gm2263
August 2nd, 2004, 02:09 AM
Warning - Especially for those that know me - Read while the pictures load - it's one of those big ones :yes:
As the Olympic games approach I believe it's time to show you in a number of threads some of the many pictures that I took with my new digicam since from what I saw here, although the sports complexes have been extensively covered, few has been shown or mentioned about the city that hosts the Olympics. So, I decided to take action and present you the other sides of Athens that few guides will ever show you the way you will see them through my pics in the days to come. If you like what you will see during the next few days, send your favourable comments to Hewlett Packard (my digital camera manufacturer) and Olympus (my analog SLR) since without them nothing of what you will see in the next few days would be possible to make...
The first of these updates will have to do with the extension of the Athens Urban Railroad system to the Airport and to some other areas of the suburban ourskirts of the city via the Athens metro and the new high-speed suburban rail which will attain speeds up to 120km (pas mal, pas mal du tout as the French might say :D).
So,
On Friday 30 July 2003, one of the many much anticipated projects came to completion, namely the connection of the new Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos) with the centre of Athens (and consequently with Piraeus since the port of Athens is already connected with a metro and a tram line with the centre of Athens).
The story behind this connection that will certainly revolutionise the way hundreds of thousands of Athenians (with the word "Athenians' used in a veeeery broad sense since the municipality of Athnes has only some 800,000 inhabitants and the Athens -Piraeus - Suburbs greater area is estimated close to 5 mn if we count in the immigrants whose numbers rise in the areas of hundreds of thousands) will commute, belongs rather to the horror genre, since even at the time Athens took the 2004 Olympics (Fall 1997 just to remind ourselves) the new Athens airport which was back then in the very initial stages of construction, and its connection to the city was at the time a wishful fairy tale bearing the same degree of tangibility and credibility with the level of imminence of a trip to Mars, so to speak.
However, the will to accomplish this project was existing from all sides of the political spectrum and the Socialist government gave the green light after the granting of the 2004 Olympics to Athens.
The original plans which were more than ambitious for the so-called Greek reality, as it was experienced both by the Greeks and the foreigner visitors of the country back then, called for a connection of the Athens Airport either via a suburban rail connection which would be in the midsection of the Attica road (which also was in the planning stage back in the mid-90's), or, as an extension of the Athens Metro system (which was under construction since 1993).
To cut a long story short, the Greeks decided to connect the airport with the centre of the city using a combination of both ways, and that was as close to the present, as the year 2000. Working a construction marathon like speed runners, the combined efforts of the Greek Railways Organisation and the Athens Metro Organisation finally delivered their combined product at 11:00 last Friday 30 July 2004. A couple of stations of the suburban rail have not been delivered and are due next week, including the HUGE station of "Neratziotissa" which is located near the Olympic Stadium. The station was initially to be built according to a design by S. Calatrava but the Spanish architect's design was aborted due to time and pragmatic constraints (the Attica road should have to be shut down for months!!! )
What one should mention here is the very good quality of the new metro stations, namely the ones of Halandri and Doukissis Plakentias and I have to make a statement as everybody knows that I tend to be rather austere with the Greeks in general: I reckon that VERY FEW metro stations in the world can beat those two. Period. The guys in the Athens 2004 thread have already shown some pics as a starter ... Well, here's the main dish.
Before we go on, I must tell you that the pictures you will see are both fresh and old, as I have been to the Athens airport station a couple of months ago (end of May) when it was in the final stages of construction and so, I present you with the photos I took back then, except the recent ones with the trains on the platforms during my recent visit
OK, pictures... (comments precede pictures)
The first station is the Halandri station located in the outskirts of Halandri, an upper-middle class suburb. The station looks like a space base in the middle of this lowrise neighbourhood which, other than this station doesn't have anything pioneering besides some good-quality lowrise residentials that are scattered around the station.
