dealing with weather changes, and the quirks of city transport. With Easter approaching, there's preparation for a surprise trip reveal at the end. From spotting changes at the Acropolis to engaging book clubs, and doting on local cats, the week is filled with the charm and occasional chaos of expat life. Traveling soon to Copenhagen with thoughtful packing highlights the anticipation of experiencing the same Easter festivities in a different city.

Highlights

• Had to rely on the metro due to an unexpected bus absence; city life, right? 🚇
• The Acropolis tickets are getting pricier, but free Sundays in the off-season are a sweet deal! 🏛️
• Renovating historical houses in Pangrati always showcases interesting updates. 🏡
• Local community cares deeply for their stray cats, even naming them all! 😻
• Prepping for a trip involves everything from climate considerations to transport scheduling. ✈️

Key Takeaways

• City life can be unpredictable - always have a backup plan for transport! 🚍
• Wandering around can uncover fascinating local stories, like cats in Pangrati. 😺
• Travel smart and plan ahead for trips, especially when dealing with unpredictable weather. 🎒
• Having a routine with flexibility can make living abroad more enjoyable. 🌍
• Check local attractions for changed fees; stay informed to plan your visits better. 🌆

Overview

This week kicks off with the unpredictability of Athens' public transport, pushing the creator onto an unexpected metro ride due to a rainy day bus no-show. The weather is a constant companion, shifting from sunny to rainy, and reshaping plans on the go. But city life continues with trips down to the Acropolis for some vital sightseeing updates, like the ticket price changes and strategic free days for locals.

Amidst the rush of everyday routine, there's always time for some community charm. Visiting a local book club reveals the quirks of Pangrati, where even the cats have backstories and caring neighbors. While weather and transport strikes challenge her schedule, a renovation project in the neighborhood catches the eye, illustrating both the challenges and the delight found in this city's rhythm.

As the week progresses, personal preparations for a surprise trip to Copenhagen enthuse the creator. Packing becomes a thoughtful exercise in anticipating the chilly northern weather, while the convenience of Greek services like Welcome Pickups makes travel simpler yet exciting. Between baggage drop-offs and newfound coffee spots at the airport, every small step is a nod to the intricate dance of traveling and living abroad.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Plans for the Week The chapter titled 'Introduction and Plans for the Week' follows the narrator's journey through a week in Athens, Greece. The narrator discusses their daily routine, starting with a Greek lesson. On a rainy day, they adapt their usual transit route, opting for a metro ride when their usual bus is not available. The week ahead is described as relatively easy with a few planned activities. The narrator hints at something noteworthy towards the end of the week, encouraging listeners to stay engaged to find out what it is.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Easter Trip Reveal and Weather Updates The chapter titled 'Easter Trip Reveal and Weather Updates' discusses the speaker's plans for Easter, which are expected to surprise some listeners as they are out of the ordinary. The speaker reflects on the weather, noting that while it was sunny yesterday, today has been overcast, rainy, and cold. They express a hope that the cold weather doesn't persist, although they anticipate the rain might continue. The speaker concludes while on their way home.
• 02:30 - 04:00: Acropolis Visit and Ticket Information The narrator shares information about private lessons they are taking, not associated with any school, and offers to provide details via email for those interested. Additionally, the narrator expresses a desire to walk by the Acropolis on their way home, mentioning their usual bus route passes by the site.
• 05:30 - 07:30: Transportation and Athens Cats The narrator discusses their decision to take the metro home due to the cold weather, intending to explore another location later. They reflect on not having visited the area in a couple of weeks and express a desire to see what's happening there. The narrator also mentions having many tasks to complete before leaving for a trip.
• 09:30 - 15:00: Preparing for the Trip to Copenhagen The narrator discusses their preparations for an upcoming trip to Copenhagen. They mention having completed two loads of laundry and plan to visit the pharmacy the next day to pick up essential medications. Additionally, they express a desire to clean their house so that it will be in good condition upon their return. The narrator reflects on their pre-departure routine and expresses curiosity about others' habits when preparing for a trip.
• 16:00 - 18:30: Departure to Copenhagen The narrator describes the weather in the morning as sunny yet cold, noting the change in temperature despite it being April. They are wearing multiple layers to keep warm. The narrator mentions their visit to the Acropolis and comments on the weather improvement as it is not raining like the previous day. The intent to verify the price change for the Acropolis is also mentioned.

