Downtown Ice at the Circle of Palms in Downtown San Jose offers one more reason to take a vacation to beautiful San Jose, California. The holidays are magic in this entertainment, sports and museum mecca.   Downtown Ice, Circle of Palms, 170 S. Market St. between San Jose Museum of Art and Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, California. Call: (408) 279-1775 ext. 45 or www.sjdowntown.com   Time: Usually 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. weeknights; Noon to Midnight on weekends; Special holiday hours. Cost: $12-$14. Skate all you want first-come, first-serve...no in and out privileges.  Admission includes ice time and rental skates with skate sizes ranging from toddler 8 to men's 13.   Dates: November 16, 2007 to January 13, 2008   On a cool, crisp San Jose evening, imagine looking up at the towering palm trees, then past them to the moon and stars above in the magical sky. There's nothing like gliding on ice in an urban setting, surrounded by the vibrant city buildings and warmer weather Californians enjoy on a winter night. For families, it has become a tradition and way to herald the holiday season, be it Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa.   Each year San Jose dresses up for the holidays in a big way. Next to the long-time favorite, a park filled with a toyland of statues and lights called Christmas in the Park, is an 8,100 square-foot skating rink decorated with over 30 stately, lighted palms. It is the perfect setting in the renaissance downtown district that helped transform San Jose into an appealing family destination.   Ice skating is the event to put you in the holiday mood, and its exercise benefits help wear off the added pounds many acquire eating chocolates, cookies and drinking eggnog from Thanksgiving through the New Year celebration.   Holiday ice skating is becoming increasingly popular in California, but Southern California faces challenges with the its warmer temperatures that tend to melt the rink ice or make it more difficult to form.  San Jose's perfect location provides not only a two-month skate season, but also the ideal conditions for ice skating, minus the snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures tourists sometimes find in New York City's Rockefeller Center ice rink. At the circular rink, you can skate the inner, smaller arena, or head for the outer strip with its larger circumference.   History of the San Jose ice rink: It is no surprise that San Jose loves ice. Just down the street a few blocks you'll find the arena where the San Jose Sharks play ice hockey. And San Jose State Spartans also have a hockey team nearby. Downtown Ice has only been in existence for several years, but an ice rink has seasonally been in San Jose for over a decade. When it was relocated to a plaza near the San Jose Museum of Art and Fairmont San Jose just a few years ago, the ice rink began setting records for attendance. At one count over 40,000 people skated during a holiday season and over 1,600 in a single day. With nearby corporations finding the exposure valuable, a list of sponsors has grown and made this event a huge success. Local residents love it, and conventioneers to San Jose McEnery Convention Center can walk a short two blocks for this fun, outdoor activity when attending conferences.   For a really special holiday season, fly into San Jose Airport, book a hotel room downtown, and walk over to the ice skating rink and Christmas in the Park for a winter celebration that can easily become a family tradition.   calsite