Today was a day to explore Noto, a small town of some 24 000 inhabitants, with I think a church for every 10 citizens!! I suppose one should expect a plethora of religious buildings in a place like Italy, but it sure seems like overkill to:me!
Our first stop was the tourist office to grab a map and get some sense of what we should be seeing while here. The woman there was most helpful and even assisted us in sorting out how to get the bus from Noto to Siracusa tomorrow.
With Irv’s bum leg he isn’t moving very fast so we decided to split up and explore at a less hurried pace, and let Mer and Richard do their own thing. Our first stop was the Church of San Carlo of Corso, where, for a mere 2 euro, you could climb up the 80 spiral stairs to the roof for a fabulous view of the area. Irv chose to find a shady spot to sit while I did the climbing. It was a bit of a claustrophobic grunt, but made worthwhile by the views once you got up there.
We kept wandering down Vittorio Emmanuele, the main street of the old town, arriving at the Tina Di Lorenzo theatre where the Tourist Train departs from. We took the 45 minute train ride which takes you all around the old town and points out the highlights. It did have an English commentary, but it was pretty much drowned out by the sound of the engine. We met up with M&R when we got off the train and decided to take in the tour of the two theatres before sussing out some lunch. Both theatres are very ornate and obviously catered to the wealthier strata of society.
Mer had noticed a place that specializes in arancini, the traditional Sicilian street food dish that is essentially a rice ball made with other ingredients, and fried in a crumb crust. They are very good. We consumed ours in the shade in a small park adjacent to the cathedral. At this point Irv’s legs had had enough so he and I returned to the flat. But I hadn’t seen enough, so I ventured out once again.
First stop was to see the other set of painted stairs we had seen on our train tour. We had seen one set on our walk down from the flat yesterday. Next, I hoofed it over to the Porto Ferdinandea, the Royal Gate leading into the main area of Noto, which is preceded by a lovely tunnel of overhanging trees. Motoring on, I headed down to the Cathedral of San Nicolò, a most impressive building right in the centre of the main area It is, as most religious buildings are, just as impressive on the inside as the outside. One thing of note were the sculptures inside constructed by the artist from the remains of migrants’ boats. My next destination was an art exhibit inside one of the main buildings. It was actually three exhibits in one. The first was a collection of paintings from a variety of artists, the second was a sculpture exhibit that was a bit “out there”. The third was an installation of a collection of acrylic flowers set in a garden arrangement, and upon which were cast an ever-changing light display, accompanied by music. It was a very 60’s psychedelic vibe!
I high-tailed it back to the flat in time for our pre-arranged 3:30 FaceTime with Shannah for her birthday. Once Mer and Richard got home we headed out to the grocery store to pick up some supplies for dinner, followed by a rather hair-raising return to the apartment, only because the narrow streets getting to the flat are more like a maze than actual streets! A good homemade dinner and a dice game ended our evening.