Advent Day 18...

I like the Spinningfields Ice Rink. Surrounded as it is with the corporate glass towers it has the atmosphere of New York, a little version of the Rockefeller Centre which I had the privilege of visiting one Christmas. We skated and I felt like I was in one of those Christmas rom coms.

As well as the skaters you get to see the Opera House, on the left, all lit up as the cast of Snow White, including Priscilla Presley, are getting ready for they evening performance. I always wonder what American actors, with no tradition of pantomime, make of our peculiarly British, Christmas, theatrical treat.

The Hilton Tower is lit up in the distance. The rather gloomy building beyond the ice rink is surrounded by fencing at the moment. In the new year, it'll be demolished and replaced by another, glass skyscraper.