In order to give an idea of this Norman Foster-ish design (no, seriously this should be a miniature of the Canary Wharf station), first a rendering of the station as posted by Konstantinoupolis some time ago:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/262102/0/%D7%E1%EB%E1%ED%E4%F1%
Picture from http://www.airphotos.gr also firstly posted bby Konstantinoupolis that shows as an idea of the station and its surroundings some months ago, while in advanced stage of construction:
http://www.airphotos.gr/photo/253.jpg
Picture of the station with the footbridge looking north on the Doukissis Plakentias Boulevard:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295811/0/Halandri+Station+1-+External.jpg
View of the west side of the station. I urge the attention of the male population of the forum on the lady standing next to the light post wearing a mini skirt :naughty:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295813/0/Halandri+Station+2-+External+-+West.jpg
On the footbridge above Duchess Placentia Avenue
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295814/0/Halandri+Station+3-+External+-+Footbridge.jpg
On the footbridge looking north towards the mega-junction of Duchess Placentia with the Attica Road (we'll see pics later)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295816/0/Halandri+Station+5-+External+from+Footbrighe.jpg
Detail of the east side of the station from the footbridge
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295815/0/Halandri+Station+4-+External.jpg
Entrance of the west section - Interior
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295818/0/Halandri+Station+7-
The escalators to the surface - West section
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295817/0/Halandri+Station+6-Interior+West.jpg
The elevators on the west side. Science fiction turns to reality in the suburb of Halandri...
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295823/0/Halandri+Station+8-Interior+West-Elevator.jpg
The main concourse, Halandri station
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295824/0/Halandri+Station+9-Main+Concourse.jpg
Stairway to Heaven east section...
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295825/0/Halandri+Station+10-+Stairway+to+Heaven+A.jpg
Stairway to Heaven... cont'd
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295826/0/Halandri+Station+11-+Stairway+to+Heaven+B.jpg
Modern art, east section
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295827/0/Halandri+Station+12-+Modern+Art.jpg
Entrance detail, east section - with Lord Foster's touch :)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295828/0/Halandri+Station+13-+Interior+East.jpg
Entrance detail, east section
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295831/0/Halandri+Station+14-+Interior+West.jpg
I didn't take any picture of the -2 level (train platforms) as they are modern but without anything significant besides the touch of modernity we've seen here already.
The next station is the Duchess Placentia station. In order to understand what;s going on here one should consider that:
1. This metro station is in the middle of a GIGANTIC junction where two branches of the Attica road AND the Duchess Placentia avenue meet. The following is an aerial picture of the junction (one of the biggest in Europe) some months ago, now it is completed and is fully operational (and it's IMPRESSIVE). Picture originally posted by Konstantinoupolis in the Athens 2004 thread.
This is the spot where the Suburban rail (Proastiakos) meets with the metro. An interesting aspect of this junction is that the metro trains that go to the airport must use the infrastructure of the suburban rail and thus, they must work on different wattage as far as I am concerned, so, the particular trains are peculiar in that they can use both infrastructures. Remarkable. Also, watch the point of exit of the metro trains out of the tunnel to the front of the picture.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/263670/0/10MayAtOdosDoukPlaken2_high.jpg
(original photo: ATHENS 2004 Organising Committee)
A closer look at the junction from above. Too bad it's several months old but still, you get the idea. The metro station is under the white structure under the main road junction, while the suburban rail is located in the midsection of the Attica road.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/263678/0/10MayAtOdosDoukPlaken_high.jpg
A small part of the junction with the suburban rail station under the bridges, also depicting a section of the Attica road. Of course, the connection between the suburban rail and the metro station is done internally and there is no need to go out to move from one station to the other (especially during the winter :D)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295834/0/Duchess+Placentia+Station+3-+Main+Concourse.jpg
The main concourse of the Duchess Placentia Station with the strange work of art by the sculptor Varotsos.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295832/0/Duchess+Placentia+Station+1-+Main+Concourse.jpg
Detail. I only hope that one of these rocks does not fall on somebody's head, they look heavy :D
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295833/0/Duchess+Placentia+Station+2-+Main+Concourse.jpg
After we leave from the Doukissis Plakentias station, this is where the metro/suburban rail lines are located. Just in the middle of the Attica Road as per original planning. Had anybody 10 years ago said that there will be a 60m-wide road with two train lines on its midsection going from one side of the prefecture of Attica to the other, he would have been called a nut. Well, now, THIS is nuts:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295849/0/Attiki+Odos-Holiday+Inn+Junction.jpg
And by the way, I took this pic from the bridge where a big highway station AND the Athens airport Holiday inn are located. Here's the spot, two months ago, to give you an idea (Pic originally posted by K'polis):
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/263685/0/10MayAtOdosKantzas_high.jpg
And, here are the same buildings from ground level:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24690/295841/0/Athens+Airport+Holiday+Inn+1.JPG
Athens airport Holiday Inn, some 5 km from the airport:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24690/295837/0/Attiki+Odos-Holiday+Inn++2.jpg
Both pics above taken by me last May.
