Sailing with Moondance : On to Sicily and A night at the Opera (for those who know me

We completed work on Moondance in Corfu - engine back together and Solar Bracket fitted. Peter and Nikki Zabell arrived from Australia to join us for the rest of our time in the Mediterranean. We left the marina heading for a small island north of Corfu when the battery alarm sounded so we called in to Kassiopi - a small town in the North of Corfu. The combination of solar + engine charging was the culprit so after fitting a cutoff switch to the solar panel, we were on our way overnight to Italy.
For the first time in a while we were sailing. Very efficiently and arrived at Porto La Castella at 11 am the next morning, tired but safe. The marina was basic - no hot water etc etc and charged 25euros for the pleasure. we had a walk around the town in the evening and were treated to a fireworks display from a vantage point above a restaurant complex. The fireworks were exploding impressively above our head.
Sailing down the Southern Italian Coast the next day we arrived at Porto Delle Grazie, a pleasant enough stop with an interesting shifting sand bar entrance which we negotiated easily. A long day saw us leave in the dark following our track in. There was about 60 miles to Taormina Sicily achieved by a combination of sailing and motoring. This included crossing the Messina Strait - our first encounter with currents for a while. We arrived safely in the bay (Mazzaro at the foot of Taormina) anchored amongst laid moorings and tied to an offshore rock.
Since then we have visited Taormina by Finicula (actually a cable car) and enjoyed the sights including a trip to Castel Mola - a village perched on the top of a hill, and a nearby town of Naxos. Of course an Italian/Sicilian dinner of pasta at an outdoor restaurant preceded an evening at the Italian Opera. A wonderful evening and we felt privileged to be entertained and having drinks on a balcony overlooking a magnificent old town and bay.