Get Your Skates on!

Ice skating is a major part of the Canadian lifestyle - along with hockey. From Novemeber to March there are free to use outdoor ice skate rinks everywhere. You just need a pair of skates and off you go. Some of the rinks also hire them for $7 and your ID. The kids have to wear helmets and most rinks don't have "sides" so you just step right on the ice!

I bought my skates in Janaury maybe a little late in the game but I still had a few months left. I picked up a pair of second hand boy skates - cos they are strangely more comfortable than the girl skates. And you can go faster on them! I only found out boy skates are better after trying to rent a pair of size 7 skates (Canadian sizes are different - I'm a 4 in the UK) and being told all the girl ones had gone and would boy ones be ok. Skating suddenly became fun rather than torture!

High Park has a rink just 5 mins away from where I live. So it was there I tried my skates for the first time. After getting over the scariest part of stepping onto ice and getting balance I was off. Such fun whizzing around the ice - I am hooked! On Saturday I went down to the Harbourside rink. Its next to the lake and has a great view of the CN Tower and Downtown. They play music and there are lights - which make it that much cooler. As the rink is sponsored by a milk company there is free hot chocolate! It's amazing to see little 3 year olds skating much better and faster than me!

Now I'm skating at least twice a week. It's a lot of fun and yes exercise! There's just something about skating outside with the wind at your cheeks and snow falling around. I haven't mastered skating backwards yet - I am happy to be staying on my skates! So until March I will be getting my skates on.