The Astoria was a mound of earth, with a small flight of steps. We'd go up - there were some small coffee houses there, and in the alleys around them there were water pipes, and we'd go and smoke them. That was where the first raki houses, the so-called
rakadika, started. Later on they were knocked down bit by bit, and later the Astoria Hotel was built.
Everything below there was in ruins. Heraklion was a tiny place....
