We’re obviously getting the taste for local train travel as we were on the same train as yesterday this morning. This time we were taking a shorter trip to the town of Noto. As yesterday there was a walk from the station to the interesting part of the town and once again there were no signs of where to go, no maps available to guide all of which I found really strange given the reliance these towns place on tourism. Nevertheless it was worth the wandering to find the right place as it is beautiful.
Once again Noto is another place that had been destroyed by the earthquake of 1693 and rebuilt in the local baroque style. What this means in practice is lots and lots and lots of churches built in prominent positions in wonderful sandstone.
I thought this as we wandered around Ragusa yesterday but why does a place need quite so many churches? There were literally two virtually touching each other today. You could probably hear the confessional taking place in one in the nave of the other! I know people like to worship their gods but there seem to be more churches than people.
Today we followed round a pre-set tour of the town from our guide book which took us past all the sights (churches!). Again I was surprised at just how quiet the town was and the only people there were tourists. It is coming to the end of the season here and one wonders how the shops and bars manage once the tourists have gone.
After getting the train back to Siracusa we came down to the water front and watched the sunset with a Lemon Soda/white wine which is a very pleasant way to end the evening.