OK, after a short trip, the metro (or the suburban rail) finally arrives at the Airport. here are some pictures from the airport station (and more :):
Athens International Airport Suburban Rail Platform. Actually this is the train that will go to Athens.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295850/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+4+-+Suburban+Train.JPG
This is the platform for the metro. FYI, there are different platforms for the suburban rail and the metro. They have organised the thing in such a way so that every 15 mins a train is leaving the station. Cool (NB: with the exception of the tickt which for the airport is at an astronomical price of 8 Euros. Of course, there are reductions for frequent travellers and families but, I mean 8 Euros base rate... OUCH!!!)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295851/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+5+-+Suburban+Train+Quays.JPG
The Airport train station main concourse a couple of months ago. All silent. If you go now, you will se a place bustling with activity. Also, in contrast to the metro stations, this one is a well lit station, watch the atrium roof.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295852/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+1.JPG
This is what you see when you drink your coffee at the Segafredo Cafe at the train station of the Athens Airport:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295908/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+-+Detail.JPG
And a few view of the airport:
The train Statioin from the outside:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295854/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+2.JPG
The train station and the footbridge from the main terminals:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295856/0/Athens+Airport+-+Footbridge+1.JPG
The inside of the footbridge which also has a conveyor belt for the disabled persons:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295857/0/Athens+Airport+-+Footbridge+2.JPG
And a view of the airport from the departures level depicting the Athens Airport Sofitel Hotel (left) and the main terminal building, departures level:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295853/0/Athens+Airport+-+Departures+Level.JPG
And, not wanting to leave you like that, here's another view of the 10-storey Athens International Airport Sofitel:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24690/295848/0/Athens+Airport+Sofitel+Hotel.JPG
It was late in the afternoon when I took the train to go home. I must say that I enjoyed the ride, maybe because it was the first day of operation and there was no charge fro the trip from Athens to the airport. I must admit that I was impressed by the speed of the suburban rail (120km in a train looks fast), but somebody must talk some sense to these guys about the tickets prices!!!.
And wait for more threads on Athens to come from me, As I have collected LOTS of pics (digicams are so convenient indeed :):):):))
As the Olympic games approach I believe it's time to show you in a number of threads some of the many pictures that I took with my new digicam since from what I saw here, although the sports complexes have been extensively covered, few has been shown or mentioned about the city that hosts the Olympics. So, I decided to take action and present you the other sides of Athens that few guides will ever show you the way you will see them through my pics in the days to come. If you like what you will see during the next few days, send your favourable comments to Hewlett Packard (my digital camera manufacturer) and Olympus (my analog SLR) since without them nothing of what you will see in the next few days would be possible to make...
The first of these updates will have to do with the extension of the Athens Urban Railroad system to the Airport and to some other areas of the suburban ourskirts of the city via the Athens metro and the new high-speed suburban rail which will attain speeds up to 120km (pas mal, pas mal du tout as the French might say :D).
So,
On Friday 30 July 2003, one of the many much anticipated projects came to completion, namely the connection of the new Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos) with the centre of Athens (and consequently with Piraeus since the port of Athens is already connected with a metro and a tram line with the centre of Athens).
The story behind this connection that will certainly revolutionise the way hundreds of thousands of Athenians (with the word "Athenians' used in a veeeery broad sense since the municipality of Athnes has only some 800,000 inhabitants and the Athens -Piraeus - Suburbs greater area is estimated close to 5 mn if we count in the immigrants whose numbers rise in the areas of hundreds of thousands) will commute, belongs rather to the horror genre, since even at the time Athens took the 2004 Olympics (Fall 1997 just to remind ourselves) the new Athens airport which was back then in the very initial stages of construction, and its connection to the city was at the time a wishful fairy tale bearing the same degree of tangibility and credibility with the level of imminence of a trip to Mars, so to speak.
However, the will to accomplish this project was existing from all sides of the political spectrum and the Socialist government gave the green light after the granting of the 2004 Olympics to Athens.
The original plans which were more than ambitious for the so-called Greek reality, as it was experienced both by the Greeks and the foreigner visitors of the country back then, called for a connection of the Athens Airport either via a suburban rail connection which would be in the midsection of the Attica road (which also was in the planning stage back in the mid-90's), or, as an extension of the Athens Metro system (which was under construction since 1993).
