Noto- Infiorata Festival

After a last minute decision, we found ourselves in Noto for the Infiorata festival.  I’ve mentioned before that parking isn’t terribly user friendly for festivals, but the parking in Noto was hands down the best we have ever experienced (my previous post about Carnivale also mentions a pleasant parking experience… perhaps we are hitting a trend).  A large gravel lot was easy to access from the main road into town and the end of the lot opened up to the festival.  

From the start, festivals all look the same.  There are carts filled with a variety of toys that sing, walk, talk, squeak, or light up.  

Next to that is a giant balloon bundle with Mickey, Minnie, Smurfs, and who knows what else, and next to that is another toy cart.  

Guess what happens when you have a 2 and 5 year old bombarded with toy carts and balloon bundles?  It’s not pretty. 

We manage to all make it past the beginning of the festival alive.  Good news.  As we wandered down the street, we took in breathtaking baroque architecture and handmade wares from a variety of artists...and some fun cars!

We walked a bit of distance and I began to wonder where exactly the flower petal mosaics were.  I thought it was down the main street, but we kept walking and there were no flowers.  I also wondered where all the people were.  Generally festivals are crowded, but we had all the space we could possibly want while walking down the street.  Suddenly off to the right, we found what I had been looking for.  The flower mosaics and all the people!  Up a side street there was picture after picture created by various colors of flower petals, dirt, mulch, and rocks.  Along each side of the street, a walkway was roped off and people were crammed in walking up taking in each picture.  

 

 

We did not go up.  It was just a little too much for us.  And yes, I realize how sad it is that we went to the flower festival and didn’t actually go up to see all the mosaics.  We probably won’t do it next time either.  That’s just how we roll!


I love visiting Noto.  It is a charming town with what is said to be the best gelato bars.  I don’t know about the gelato, it was great in Noto, but it’s great everywhere!  I’ve blogged about the ancient ruins of Noto and I think both the ruins and current town are certainly worth the trip!