Week in My Life: Packing, Spotting Cats, and Trip Reveal! | Living in Athens Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Welcome to yet another week in my life in Athens, Greece. I'm on my way to my Greek lesson. Now, you may able to hear that I'm in the metro. Uh I usually take the bus, uh but it's raining and my bus that I normally take wasn't coming, so I jumped on the bus that takes me to the metro and then I'll get the next bus at the next stop. This is kind of an easy week for me. I have a few plans. Um, but stay tuned to the end because at the end I'm
• 00:30 - 01:00 revealing where I'm going for Easter. Uh, I think it'll surprise some of you. Uh, because it's definitely not a normal [Music] thing. Yesterday was nice and sunny. Today it's been overcast and rainy and it's gotten cold. I am hoping that the cold part doesn't last. I think it's going to keep raining, but um I don't mind. Just don't want it to be this cold. On my way home now. Uh many of you
• 01:00 - 01:30 have been asking me where I'm taking my lessons. They're private lessons. So, they're not through the school. Um it's just found somebody I found um that had been recommended to me. If you're here in Athens or Greece and you want more information, you can email me. really wanted to walk by the Acropolis tonight on my way home. And usually I catch the bus that takes me by there,
• 01:30 - 02:00 but it wasn't coming. And it's so chilly that I decided I would just try to go whatever was the fastest way home, which ended up being the metro today. So maybe later in the week I will go by there. I haven't been by since uh I don't know, a couple of weeks. and I'd like to kind of see what's happening. I do have many things to do before I leave on this trip. Um, I've
• 02:00 - 02:30 done two loads of laundry. I need to go to the pharmacy tomorrow, get some medications that I'm running out of, and I'm sure there'll be something else that I need to do. Uh, I would like to clean my house a little bit. It's not bad, but you know, just so I come home to something better. What are some of the things that you guys do when you're leaving? I'm always curious uh to [Music]
• 02:30 - 03:00 hear this morning. It was sunny. Wasn't warm, but it was sunny. And now it's not, as you can see. And it's cold. Uh like I have a t-shirt, a sweater, and a jacket on. And I can't believe it's April and it's this cold. I did come down to see the Acropolis as I mentioned I wanted to do yesterday. Hey, at least it's not raining like it was yesterday. Also, I wanted to check the price has changed for the Acropolis on the first
• 03:00 - 03:30 to €30 and there's no longer a combo ticket. And even though I've seen reports of it, I just have to come down and check for myself. They did announce this last year, so it's not a shock to me. Um, it does mean that I won't be coming during the high season because I just can't afford that when I've already been up here multiple times. The signs I saw online yesterday had this like on a piece of paper taped, but they've changed it now.
• 03:30 - 04:00 So now, apparently they have increased the number of free Sundays in the off season to sort of combat this for people who live here. So we'll see what happens in October. In case you've never been here before and you don't know, the Acropolis Museum is not included in the Acropolis ticket. They are two different entities. Don't ask me why. Um, so but they were never a part of it like before. So you still had
• 04:00 - 04:30 to pay for them separately. It's not anything new. Now that we've had the time changed and it's light till 7:30, they're still letting people in at 6:00, which is nice. It's always I always like it when the time change happens. I wish it was summertime all the time. I know some people don't like that, but I do. Not many people waiting at the museum to get in. I don't know if their times change. I mean, people are still inside. They're open pretty late. Not late, but
• 04:30 - 05:00 later than the Acropolis in the winter. So, it's cold enough I had to pull up my hoodie. I didn't wear my heavy jacket cuz I thought, "Oh, it's not windy. It'll be fine cuz it's like 13, which is about 54." So, but the wind the wind when I got over here by the Acropolis is cold. And like all the poor tourists are like walking around with all their clothes on because of course they didn't come prepared for it to be this cold. I mean, it's not warm at this time of the
• 05:00 - 05:30 year, but it's normally like 18, which is like 60some, so not cold. Nice. Although, I keep saying I'm not going to complain because it's going to be hot and it'll be hot for a while. So, I'm going to enjoy this while it lasts. [Music] Hello from Pangarati again. Uh, I'm
• 05:30 - 06:00 going to book club tonight and you may have seen that I had to take a taxi. That's because we had a strike today and I tried to get the bus cuz the buses were running somewhat, but it's going to take me like 2 hours. Um, and it's quite chilly out. Uh, so it's been kind of chilly all day and so I just decided to take a taxi. So I'm here a little bit earlier. So I wanted to show you something I saw earlier in the week. It's this amazing house that they're
