4/21-22 We decided to hang around here today, Thursday, and decide what we wanted to do the rest of the weekend. After two days of sightseeing, we decided it was time for a little break. There are so many places around here to walk, check out, eat.

We went out to put some things in the car and our buddy was there making sure all the cars he was watching were still ok so we told him we were heading out tomorrow and to make sure we had a spot when we returned. No problema 🙂 We mailed a package home, and then went to get something to eat.

An espresso and the biggest donut I ever saw, filled with ricotta. I got half way through it and said OMG this is a total sugar overload and I cannot finish it. It was delicious. In Italy you order, you eat then you pay! Well I guess I had enough sugar in me that I got up and walked out and Jim came to the door and asked if I paid! Oh shoot no, so as I was going back in, a customer also came out to call me back. Boy was I mortified and explained to the guy that in the US we order, pay then eat. He was laughing and of course I paid him. Jim just shook his head and said oh boy, no more sugar for Fran! I have to say all the folks we have come across in the restaurants, bars, even parking lots have been very nice, and always help when we are struggling with our Italian. They usually understand what we are trying to say and if not, we can generally switch to English.

This plant is in front of one of the new restaurants on our street. It was so pretty and so unusual I just had to take a photo.

Lunch today, we decided to go to one of our restaurants down by the water. I finally had my mussels and clams over linguini with tomato and pesto in white wine. It was OMG delicious. Jim does not care for mussels but after I tasted one I told him he had to taste it. They were very small and unbelievable. He loved it and said oh my goodness those are amazing. I’m getting that next time lol! Thought you would enjoy the photo.

Venerdì- 4/22

We checked the website for the Artichoke Festival and it doesn’t start until 5pm tonight with only 2 ceremonies so we figured we’d wait and go Saturday. Now what did we want to do today, I know. Let’s take the train to Noto (never heard of it, never been there but it looked interesting and that is what this trip is all about. The medieval town of Noto was virtually destroyed by the 1693 Sicilian earthquake that got a lot of Sicily.  It was decided to rebuild the town closer to the Ionian shore. Architectural design and engineering had progressed to the point that the core of the town was laid out on a grid and was built using predominately Sicilian Baroque which is highly preserved even after all these years.

Seeing places we have never seen and never even heard of is part of our mission so we hopped on the train at 10:30 this morning and got to Noto a little after 11. We walked up hill from the train station and many of the churches and buildings we wanted to see were all close to one another. All we had to do was climb all the steps up to the Cathedral, then another church, then another church, check out all the shops and finally stop for lunch before catching the train home at 2:50!

Maybe I should back up here and start at the beginning of the day. Jim went on his usual early morning walk and caught a lovely shot of the sunrise!

When he got home, we ate breakfast, cleaned up and headed out to the train station. We noticed the cars were all absolutely filthy and we did not know why. As we discovered later in the day, it rained sand here during the night and boy the sand was all over the cars – it was nuts. This of course included the rental we have so we will have to clean the windows in the morning before heading to the artichoke festival. It was really weird to see so many cars all of which were covered with sand. Jim thinks he had read in the past that the sands of North Africa periodically blow up over Sicily and Italy.

Once we got to Noto we had to walk uphill to get to the main area of the town where the churches were located. I can honestly say we are getting our fair share of leg exercise which is taking the place of squats! Holy cow!

You go through the Porta Reale (royal gate), the entrance to the main part of Noto. The city is known for it’s baroque architecture.

Chiesa di San Francesco d’Assisi all’Immacolata was stunning. I just don’t know how they built such beautiful churches and had them all looking so different from one another. You have to appreciate the workmanship and the time it took to finish them.

This is the inside of the Chiesa Santa Chiara. Not sure how we skipped the photo of the outside!

Then there is the Noto Cathedral. It was pretty awesome all around to include the side chapels and the tall front doors, intricately designed and created.

We stopped at a restaurant near one of the piazza’s for lunch. Turns out the piazza was actually Piazzetta Ercole which is directly in front of the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele. Figure it out? Hercules Little Plaza and the Victor Emanuel Theater! Our table was under one of the tents on the right.

We ordered two pasta dishes, mine had homemade pasta with tomatoes, green olives and capers. Jim ordered one with eggplant, tomatoes. Very different from anything we have had so far but very good. It’s fun to taste the slight differences in the dishes between the cities. Keep eating pasta – keep walking!!

A beautiful view from the top of the city of Noto looking down towards the sea.

Finally a photo of us just so you remember who we are! I like Jim’s hat and thought oh let’s see what it looks like on me! Very cute if you want my opinion….

When we got home we were thirsty so decided to try a granita. I have never had one and boy were they yummy. We found out from the owner of the cafe that true Sicilians have their granita with a brioche so we said okay, we can do that. Jim had pistachio and I had lemon. Brain freeze going with both of us but the brioche calmed that down. This is breakfast for many Sicilians. Not sure I’m quite there yet for breakfast. I could not finish either one of them.

So there is a story here and it is just a little out of order but it’s too funny not to mention. When in Italy you can take the train everywhere just about. We took the train to Noto, kind of heard there might be a train strike. No problem, we did get to Noto but coming home our 2:50 train decided nope, I’m not going there today! They can wait another hour and the smaller, older, single car trolley-like train can pick them up. Well, the train station was closed so there was nothing to buy, drink or eat and no bathroom facilities! No problem! We met some nice folks waiting for the train as well so we chatted and everyone spoke English including several Italians waiting with us so that worked out.

The 3:45 train actually showed up, everyone cheered and on we go – back to Siracusa! End of the day – do some laundry, not hungry after the brioche and granite so no dinner! We thought about the trip for Saturday to Ramacca and the Artichoke Festival and did a little planning before bed.

Buona sera,