To cut a long story short, the Greeks decided to connect the airport with the centre of the city using a combination of both ways, and that was as close to the present, as the year 2000. Working a construction marathon like speed runners, the combined efforts of the Greek Railways Organisation and the Athens Metro Organisation finally delivered their combined product at 11:00 last Friday 30 July 2004. A couple of stations of the suburban rail have not been delivered and are due next week, including the HUGE station of "Neratziotissa" which is located near the Olympic Stadium. The station was initially to be built according to a design by S. Calatrava but the Spanish architect's design was aborted due to time and pragmatic constraints (the Attica road should have to be shut down for months!!! )
What one should mention here is the very good quality of the new metro stations, namely the ones of Halandri and Doukissis Plakentias and I have to make a statement as everybody knows that I tend to be rather austere with the Greeks in general: I reckon that VERY FEW metro stations in the world can beat those two. Period. The guys in the Athens 2004 thread have already shown some pics as a starter ... Well, here's the main dish.
Before we go on, I must tell you that the pictures you will see are both fresh and old, as I have been to the Athens airport station a couple of months ago (end of May) when it was in the final stages of construction and so, I present you with the photos I took back then, except the recent ones with the trains on the platforms during my recent visit
OK, pictures... (comments precede pictures)
The first station is the Halandri station located in the outskirts of Halandri, an upper-middle class suburb. The station looks like a space base in the middle of this lowrise neighbourhood which, other than this station doesn't have anything pioneering besides some good-quality lowrise residentials that are scattered around the station.
In order to give an idea of this Norman Foster-ish design (no, seriously this should be a miniature of the Canary Wharf station), first a rendering of the station as posted by Konstantinoupolis some time ago:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/262102/0/%D7%E1%EB%E1%ED%E4%F1%
Picture from http://www.airphotos.gr also firstly posted bby Konstantinoupolis that shows as an idea of the station and its surroundings some months ago, while in advanced stage of construction:
http://www.airphotos.gr/photo/253.jpg
Picture of the station with the footbridge looking north on the Doukissis Plakentias Boulevard:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295811/0/Halandri+Station+1-+External.jpg
View of the west side of the station. I urge the attention of the male population of the forum on the lady standing next to the light post wearing a mini skirt :naughty:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295813/0/Halandri+Station+2-+External+-+West.jpg
On the footbridge above Duchess Placentia Avenue
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295814/0/Halandri+Station+3-+External+-+Footbridge.jpg
On the footbridge looking north towards the mega-junction of Duchess Placentia with the Attica Road (we'll see pics later)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295816/0/Halandri+Station+5-+External+from+Footbrighe.jpg
Detail of the east side of the station from the footbridge
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295815/0/Halandri+Station+4-+External.jpg
Entrance of the west section - Interior
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295818/0/Halandri+Station+7-
The escalators to the surface - West section
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295817/0/Halandri+Station+6-Interior+West.jpg
The elevators on the west side. Science fiction turns to reality in the suburb of Halandri...
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295823/0/Halandri+Station+8-Interior+West-Elevator.jpg
The main concourse, Halandri station
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295824/0/Halandri+Station+9-Main+Concourse.jpg
Stairway to Heaven east section...
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295825/0/Halandri+Station+10-+Stairway+to+Heaven+A.jpg
Stairway to Heaven... cont'd
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295826/0/Halandri+Station+11-+Stairway+to+Heaven+B.jpg
Modern art, east section
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295827/0/Halandri+Station+12-+Modern+Art.jpg
Entrance detail, east section - with Lord Foster's touch :)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295828/0/Halandri+Station+13-+Interior+East.jpg
Entrance detail, east section
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295831/0/Halandri+Station+14-+Interior+West.jpg
I didn't take any picture of the -2 level (train platforms) as they are modern but without anything significant besides the touch of modernity we've seen here already.
The next station is the Duchess Placentia station. In order to understand what;s going on here one should consider that:
1. This metro station is in the middle of a GIGANTIC junction where two branches of the Attica road AND the Duchess Placentia avenue meet. The following is an aerial picture of the junction (one of the biggest in Europe) some months ago, now it is completed and is fully operational (and it's IMPRESSIVE). Picture originally posted by Konstantinoupolis in the Athens 2004 thread.
