The Ice Hotel

As this was over 4 years ago I am going to try to remember as much as possible.  I remember being very, very excited about heading to the Ice Hotel.  I remember my best friend Audrey telling me years ago about a Hotel made of ice and snow that sold Vodka in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the Northern Lights.  It was always something in the back of my mind and its one of those places where you hear about that you would love to go and visit but you think you will never get there (like Easter Island).  Just before we moved into our house, myself and Ray made the decision to go. www.icehotel.com

Day 1 - 16th March 2003

Went to the airport to head to Sweden, Stockholm and was praying that nothing would go wrong as the Ice Hotel seemed like such a fairytale place that I wasnt sure it even existed.   When we got to the airport there was a problem and our flight had been cancelled.  I fuckin knew it.  But all was not lost, our plane was re-routed.  It would just take a little longer to get there.  When I was leaving Dublin my mother was telling me to make sure I got my plane, not to miss it, make sure I got to the right country etc as the strangest things happen to us at the airports.  How hard could it be to go to the airport, get on the plane and land at Stockholm??? Hard enough it appeared as I rang her from Copenhagen about 3 hours later.

We eventually made it to Stockholm though.  We were only staying the night here as we had to get another plane to head to the little village of Jukkasjarvi.

ICEHOTEL is situated in the village Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden. The heart and backbone is the River Torne flowing freely through the unspoilt wilderness. Covered with a meter thick ice layer winter time the river is the source of all the art, architecture and design that is seen in the hotel. The pure water and the steady movement of the river creates the clearest ice possible.  I mean, this ice looks like glass.

We were staying in the Radisson in Stockholm which is where our travel agent booked us into.  Hotel was nice but there was also a Radisson in the Hotel and thats the one that i would have gone for as we were only there for the night with an early morning flight.  It put into my head that if there is ever a connecting flight the next morning, always check to see what the story is with the airport hotel.  So much handier.   Once into the hotel we were very tired so didnt see any of Stockholm although it looks very exciting, cosmopolitan and definitely fun.  The Radisson was strangely decorated but quirkly.  Had some food in the restaurant and we were up early enough the next morning to head back to the airport and catch a flight to Jukkasjärvi.

Day 2 - 17th March 2003

Very excited getting up the next morning and practically ran out of the hotel to head to the airport.  We boarded a very small plane.  Enough for about 30 - 40 people.  It was quite small and as I have a fear of flying it took some of the excitement out of my morning.  Once aboard though with eyes closed I felt better.  Once off the plane, you are greeted at the tiny airport and you head for a bus which will drive you to your destination.  At this stage everyone who is at the airport is heading to the hotel.  There is about 20 people, maybe 25.  The air is very clean and its just like you see on TV.  Beautiful trees, snow everywhere.  Unspoilt picture postcard scenes.  We drove over a lake that is water in the summer but freezes in the winter.   Was a bit nervous about crossing it as I reckon I watch too much TV but these guys know what they are doing.

After getting instructions as to what to do after we reached the hotel, we left the bus and headed to a little lodge.  There you can pick out your own jumpsuit, hat, gloves and boots for your stay.  This was great since neither myself, nor Ray had prepared ourselves for weather in the Artic Circle.  After picking out our gear, you then check into the hotel.  We were booked in for one night in the ice hotel and one in the chalet outside.  That way we get to experience both.  There is an area outside the hotel that has lockers, toilets and a shower area.  Obvioulsy plumbing and wardrobe space are not features in the ice hotel itself.

There are plenty of day visitors to the Ice Hotel so if you are staying there, you get badges and tags to say your a resident.  You are given the number of your room (or igloo, whatever you want to call it) and are free to explore.  Outside  the ice hotel there is an ice church, an ice theatre and a tiny village with a few shops.   We decided to explore the village.  It was not snowing, the sun was shining but the snow was up to our knees as we walked to a little cafe.  It was a lot of fun and plenty of snow angels were made.  By the time we got to the cafe, we were exhausted, wet, big red faces and laughing like kids.  The staff in the cafe were polite but not very cheerful and poured some hot chocoaltes with a simple nod.   They had no English and didnt seem very pushed to learn any.   We learn that up here a lot of people get quite depressed.  One Swedish guy was saying that the suicide rate is quite high in this part of the world as its quite hard to find work and with the constant snow and ice, it gets people down a lot.  Harsh!  The ice hotel is very good for this area as it brings a lot of jobs and people that live here are happy about it.

