The Parco Archeologico della Neapolis is divided into three main sections: the latomie (stone quarries) now planted with an orchard of orange and lemon trees, the Greek theatre and the Roman amphitheatre; there is also a large cavern apparently dubbed by Caravaggio the "Ear of Dionysius"—either due to its pointy shape or its remarkable acoustics (but apparently once used as a prison). It was all interesting enough, although a little underwhelming considering what raves I'd heard about it. I think we would have benefitted from having a knowledgeable guide. [P.S. Jenny K: we saw the capers growing out of the rock!]
We walked back then to the train station which is on the same side of town (with a brief underwhelming detour to the Santuario Madonna delle Lacrime which looks like a huge upside-down icecream cone). We grabbed some supplies from a supermarket near the station: can you believe it???!! 1.26 Euros for a 2-litre bottle of water, 2 apples and 500 ml can of (cold) beer!
We took the little 2-cabin train to Noto; I'm glad I could speak the lingo because the ticket seller sure couldn't speak English and there was no info up on any of the screens re departures. Anyway I waded through and even managed to understand that the platform for our train was hidden away; especially useful as the train on the main platform was off to Milan (!) and we certainly weren't headed there.
Half an hour later we arrived into Noto stazione with a 20-minute walk UP into the historic centre. I was keen to see Noto because I had read it was quite a stunning hilltop Baroque town. It had been part of our tour itinerary on the day we came into Syracuse, but got dropped due to time constraints.
So Noto is, like Ragusa and Modica, another hilltop UNESCO-protected, Baroque town affected by the earthquake of 1693; in fact it was completely destroyed and had to be re-built, 10 kms from the original site. I had heard the town has suffered from insufficient funds for all the restoration but we saw no evidence of this. It was simply stunning. Pretty as a picture! The buildings are made from local compacted limestone, a substance that seemingly absorbs the sun’s rays and transforms them into a soft, golden-honeyed glow. The effect is quite something. Wouldn't have missed it for quids.
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No doubt we could have spent more time here but we got the general drift. We had a couple of hours and the choice was to stay another couple and take the later train back to Siracusa or go earlier and have time to relax before dinner.
The Temple of Apollo was built in the 7th century B.C. and was supposedly the first great Doric temple of its kind in Sicily.
After a shower back at our hotel and a sit-down for a bit, we headed off back into the Duomo area to go to the Enoteca Solaria which is a good place to try local wines where My Friend had a nice syrah and I had a great white wine, a Donnafugata grillo.
Dinner was where we had it the night before - a good place for a large group, not expensive and reasonable local food. In fact this time I avoided the house wine and we had a terrific Cusumano Nero d'Avola 2014; and My Friend avoided the snails. I had the ravioli al sugo recommended by someone else in our group and it was delicious.
A good way to end the tour - speeches made to thank Stefano, farewells, hugs, kisses, etc.
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