iceskatingiceskatingiceskating226-230. Skate indoors
iceskating

I was having a quick flick through the book this afternoon to see what I could do tonight and I found ice-skating. Streatham Ice Rink is only 10 mins on the train so I made Last (flatmate) come as well.
We got there - paid 6.50 for the skate and 1.80 for the hire. The boots seemed about 85 years old, but I wouldn't know if they worked properly or not as I can't skate.
We were allowed to start skating at 8pm- there was a class of very experienced people on before us doing jumps and spins and other ridiculous things that we sat and watched and I felt like a complete moron before I had even attempted to walk over to the ice rink (in my ice skates).
So I bravely got on the rink - it is quite a large one, oval shaped, but it had been separated in half as there were lessons going on in one half.
I held onto the side, trying to 'find my feet' (ha ha) and when I was about half way round I looked round to see where Last was and she hadn't even made it onto the ice rink because, in her words 'there were loads of them professional sorts hanging round and I thought they were going to take me out by the knees'.
So I made it to the middle of the rink, and as I couldn't carry on round because of the lessons, and I certainly wasn't going to cross the middle, I turned round and went the wrong way round the ice rink. A lady said to me 'your not meant to go round that way', to which I replied 'I'm not going round without holding on to the edge so I have to'. She didn't seem to have an answer to that and just sniffed at me and skated off....really well.
We then chatted to a nice couple who took pity on us and said they had been having lessons and looked as bad as us when they first started, but they both were really good at it now.

Then Neil Strachan arrived, not to skate (such a wimp) but to watch and laugh, and later eye-up a nice looking man (see photo) - all of this for the small sum of 1.50.
He took some videos of us, desperate to see us falling over, which we didn't. I eventually got the hang of it and didn't have to hold on to the sides, so I asked Neil to take a video, thinking that I could watch and admire my skating technique. I was very wrong - I just looked like I was stomping round the rink and occasionally glided for less than a second.

Last and I had a good time - we did it for an hour but as I hadn't yet fallen over I thought it might be best to quit while I was ahead, and I also wanted to have all of my fingers left this evening to type this blog.

Neil had a good time trying to pull a gay (we think) skater, but didn't really get very far. Maybe if he hadn't been so pathetic and tried to skate the man may have helped pick him up when he inevitably fell over.

Streatham Ice Rink is great - probably best to go on a weekday evening, and to everyone who told me I'd get shot going there - I didn't.