CFF - to me, it means "Creepy, Freaky Fool"

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Geo: 36.6185, 14.9894

I woke up early before the girls did - did a little reading while I waited for them. A little difficult to do in semi-darkness. Breakfast - 2 different cakes, apricot pie, assorted yogurt (Italians make great yogurt!), rolls, coffee (very good), and cereal (cocoa puffs for me!).

A Japanese lady asked if I was Japanese. I love how Asian minorities always look at me and somehow see their race in me. I'm like the Swiss-Army knife of Asian people - multi-purpose.

The girls noticed her eating a peach and asked the B&B worker for one. Only, it wasn't from the B&B. The lady offered it to us. We declined, but she kept insisting - after awhile it would seem rude if we DIDN'T take it. Then the B&B lady showed us a huge can of macedonia (fruit salad). We said sure! Turns out they had no can opener. The Japanese lady supplied a swiss army knife - we only noticed this after they were halfway done mauling the can. We felt like jackasses! The poor lady probably got arthritis. Luckily, she didn't slit her wrists for us. But the kicker was that we couldn't finish it all, despite trying our best.

Off to the Greek theatre but we stopped at a market, first. A local market but there was also tons of tourist crap, too. I liked the ruins and theatre better than Pompeii, actually. It's different here - lots of greenery. It's a nice place to chill - more of a garden with ruins scattered about.

However, the theater was in rough shape and was crumbling. We had planned on having a picnic for lunch ... so we went to the bakery to buy the goods but were sidetracked by the incredible selection of hot food they had. Roasted chicken with potatoes, chicken cutlets, mini steaks (paper thin), pastas, pizzas ... I had penne with peas, ham, and tomato sauce. A little bland but a great value at 2.1 euros for a big portion. Also had a chicken/sausage/pork skewer for 1.3 euros. We sat and ate in the park and then .... off to the gelato place!

They're kind of rude at times but, we didn't care! Their product is too good to let something small like that get in the way. I had my mandorla and ricotta cone - awesome! One of the all time great pairings - better than Abbott/Costello, Laurel/Hardy, Mickey/Minnie, and Bill Clinton/cigars.

Another mandorla granita for Jill. She's completely addicted to it - we've had some great laughs about it for the last few days. After, it was off to the town of Noto. Very beautiful Baroque town. Sadly, it's only worth maybe 1 hour. We wanted to have dinner there, but there was not enough in Noto to keep us occupied for the four hours until dinner time.

It's nice there, but a little dead. We chilled and had crappy granita (mine was coffee - tasted syrupy). After, I had a mini cannoli and a powdered sugar cookie. Good, but nothing special. Maryam had a great arancini, however.

Back to the B&B - Jill went looking for leftover bread in the breakfast room. She returned with yogurt, bread, and cake. Great owners at this B&B! The guy who worked at the B&B left us a note on a bed asking if we wanted to sample the Sicilian nightlife. We called him and accepted. Jill's roommate Christian told her to call his friend Giovanni to take us out but he couldn't, so it all seemed to work out. Sort of ...

Sheree and I walked around and did some souvenir shopping. We sat on the Duomo steps after, chatting. We discussed some different Italy options for her - she was trying to figure out where to go after Sicily. She's probably going to Rome before heading home to Bologna. Back to the B&B where we waited for Gaetano.

He showed up with his friend Rebecca. Jill smelled something fishy right away. She's good! We went to dinner at a panini place. I had a pancetta, cheese, and eggplant panini. It was good but I was a little disappointed (thought the menu said PORCHETTA, not pancetta). Had bruschetta with eggplant. Don't usually like eggplant but the Sicilians do a great job with it. It was a good and cheap place. Sadly, the company was lacking tonight.

Gaetano was quite condescending and rude to Rebecca. Asked me if I knew the meaning of "CFF". I didn't. Later on he told me that it stands for "College Fuck Fest". On file swapping networks, they are home movies made by college co-eds of themselves having sex. This guy was creepy ... he wants to go to the USA and do a cross-country motorcycle trip next year. I think he believes that the "OC" TV show is real American life (he kept asking if we watched the show) .... he's just going for all the "CFF", I think. Delusional.

Jill figured out early on that he only wanted us to be there so that he could practice his English. Nothing wrong with that if he was honest about it, but it felt like a big trick. He asked me to send his resume to IT companies in Canada ... it made no sense. Why not just send it yourself? Wouldn't it be bizarre if a company gets a resume that says "Here's my friend's resume"? The guy was quite ignorant and clueless.

He asked for my, and Maryam's email addresses. I gave him a fake one. I know, I know, I am a bastard. But he was just so creepy and freaky ... he told me that he liked Maryam but I don't think he even knew which one was Maryam. Apparently, Maryam is whoever is single out of the group. He thinks all American girls are like girls from the "OC" - i.e. - "easy".

We made an excuse to leave when all of his other friends showed up. We had to meet Jill's friend "Giovanni" later on (at least, that was our story). It was sad ... Siracusa is very lively at night. We wanted to enjoy it, but no one wanted to run into him again. Too bad, too ... he had a cute little brunette friend, but I knew that it wouldn't be worth the trouble of dealing with Gaetano.

You live and you learn, I guess ... at least he gave us something to talk and laugh about after. Later that night he texted Maryam - some crap about her being unforgettable. He'll probably show up in Bologna one day to confess his undying love for her, and tell her that he couldn't stop thinking about her since they met. What kind of loser would do something like that? Wait a second ..... 😊

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Photos

a
The leftover macedonia .... a lady's blood, sweat, and tears went into that!

b
From left to right - Sheree, Jill, Miriam.

c
The Greek theatre.

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f
Beautiful architecture in Noto.

g
Sicilian pastries - heavenly!

i
Noto is described as being a "Baroque feast for the eyes."

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k
Mmmm .... mmmm ..... horse meat for sale. I never did get to try it while traveling through Italy.

l
I think this is the ruins of Apollo's temple, in Ortigia. I love how in Italy they are so nonchalant about their ancient ruins - just scattered all about, without any fanfare.

m
Bimbos are on sale everywhere!

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