Kingston City Hall (Winter)

Kingston City Hall is a stunning landmark in Kingston. It lies at the heart of downtown Kingston. Princess street is a very long street that extends out of Kingston and at the downtown area, this street slopes downwards towards the Kingston Harbour. At the end of Princess street, is the Kingston City Hall. 

The City Hall was built in 1844 and its architecture reflects Kingston's status as capital of the Province of Canada at that time. The capital of Canada is now Ottawa, to find out more about Ottawa visit here. So, this building is now designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. 

I love this place:) In the summer, there's the Springer's Market which I will update about some time soon. In the winter, because it'll be too cold to have an outdoor market, this square transforms into a skating rink and is accompanied by a huge Christmas tree lighted by Mr and Mrs Santa during the Kingston Santa Parade 2013. 

Rink in the making :)

I frequent the Springers market for organic food in the summer, so I often came here. But towards the end of fall, it started getting really cold and stalls stopped their outdoor sales. For a brief couple of days, this square looked empty and desolate. On the day when I watched an Ice Hockey game after dinner at Woodenheads Pizza, I passed the city hall and was really excited to know that they had begun construction of the rink.

In a matter of days, the construction was completed and the temperature slowly descended into the negatives. I was so excited to be skating in the open! This is such a normal experience for locals but I was stoked!

Families young and old all at the rink :)

I have only skated once before coming to Kingston and that was at a small indoor rink in Katong (Sg). It was an enjoyable experience except for the puddles of water in the centre of the rink. The rink here was solid and thick and was never too slippery. In fact, the weather's so cold the ice is always rough and hard. I love the ice the most minutes after the Zamboni zooms around. 

The layer of water over the smooth ice makes it such a delightful experience. You just need to push a little and you'll glide over the ice. The feeling of wind on your face especially at the bend, just feels great! Oh that feeling is just too whimsy to describe. :)

On days where its dead cold (double digit negative days)  the skies are white. On slightly warmer snowy days (single digit negative days), its a pretty blue like in the photo below :)

On a slightly warmer snowy day :)

There's always a photo from this angle cos this view is from the staircase leading to the basement where there are lockers for you to keep your stuff. Its free of charge you just need to bring your own lock :)

At the locker area :)

They have speakers all around the rink playing songs from their Christmas Radio channel. And it is always playing :) One day I arrived at 7.30 am and the people working in the building saw me on the ice and said "Wow you're early! Let me turn on the radio for you!" such sweet people!

I miss listening to <Its Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas> by Buble, <Santa Baby> by Eartha Kitt, <Baby It's Cold Outside> by Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer, <All I Want For Christmas> by Mariah Carey, <Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas> by Frank Sinatra, and <White Christmas> by Bing Crosby.

The sound quality of old records make Christmas Songs seem all the more warmer :)

There are many more rinks in Kingston but this is one of the few that has lockers and toilets. I put together a short video (15s) of the sights and sounds at the Rink. Enjoy!