Benodust: Ice Hotel, Sweden, march 7, 2014

Sweden's Ice Hotel

The ICE MAN COMMETH: Dane Benson Hoban.

The Ice Hotel in Sweden has long been on Cindy's bucket list. she, and my sister-in-law Cheryl, have been talking about the place for years. After moving to barcelona cindy saw her chance. my brother tom, cheryl, and their college-aged kids, dane and danya would meet us in stockholm, sweden and the 7 of us would fly to kiruna in northern sweden to finally spend the night surrounded by ice. no this was not necessarily on my list. sounded dang cold to me.

off to sweden

we arrived in stockholm around 4 pm so unfortunately not much time to visit the sites. Tom & Cheryl were able to reach an old friend of ours Jens Wallman, who met us for dinner in the old town district. we spent the night in a small, permanently moored, 1950's cruise ship. corrinne got to share a cabin with her cousin danya. danya is in college and corrinne thinks she's the "cat's meow college co-ed".

me, jens, tom, cheryl, cindy. its pretty cold in sweden. schnapps seems to be the national beverage.

the next morning we were off to kiruna and the long awaited ice hotel.

we stopped at the bakery before getting on a train and uncle tom got one of everything. danya and corrinne did not seem to mind, except tom would not cut the pastries fast enough.

the hertz guy kept his puppy behind the counter. guess where corrinne ended up

the ice hotel is just that, a hotel built of ice. it started out as a large igloo that the town built every year to attract interest. twenty years ago someone came to town and there was no room at the inn, so someone suggested that they spend the night in the igloo. it worked out just fine and some bright entrepreneur got the idea to build a bigger igloo the next year and rent rooms. it has grown ever since, and the single igloo turned into a large sprawling igloo. it kind of looked like those rounded army barracks, made of ice. the hotel is supported by metal frames and huge blocks of pure, clear, Torne river water. this year there were 187 rooms. most of the rooms are basic with one large bed and some ice chairs. if you want to upgrade, you can stay in an artist room. each year the hotel invited artists from around the world to submit ideas for how to decorate rooms. the winning artists are brought to the ice hotel to build their work. most of the room pictures that follow are of artist rooms. being made of ice, the hotel changes it appearance throughout the day, depending on the amount of sunlight. the hotel is now a large, commercial venture, but it is a fascinating place and quite beautiful.
next to the hotel is a warm reception area. upon arrival you are provided with any warms clothes that you may need to complement your own warm attempt. whenever you are ready to retire for the night you are given a negative 15 degree sleeping bag, and a hardy "good luck." you do not go to bed early here. no one wants to tempt temp any longer than they have to.
by the way; you store all your luggage in large lockers. showers, toilets, and lockers are all in a warm building next to the cold hotel. cindy and i were perfectly comfy cozy thru the night. around 4:30 am corrinne complained of being cold, we moved her around and she went back to sleep until 7:30 when an attendant woke everyone with warm glasses of lingonberry juice. tom and family also stayed warm throughout the night. following, is probably more pictures then you really want to see of my vacation. if you get bored, turn the blog off.

fyi :
1. the hotel melts every year in april and they rebuild each november. they use about 4000 tons of pure torne river ice.
2. Torne river water is lovely, clean, and refreshing.
3.you transfer your luggage, and ten-year-olds, over the snow on luggage sleighs.
4. the hotel is a private corporation, owned by nine individuals.
5. in the morning, i saw only one hotel guest sleeping on the couch in the warm reception area.
6. how do they make ice glasses for the ice hotel bar?? future blog subject. i know you can't wait!!