I went skating at lunch time today. There is an outdoor rink that opened near our flat, and I could no longer resist. The concept of paying £10 for an hour of skating is quite foreign, but in a land where it never dips below freezing they do have to work a little magic to get things working.

The good thing about skating here, is that even if you're a terrible skater who is on their rear half the time and can only stop by slamming into the boards, you will still look like the next Wayne Gretzky. So, since I am a half decent skater by Canadian standards, quite a crowd gathered as I sped around the rink. I was going round and round, eyeing the pools of water and feeling the ice soften with every lap. And finally the inevitable happened: kadoosh! Flat on my back. A huge applause and cheer errupted from the onlookers. I got up, laughing my head off, when my Blackberry escaped its holster and went clanging onto the ice. Another applause and cheer from the peanut gallery.

The new chips and scratches on my Blackberry quite resemble my pride, but well worth it for a little ice time :)