This is the spot where the Suburban rail (Proastiakos) meets with the metro. An interesting aspect of this junction is that the metro trains that go to the airport must use the infrastructure of the suburban rail and thus, they must work on different wattage as far as I am concerned, so, the particular trains are peculiar in that they can use both infrastructures. Remarkable. Also, watch the point of exit of the metro trains out of the tunnel to the front of the picture.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/263670/0/10MayAtOdosDoukPlaken2_high.jpg
(original photo: ATHENS 2004 Organising Committee)
A closer look at the junction from above. Too bad it's several months old but still, you get the idea. The metro station is under the white structure under the main road junction, while the suburban rail is located in the midsection of the Attica road.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/263678/0/10MayAtOdosDoukPlaken_high.jpg
A small part of the junction with the suburban rail station under the bridges, also depicting a section of the Attica road. Of course, the connection between the suburban rail and the metro station is done internally and there is no need to go out to move from one station to the other (especially during the winter :D)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295834/0/Duchess+Placentia+Station+3-+Main+Concourse.jpg
The main concourse of the Duchess Placentia Station with the strange work of art by the sculptor Varotsos.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295832/0/Duchess+Placentia+Station+1-+Main+Concourse.jpg
Detail. I only hope that one of these rocks does not fall on somebody's head, they look heavy :D
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295833/0/Duchess+Placentia+Station+2-+Main+Concourse.jpg
After we leave from the Doukissis Plakentias station, this is where the metro/suburban rail lines are located. Just in the middle of the Attica Road as per original planning. Had anybody 10 years ago said that there will be a 60m-wide road with two train lines on its midsection going from one side of the prefecture of Attica to the other, he would have been called a nut. Well, now, THIS is nuts:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295849/0/Attiki+Odos-Holiday+Inn+Junction.jpg
And by the way, I took this pic from the bridge where a big highway station AND the Athens airport Holiday inn are located. Here's the spot, two months ago, to give you an idea (Pic originally posted by K'polis):
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/alfa_omega/19058/263685/0/10MayAtOdosKantzas_high.jpg
And, here are the same buildings from ground level:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24690/295841/0/Athens+Airport+Holiday+Inn+1.JPG
Athens airport Holiday Inn, some 5 km from the airport:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24690/295837/0/Attiki+Odos-Holiday+Inn++2.jpg
Both pics above taken by me last May.
OK, after a short trip, the metro (or the suburban rail) finally arrives at the Airport. here are some pictures from the airport station (and more :):
Athens International Airport Suburban Rail Platform. Actually this is the train that will go to Athens.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295850/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+4+-+Suburban+Train.JPG
This is the platform for the metro. FYI, there are different platforms for the suburban rail and the metro. They have organised the thing in such a way so that every 15 mins a train is leaving the station. Cool (NB: with the exception of the tickt which for the airport is at an astronomical price of 8 Euros. Of course, there are reductions for frequent travellers and families but, I mean 8 Euros base rate... OUCH!!!)
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295851/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+5+-+Suburban+Train+Quays.JPG
The Airport train station main concourse a couple of months ago. All silent. If you go now, you will se a place bustling with activity. Also, in contrast to the metro stations, this one is a well lit station, watch the atrium roof.
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295852/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+1.JPG
This is what you see when you drink your coffee at the Segafredo Cafe at the train station of the Athens Airport:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295908/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+-+Detail.JPG
And a few view of the airport:
The train Statioin from the outside:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295854/0/Athens+Airport+-+Train+Station+2.JPG
The train station and the footbridge from the main terminals:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295856/0/Athens+Airport+-+Footbridge+1.JPG
The inside of the footbridge which also has a conveyor belt for the disabled persons:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295857/0/Athens+Airport+-+Footbridge+2.JPG
And a view of the airport from the departures level depicting the Athens Airport Sofitel Hotel (left) and the main terminal building, departures level:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24691/295853/0/Athens+Airport+-+Departures+Level.JPG
And, not wanting to leave you like that, here's another view of the 10-storey Athens International Airport Sofitel:
http://briefcase.pathfinder.gr/download/gm22632/24690/295848/0/Athens+Airport+Sofitel+Hotel.JPG
It was late in the afternoon when I took the train to go home. I must say that I enjoyed the ride, maybe because it was the first day of operation and there was no charge fro the trip from Athens to the airport. I must admit that I was impressed by the speed of the suburban rail (120km in a train looks fast), but somebody must talk some sense to these guys about the tickets prices!!!.
And wait for more threads on Athens to come from me, As I have collected LOTS of pics (digicams are so convenient indeed :):):):))