Ice Skating

I’m not generally one of those people who complains about how cold it is in the winter (at least not to that many people). I love watching the snow fall, collecting into piles along with window ledge or rooftops. We do live in Canada, after all, and the cold and the snow is what we’re known for. Sure, when it’s minus 30, I am more than happy to stay bundled up indoors, and extremely happy for my convenient underground walkway to the subway, but on those occasions when the sun is shining and the cold is bearable, the winter is great for outdoor activities. And this past weekend was one of those days that made for a great winter adventure.

As a kid I remember my dad building an ice rink in our back yard. He spent hours after work and on weekends flooding it and levelling it (and we spent hours asking, “Is it ready yet?”), until finally the surface was frozen and smooth enough for us to skate on. We bundled up, strapped on our skates, and that’s where we learned to glide and stop and turn. And we’ve been skating ever since. As an adult today, I think skating outdoors is such a great family/couple activity, but the reality is, we don’t do it all that often. Seems like life keeps getting in the way, unless you schedule it!

That’s exactly what we did this past Sunday. As a Birthday Surprise Adventure, I planned to take Matt ice skating for his birthday (we've been talking about going for probably two years now!). With various rinks around town to choose from, first I had to narrow down where to go. Nathan Phillips was an obvious choice for its location, but it’s also very popular with the locals and tourists and I didn’t feel like fighting the crowds. I had the same thoughts about the rink at the Harbour Front. And then my mom sent me a link to an article about a recently opened ice rink in Colonel Sam Park in Etobicoke, and after checking it out, that’s where we were headed. I borrowed skates from my dad (and he was even kind enough to have them sharpened!), hoping they would fit Matt, and whipped up a thermos of hot chocolate to enjoy after the skating, along with a few other snacks. We hopped into the car (a little luxury we have for the month of February) and drove off for our adventure. Matt was the one driving, but I only gave him general directions as to where we were headed. I’m pretty sure once we pulled into the parking lot he had figured it out (kind of hard not to when you see the rink and the people skating about).

The Colonel Sam Skating Trail is unique in that it’s shaped like a figure eight, and you can either skate the long way around both loops or take a short cut through the middle. A big bonus is that the rink is artificially frozen (great for our fluctuating temperatures) and Zamboni-ed regularly to keep the ice smooth. Plus, there is a heated change room with cubby holes for your boots, if you prefer, but also benches outside along the rink.

It was a prefect sunny afternoon for skating - not too cold, and the warmth of the shining sun actually kept us quite comfortable. Both Matt and I were a little rusty in the beginning, but after a few laps around we got the hang of it. There were lots of families and couples, as I suspected, but lots of room for all of us to share the ice. Once we had enough, we wandered back to the car where hot chocolate laced with butterscotch awaited us (the butterscotch was from a coffee syrup that I used in place of sugar). We finished off the afternoon with a car wash, a visit with a friend in the neighbourhood, and an Americano at a new coffee bar by our house. Oh, and we topped it off with the last of our wedding brisket to enjoy Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwiches for dinner (I also gave Matt another brisket for his birthday, so we'll be able to enjoy that throughout the year). All in all, I would say the day was a success!