Yoga, Opera and football

Time for another update from Santiago. We're now into the winter season. A whole lot of rain over the last week, mainly over the weekend has meant a big dump of snow in the mountains and the most of the ski resorts open this weekend! I now have a few weeks or so to make the most of it before I return to Australia.  The views on clear days of the snow covered mountains now are spectacular.

I have to mention football and the Euro 2012. The tournament is now down to the business end, lose and you're out, winner takes all. England play Italy on Sunday but before that there's a few juicy match ups, Spain v France could be a bit tasty as you never know which French team is going to turn up. I'll be heading down to the Shamrock on Sunday afternoon which has sort of become the HQ for the British and Irish lunch members. I can recommend both the 'Bangers and Mash' and 'Fish and Chips' that  they serve and there was talk of a traditional roast lunch being on the menu for Sunday's game.

I had a small party at my place on Saturday night which I think was reasonably successful and the neighbours didn't complain. I was woken up in the early hours of the morning by loud bangs and flashes which could have been gunfire. Later when I got up I found that there was no water and electricity. The transformer in the street had decided to blow up over night which is slightly less dramatic than gunfire. The water supply was restored once the emergency generator kicked in but there was no power for most of the day which meant a freezing cold shower.

Monday night I did my first ever yoga class.  Karin normally does yoga on monday nights but for some reason this week they were having the class in her apartment, I think someone was away this week. So three of us and the instructor pushed our bodies into positions that nature obviously didn't intend. Although I have never been to a yoga class I do have some experience with yoga, I am the owner of a yoga DVD that I used privately for a couple of months. I actually quite enjoyed the class and might take it up when I return to Australia. Interestingly I slept really well after the class and had really vivid dreams.

Tonight I am going to the opera, a production of Donizetti's 'Lucrezia Borgia' at the Teatro Municipal. I don't think I have been to an opera as an adult, as a teenager I have vague recollections of gatecrashing a rather grand open air production in Orange in the south of france once while on a family holiday.