Weekend Excursion

With reading week on the horizon, hordes of Yalies who have far too much work to be traipsing off to the city for a day or two will, well, traipse off the the city for a day or two. Concerts and holiday shopping are reason enough for the trip, but no holiday season New York excursion is complete without a couple of laps around the ice rinks of Rockefeller Center and Central Park.

Thanks to movies like Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and the credits to NBC Nightly News, ice skating in the Big Apple has become a holiday tradition. And nothing says Christmas like tripping over your toe pick against the festive backdrop of a giant tree and the hundred retailers of Rockefeller Center.

YOO SUN CHEONG/YH

Wollman Rink at the South End of Central Park is no less crowded than Rockefeller. Over 4,000 skaters use the rink daily, and thanks to the surrounding skyscapers of midtown Manhattan, catching your toe pick at Wollman Rink is just as much of a New York experience.

Beatles fans should definitely make the day trip to Central Park this weekend, but not for ice skating. This Sat., Dec. 8, is the 21st anniversary of John Lennon's death, a date commemorated annually by a vigil at Strawberry Fields just inside Central Park at 72nd St. With the recent death of Beatles' lead guitarist George Harrison, this year's vigil, which lasts from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., is sure to be memorable. —Katherine Hill

Weekend skating sessions at Rockefeller Center run for two-and-a-half hours throughout the day. The cost is $8.50 for adults and an additional $6 for skate rentals. For more information about skating times and rates, call (212) 332-7654. For information about times and rates at Wollman Rink, call (212) 439-6900.

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