After a drink in the bar we prepared to go out again and we were excited about this because some of us were going ice skating. Christine can’t go on the ice of course because she is too accident prone even under perfect walking conditions and neither Sue or Mike S felt confident about taking to the ice but the rest of us were all keen to give it a try so we paid our entrance fee and strapped on the excruciatingly painful bright orange boots and carefully took to the ice.
The strange thing about ice skating is that it is a lot more difficult than it looks and instead of gliding elegantly around the outdoor arena we were stumbling gracelessly across the frozen surface just being thankful to remain vertical. Kim quickly abandoned any attempt at proper skating and went around clutching on to a sort of ice rink zimmer frame, Mike W quickly got cold feet and abandoned the ice almost as soon as he had started but after a shaky start Helene was lapping faster and faster and Margaret was a complete natural with lashings of grace and poise.
I managed to stay upright through a dozen or so circuits but although I was beginning to feel like Christopher Dean and was humming Bolero to myself as inspiration I am fairly sure it wasn’t pretty to look at for those spectating. For a start I found it impossible to skate with both feet so quickly established an awkward style of keeping my left foot in constant contact with the ice and pushing myself along with nervous little stabs of the right foot and then sliding for as long as possible before starting over again. I found that stopping was especially difficult and the only really confident way of coming to a standstill was to plot a course for the side of the rink and then crash into the wooden fences surrounding the ice and it is difficult to make that look in any way stylish!
The entrance fee and boot hire was for a full hour but after twenty minutes without anyone injuring themselves we decided that this was probably quite long enough and to stay longer might increase the risk of broken bones and lacerations so we returned the boots and left in search of a restaurant.
Have Bag, Will Travel 
Good pic, love the expression on her face.
Grace poise and style combined with ice-skating aren’t easy. I went from school a few times, and I happened to be friends with someone who was really good. She had her own white boots, instead of the ugly hired ones. She was also good at fencing, I wonder if the two go together? So while I was edging my way around the outer perimeter, she swept up like a fairy godmother, grabbed hold of my hands, and naturally skated backwards (as you do) taking me round a few laps so that I could get the idea of it. I even got to the point where I could brake by drawing my feet together, rather than crashing into the side a la AP style. When I went skiing later, it reminded me of ice skating. Unsurprisingly.
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Never tried skiing – not brave enough! I have however been to a ski slope and had a glass of beer while watching others!
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I took the picture while skating backwards!
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Of course. I realised that 🙂 You may have had a glass of beer in your hand at the same time too.
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This was fun to read. Reminded me of my own forays into the wonderful world of ice skating. Being from Vermont, we were practically born with blades, but we still had to learn to use them. Your descriptions are perfect and exactly as I remember. Skating is like second nature to me now, but oh how scary it was. Funny thing though, put wheels on the boots and forget it. Can’t move for trying. Sounds like you had fun and that’s the whole point. At least you tried!
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I’m with Kim. Give me something to hang on to and I’m a skating genius.
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In New England when every puddle would freeze over, all the kids skated (as Rhonda said, I think we were born with blades). All the boys played hockey -even some of the girls in the more friendly games. Not for the weak of ankle, though. I wonder if the drink at the bar helped, or hindered? 😉
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In Lincolnshire there was once a tradition of skating on the frozen fens but we longer seem to get those sort of extreme winters. In Riga a few years ago when I visited there was no snow or ice and all winter sports were being played on artificial surfaces.
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