Somerset House skaters

There's an ice skating rink in the winter months in the forecourt of Somerset House, on the Strand in London. This evening it was c.0degC. ie. very bloody cold.

First thought on getting onto the ice: Gee, it's slippery.

You get an hour to skate about. Everyone goes on in one hour blocks, so you all learn together. Some learn faster than others. And then, by the end of the hour, people conk out earlier than others. It's an average size rink; with about 150 people wizzing about, mostly out of control, you've got a one in three chance of hitting someone or being hit.

Thoughts on skating:
- it hurts your ankles
- it hurts your knees (too much or maybe not enough bending of zem - not sure which one)
- people who hold hands tend to fall over more
- people who hold hands with their friends get in the way
- there's always one little shit who can skate better than everyone else
- there's always at least 3% of the people on the ice completely and utterly out of control and you must avoid at all cost (else risk being collected by their ineptitude)
- it's not difficult getting going in a reasonable way
- it's very difficult to look in any way graceful
- it gets tedius after half an hour or so, going round and round in the same direction
- an hour of this stuff is enough, once every couple of years

Which reminds me - the last time I was skating was in Central Park, NY. Not quite as grand as Somerset House, but a lovely setting nevertheless.