20th May - Noto and the Flower Show

We sit at breakfast - we listen to the voices - Trudy would love to be here to listen to them! 


The Apollo Suites - 4 rooms - a common dining room - a manager - cum cook- cum cleaner - the rooms? - modern - stylish - comfortable! 

Into the little lift and down to the street - another beautiful day. 

 
As we exit the suites we smile at the door key pad - would it be difficult to work out the entry code? 


We head to Noto for the morning - call a taxi through the Uber app - the taxi appears - it stops 30 meters before us - an American women complete with suitcase has hailed it - Bernie makes her feelings known - the driver and the women simultaneously realize their mistake - there are apologies and more apologies

We reach the car park - the driver of the adjacent vehicle has relocated his vehicle overnight - our drivers seat is now almost unreachable - Bernie tries - she gives up without a fight - I try - I bend - I twist - I roll over - I perform manoeuvres that I should no longer attempt - there is relief on both our faces - I slide into the drivers seat - it is a pity that the little Yaris doesn't feature "auto summons" amongst is list of features - this is the first time I have understood why Tesla and others want to promote it as a driver assist facility - I guess you cannot drive if you cannot get into the driver's seat!

We head towards Noto and it's famous flower show - we dread the crowd and their excessive consumption of available parking spaces! 

On the freeway we pass greenhouse structures housing crops of tomatoes and fruit trees - so many covered tree crops!

We pass fields of red poppies - we pass rugged rocky ranges - we admire the planting of the narrow freeway median - broom - gorse - olendander - siscilian natives - dense - colorful - neat - effective!


Off the freeway after 30 kilometers - into Noto - a small town - maybe 25,000 - narrow streets typical of Sicily - we approach the parking station - we are shocked! - it is only half full - we both assume the reason - it will be bloody expensive! - "ah - not much in the scheme of things" thinks I thinking really of John Lowenstein and his view on unexpected pricing surprises.

We trudge off uphill in search of the flower show - 100 metres - our legs already complaining - another 200 - no sign of the flower show - a local couple approach - "flora" says Bernie - a blank look - then their expression changes and they point uphill - "on left" they say - we look uphill with dread and trudge on - another 200 meters and Bernie demands that we stop at a street side cafe - she gets no resistance from me. 

As we trudge we look up some of the side streets in search of the show - the streets and steps have been decorated with alternative graffiti - I prefer this alternate style.


Another 100m and we find the crowd - Bernie sits while I search out the show - I find the steep little street that accommodates the flower exhibition - I find the ticket office and the tickets are acquired. 

We enter the show queue and turn up the little street - we don't even recognize that we are climbing steeply such is the quality of the experience.

 We admire - we photograph the work - the materials? - whole fresh flowers - whole dried flowers - fresh petals - dried petals - corn kernels - dried broad beans - sunflower seeds - leaves dried - leaves not dried - the subjects? - popes - saints! The result? - stunning! 



Home - a lovely morning.

We rest in the manner to which we have become accustomed! 

We wander to a street food cafe - an aranchini ball and a campari - Bernie is enthusiastic - I am unenthusiastic! - she orders for us - the local ball - prescuitto, ragusca mozzarella and rice - I am delightfully surprised - shaped like a large, large egg and tasting as delightful as street food could be - not like any aranchini ball I have ever tasted! - the campari? - I will leave further consumption of the beverage to someone else! 


We board a tuk tuk for a one hour tour of Ortigia - the vehicle? - 3 wheels, no suspension, unfit for transit of the stone paved surfaces of Ortigia - the commentary? - a computer generated voice relaying the results of a Google translation of the Italian script. The result? - terrible! - The tour of Ortigia? - the streets pretty - the laneways impressive - the Duomo  square? - large - the restaurants? - numerous - the Swabian Castle? - impressive - the statue of Icarus - extremely large! - we finish the tour - we agree - "at least we have seen Ortigia!"


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