Weekend On Ice
Can you believe that up till this weekend, I'd never been inside Ally Pally. I mean, I'd been there over a hundred times over the decades, but just never went inside. Ever. Until this past weekend. I've posted on here a few times about visiting the place while spending time with some family near Enfield. I'd even gone there for events there, but outdoorsy ones. I've met my photography society there a few times, including a photowalk through Highgate Wood and Queen's Wood, all the way to Camden. I just never did go into the actual palace building.
On this occasion I was invited to go ice-skating. I hadn't put on a pair of skates in nearly 10 years. The last time was at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London, and prior to that it was somewhere in Kensington. I was quite rusty but my balance was almost as good as always. The boots were even less comfortable than I remembered. It was also the first time I'd ever worn lace-up style skates. They looked like something from the 1920's. I wouldn't be surprised if they were older than I am.
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There was a good variety of skill levels on the rink. Many people basically held on to the sides for dear life. There were young skaters with skating aids like penguins and dolphins (for the very young ones to sit on). Majority were like me - comfortable on skates and able to glide around confidently. Then there were a handful of very skilled skaters, a few that looked like they could be professional hokey players or figure skaters and one particular guy that moved like he was born with skates on. He was beautiful to watch actually, the way (almost poetically) weaved in and out of the crowd, sometimes at probably excessive speed. I had a quick chat with him later and he said he was just "into skating", meaning not a professional of any kind. Mind blowing stuff.
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I don't know what I was expecting but, in hindsight, it was sort of the same inside the palace as it is outside - mostly empty underutilised space. There were two main sitting areas, one next to the cafe and kiosk area with some displays of vintage British Broadcasting Corporation equipment. It was there I sat for a quick coffee before heading home. I caught the train just down the hill at the station with the same name. British Rail, thankfully and surprisingly, was working ok on the day. The journey home wasn't too bad, even if a little long.
Peace & Love,
Adé