"Once you start skating, your heart starts pumping, and you don't notice it at all," says Anna Kopriva Lopez, a 27-year-old Spanish teacher who comes here every year. "I usually don't even wear a scarf or coat."

If you do feel a chill, there's plenty to do indoors. Crown Center Square contains 60 shops and restaurants, a cinema, and two live theaters. The American Heartland Theatre showcases Broadway-style productions, and The Coterie Theatre was named by Time magazine as one of the top five children's theaters in the country. Unlike Broadway, you can usually get tickets at the door.

An elevated indoor walkway connects Crown Center Square to Union Station, an elegant train station now home to a planetarium, a giant movie screen, several restaurants and shops, and an interactive science museum.

left: Cozy up to Ben Franklin, one of the many outdoor works of art that grace Country Club Plaza.