Skating at Nathan Philips Square

J and I recently met up with some more high school friends over browsing a used bookstore (BMV), outdoor skating (Nathan Philips Square), and having dinner with even more friends at a sushi restaurant (Masa Sushi). It was wonderful.

I hadn't skated in about 10 years - the last time I remember skating was back in the fourth grade, when I used to live in Peterborough. It was shaky with a lot of screaming at first, but I got better. I'm still not very confident in my stopping though.


I was nervous about leaving my bag in a small pile of our stuff on the bench unattended, since it was a public outdoor space. But what should I be worried about in a Canadian city when we're all angels and super nice to each other? ... -_-"

When we arrived at 4pm

When we were leaving at 5:30

All kidding aside, once I got over this paranoia (I kind of had to) it was completely fine - nothing of ours got stolen. Even after a couple of paranoid glimpses of strangers using our bench to put on their skates and more strangers just standing around it, everything was fine. I can't guarantee that every time because there are always crazy rude people out there, but it's still a relatively respectful place. There is a change-room at the rink, although I can't say if there are methods of more secure storage there.

Skating in the evening is beautiful with all of the lights. It's a great place to be with your favourite people.

Nathan Philips Square rents skates for $10/2 hours and a piece of photo ID (and less for children under 12.. I think it was $8?)
Skating is free and they close this season on March 10, 2013.