For the last couple of years, I have known of the downtown ice skating rink, but it wasn’t until last year that I finally decided to give it a go. Let me tell you something about ice skating, it’s hella fun once you get the hang of it. If it’s your first time or you don’t have real good balance, your going to fall on your butt. That’s why you take your significant other to hold your hand and keep you from falling.
For $8 you get to rent a pair of skates and have an hours time of going around in circles trying to get the hang of it. When I first started last year, I was bad. Real bad. In fact, I had to hold on to the rails like some wussy and scrape along the ice. It was only until my third time around that I was finally starting to get the hang of it and skating on my own. Of course, back then I was courting a young lady who I call my X now, but skating under the stars in the middle of Downtown with beautiful lights all over the place. Very romantic. The ring is open everyday and the last session is at 9 p.m. so you can go anytime in between noon and 9 p.m. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to try ice skating for the first time. I never grew up around any ice skating rinks so it’s definitely a great opportunity to try something new. If you have any hang ups about wearing skates other people have worn, bring extra socks. Also there’s going to be bands performing on different days. My picks are their Fridays in which their going to have “upground,” a ska band(12-12), a Pearl Jam cover band(12-19), HU2, a U2 cover band(12-26), Led Zepagain(1-09) and David Brighton covering David Bowie(1-16). Sadly, still no Metallica cover band.Â
ice skating and live bands right in downtown all easily accessible from the eastside via public transit! (go rapid 720!)
as for those Friday bands… let it be known that Upground, besides being “a ska band” is one of our very own… home-grown east of the river.
RE: that last picture.
I can smell your patas from way over here! Ponles talco! 🙂
Or from South Gate! 760/715-Blue Line!
i’m wary of ice skating. after walking around where it snows and ice forms, I consider that ice skating.
coming from Boyle Heights you can take the 68 or the 770 or you can walk down to first street and take the 30/31.
Of course my feet smell. I’m walking around all day and then I put on skates worn by other people. Seriously though, take and extra pair of socks and get some gold bond on them feet.
Ice skating is so much fun! Last time I went ice skating (in July) el novio — an experienced ice skater and former hockey player — told me that ice skating was 90% mental and only 10% skill. I’d been ice skating before, but this time I was more jittery. Plus, there were a lot of 13 year olds getting in the way and annoying me. I got the hang of it after a couple of laps and didn’t fall at all.
.
i’d recommend picking up your own skates if you can (thrift store, yard sale, wherever). the skates they have for rental kinda suck, prolly why you had to grab the rail, el random.
luckily, the skates i used in my bonecrushing days on the frog pond in boston common still fit — i think.
Fuck that East Coast shit! j/k looks fun!
Ice skating was one of my many phases. I was going to be Surya Bonaly. My step mom was like, “You should get a hobby what do you like.” One of the more popular girls at my school was an ice skater so I said, “I’d like to ice skate.” This more popular girl also got out of PE owing to her ice skating obligations. I hated PE. I also wanted a costume and to have people throw roses at me and to clap for me and tell me how awesome I was. I also wanted the opportunity to show popular girl that we could totally be friends since we were both competitive ice skaters 🙂
For some odd reason this did not work out. Being egomaniacal, wanting to work your way up the jr high social ladder and the desire to get out of PE doesn’t make you a good ice skater without the whole dedication to practice. Weird.
Browne
human is right, if you have your own skates do take them because the rentals are uncomfortable, but bear able.
Every time I see people that do know how to skate show off, it hurts my self esteem. 🙁