• 06:00 - 06:30 renovating. Oh, they painted the door or they primed the door. Uh, it looks like it's going to be amazing. I did film it the other day, but um it didn't make it into the cut. So I'll show you the door without the primer on it because it looks great. Um, and it's the original door. They're just fixing it. So, kind of can't wait to see what the end result's going to be of it. There is the bookstore. I'm really early. Uh, but I didn't want to take the chance and I couldn't get a taxi either.
• 06:30 - 07:00 So, here we are. I love that they take care of the cats. We have this big thing of food and water and a big house. All of the cats over here in Pinkati are well taken care of. In fact, I just saw a sign for a lost cat uh from the neighborhood. Like she's just a stray that she's sterilized
• 07:00 - 07:30 and they've feed her, but they haven't seen her in a couple of days. So, they've put out signs. All the cats have names, too. Here comes another one. Jeez. Not so sure about that one cat coming to eat his food. It is about two days before my trip and usually I do what I'm about to do now like a week in advance, but I kind of forgot. Um, and that is book a car to take me to the airport. Um,
• 07:30 - 08:00 sometimes I try to take the bus to the airport, but my flight is at 7:45. Um, but I needed to be there early. So, it is a necessary evil. Um, and because of that, I don't want to have to get to the bus station um early to make sure I get on the bus. Like, it just makes me get up earlier. So, what I'm going to do is book a taxi through Welcome Pickups that will pick me up directly from my apartment. Excuse the mess on my desk.
• 08:00 - 08:30 Um, I have been using Welcome Pickups since I started coming to Greece. It's actually how I booked my very first taxi ride from the airport into Athens. Um, and it's a Greek company, so I like that as well. Um, and now they're huge and they have um, places all over the world. So, I'm going to book my taxi, I think, probably to pick me up around 5:00 a.m. At that hour, it should only take me about 30 to 45 minutes. So, if they're
• 08:30 - 09:00 running a little bit late because of traffic or we're running late because of traffic, then it won't be a problem cuz it should get me there at least by 6:00. Uh, I did also book FastTrack, but I did book I am not book I am taking a big suitcase cuz where I'm going is cold, so I can't pack too light for that. And I will link to welcome pickups down in the description box. So, if you want to use them as well, you can. This is not sponsored. I just love them that much.
• 09:00 - 09:30 Um, it is an affiliate link, but I I do use them all the time. And just to show you guys that I'm not putting you on, here's my confirmation. I'm not going to show you too much more because it gives you my address and my everything. So, that's why I didn't film it because I have to put in my address and my credit card. So, sorry. Some of the other things I do before I'm leaving is try to do laundry. Uh because I may need it to travel, although I think I've done
• 09:30 - 10:00 everything for this trip, but I'm probably going to do another load today um in hopes that it's dry. And let's see. I'll take out all my trash. I'm going to look in my fridge and see if there's anything I need to throw away. Um I don't think so. I'm not going to be gone for that long, so it shouldn't be a huge deal. Um, but we'll I'll double check because I don't want to come home and smell bad in my apartment. You know, nothing major. If I was in the US, like I would probably have my mail held.
• 10:00 - 10:30 Um, that sort of thing. If I'm going away for a while, I let my landlord know because um he can make sure that mail that we get gets put in my mailbox or put under my door. So that way people don't know that I'm not here. And that's about it. It's pretty easy in Athens since I live in an apartment building and not in a house. I don't have to worry about mowing a lawn or making sure um that my plants are watered. I do have
• 10:30 - 11:00 plants, but they're all on an automatic timer now. So, that's probably one of the best things I've ever done as a person who travels frequently is to get my plants on an automatic watering system because the heat in the summer here has killed many of my plants. As you can see, it's super sunny and not raining. So, I'm going to go for a little walk uh before I go back to Well, I need to get my suitcase down, honestly, and start packing and start that load of laundry, but it's been so
• 11:00 - 11:30 rainy and cold that I need to get out when it's nice. Um, I am going to walk down to that hill I showed you last week to see if there are more poppies. I'm not going to go on like a big hike like I did last week. I'm just going to like wander in a little bit. I was also passing by the supermarket and I noticed a sign saying they were going to be open this Sunday. Just this Sunday from like 11 to 6 I think
• 11:30 - 12:00 because it's going to be Easter like Easter week next week maybe. Um wish I mean I don't wish they were open every Sunday but like maybe the smaller one I mean the smaller one is open on Sunday but they don't have everything I need so it would be nice but I don't think they're going to suddenly start being open every [Music] Sunday. The big metal looking ball that
• 12:00 - 12:30 turned out to be like a balloon is gone. So, whatever it was was just here for that day or maybe the event. I have spotted a very large patch of poppies that were not here last week kind of down there. Let me get closer and see. And they're fairly new cuz they're not very tall and they weren't here last week when I was here. So, I imagine because of all the rain we
• 12:30 - 13:00 had this week, there'll be some more. But soon it will get too hot and they will all die and this will all turn brown unfortunately. Obviously the fur trees will not do that. But um spring is really such a nice time to be here because it is very green. I think a lot of people are shocked when they come to Greece and the summer and it's brown um because of the heat and we get no we get very little rain almost none in the summer. All right. Now I have to head
• 13:00 - 13:30 back cuz I really do need to get a few things done uh for this trip which is fine. But I really wanted to get out when it was nice. [Music] [Music] It never fails that when I go to the pharmacy or the supermarket thinking I'm getting everything that I need that I don't have something. Um, this wasn't on
• 13:30 - 14:00 my list. I just uh didn't realize how low I was on my conditioner. So, I'm going back to the pharmacy to do that. I absolutely love Greekies. I do love the one near my house. They have everything. I have procrastinated long enough, guys. It is five o'clock and as you can see, I haven't gotten very far. Uh, I have laid out most of I think what I'm taking my
• 14:00 - 14:30 suitcase and a few other things. No, my dirty suitcase is not on my clean bed. I changed the sheets and I laid down the dirty sheet to put my suitcase on. Um, I really need one of those luggage rack things so that I could pack on maybe one day. But since I'm starting the packing process, I will now tell you where I'm going. No, I'm not staying in Greece for Easter this year. I'm sorry if that disappoints some of you guys, but it actually wasn't the plan. I am going to
• 14:30 - 15:00 Copenhagen. And I wanted to go to Copenhagen in May because I was hoping it would be a little bit warmer, but because Copenhagen is so expensive, I have been looking for a house sit or a pet sit there. And I applied to some last year, didn't work out, and this year I finally got one. and it just happens to be for Easter week. So, we will do Easter in Copenhagen. Um, and it's the same this year. So, it will be hopefully really nice there as well. I'm now going to pack. Um, and because it's Copenhagen,
• 15:00 - 15:30 um, I'm bringing the bigger suitcase cuz it's chilly there. I am actually going to have to pull out my winter coat, which I haven't even used this year. Um, so if you have any questions about my packing, you can ask me. You guys have seen me pack before. I'm not going to like go into great detail with you guys. Um, so if you see something you have questions about, let me know. As always, I'm going to be using my packing cubes, which I actually need to get out of storage. Uh,
• 15:30 - 16:00 so come along. I'm probably going to put this in a time lapse so you guys don't get bored of packing. [Music] Good morning from a very busy Athens airport. Even the traffic like not
• 16:00 - 16:30 getting here but once we got to the airport it was very busy. So kind of glad I got here earlier than I needed to. So, got to go drop my bag and then somehow get some coffee cuz it's just a little after 5:30 and obviously I was going to make coffee at home. It's okay. It's all going to be worth it. Well, because I checked in online, I decided to tag my own bag and drop it cuz I didn't have to wait in the
• 16:30 - 17:00 extremely long line. Good choice. But they haven't announced my gate yet. So I've decided to indulge a little bit because we now have a predto outside of security here at the Athens airport. So um and I know that in the domestic terminal the options are not fabulous. Uh so I thought I'd sit here for like 10 minutes and have coffee, eat something, and then go through security cuz I'm just going to
• 17:00 - 17:30 be wandering around anyway. It doesn't have all my favorites uh that the ones in London do, but you know what? I'll take it. Um if I was going on a longer flight, I'd probably buy one of these sandwiches to take with me. But um I think I'm getting a meal on the plane. Fingers crossed. But uh yeah, it's got some of the things that you're used to. So if you're uh flying out of Athens, you can now get a pred.
• 17:30 - 18:00 I am really glad that I paid the €6 to go through the fast track cuz the line for security is crazy long. And of course, I stopped to have coffee, so I needed the extra time. Okay, I've either been proven wrong or this opened since I went to Teslaniki. There's also a PR inside. I told some people in the PR out there that there wasn't, but there is. If I had known that, I would have come inside because I didn't get to finish my
• 18:00 - 18:30 coffee. I got down here to my gate and it says and now the signs are saying that the gate will be announced at 6:45. So, I don't know. In the app, it says B20. So, we'll just go with that for now. I'm sure that this is where I'm supposed to be. They just haven't put up on the board. So, this is where I'm going to end it. If you like this, please hit that like button and I will see you guys in Copenhagen.