There was nothing else in the village really to explore, we saw the houses of locals and the cafe was the only thing really for tourists.  We decided to head back and check out the hotel.  We left it for a while as everyone had trooped in there first and we were hoping that the crowd might have moved on when we got there.   Our patience paid off!!  You walk through two massive doors covered in raindeer skin and enter the biggest igloo in the world.  Its very hard to describe.  The inside was a maze of corridors.  At the end of every corridor was an ice sculptor and most had lights behind them in a variety of colours to create an amazing effect.  The lights dont melt the ice as the temperature in the hotel is kept at -5 degrees and they are special lights.  The rooms have no doors, they are covered with skins and when you enter the rooms its a small room, snow on the ground, ice beds and these are covered with raindeer skins.   Thats all that is in the room.

Some of the rooms were suites and these were amazing.  They were filled with lighting and ice sculptor's came from all over the world to create a masterpiece that would melt a few months later but would be admired, photographs and loved for those few months.  There was one room in particular that Ray loved.  A huge set of headphones was the bedstand and then there was the bed.  Total DJ room! I was sitting on a Harley Davidson made out of ice.  We didnt have our camcorder and only a disposable camera as a few years ago myself and Ray didnt bother taking pictures or momentos of our trips.  Am sorry now I didnt take more pictures here as this would have been the place to start.  Anyway, we found our room, very similar to all the other standard rooms.

We were hungry and decided to go for some food.  There is a restaurant about a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  Inside is lovely and warm and inviting.  Food was good and wine was better.  Today's is St. Patrick's day and we celebrated it a little different to home.  When we left we had a snowmobiles booked that were going to bring us out to see the Northern Lights.  It had started snowing when we got onto our snowmobiles so the prospect of seeing the Northern Lights didnt look too good.  If you ever get a chance to try a snowmobile go for it.  Ray was laughing saying I looked like Supergran after I told him I felt very James Bondy!  The snow was pelting down and honestly if the hotel didnt dress you in jump suits etc we would have been so fucked! We drove out for about an hour and came to a clearing that would have been perfect ot see the lights if it wasnt snowing.  We were disappointed of course, but we had a lot of fun that day.   There was about 8 of us on the tour (not including guides) and we were brought to a small hut with a big chimney in the middle.  Here we were given soup and food that was cooked on a big grill in the middle of the room, hence the chimney.  No one really spoke English and was nice not to try to make conversation with anyone and just enjoy each others company.

When we came back to the hotel we decided to hit the Ice Bar.  There is a gorgeous cocktail list there and the novelty about this place is the glasses are made of ice so never any fear of your drink getting warm.  We met two gay women who had decided to go and visit all the weird and wonderful places in the world together.  This was their first stop.  They were telling us about a hotel in Mexico made of sand!!! Ok!  Went for the green cocktails being Paddy's Day and these things are lethal.  Actually called the Northern Lights and two of them are you were anybody's.  We decided to hit the ice.  When we came to our room, the routine for bed is get into your warm clothing, climb into a sleeping bag and then pull some covers over you whilst on the raindeer skin.  Ray, the little diamond, managed to get us a double sleeping bag (which we were told was for married couples and emergencies only!).  Emergencies lol!  Because we were a little drunk and the toilet was so far away we thought we fuck it, will wait until morning.  It was nice and warm, for a while, until about 5am when you realised that the toilet would just not wait.  This was a total pain in the arse as you have to get out of the covers, sleeping bag, get dressed and make your way out to the toilet area.  Still in my PJ's, with boots unlaced I started sprinting through the corridors.  Its eery running through the hotel at that time of night as there is no-one there and the place is pretty surreal anyway.  On my way back to the room I could hear some footsteps crunching in the snow and when I turned a corridor came face to face with another fellow resident who was up to the same task I was.  The two of us stood there for a few seconds blinking at one another, checking out our gettup and our surroundings, laughed at each other and went on our way.  Climbed back into the sleeping bags but at this stage Ray was snoring his head off.  I checked the room next door and it was free but we only had the double sleeping bag.  I was too cold to go to sleep at this stage and we were going to be woken up at 6.30am anyways so sleptn the next hour making a little snowman in the corner after getting myself dressed.

Day 3 - 18th March 2003

At 6.30am they come in to wake you with hot loganberry juice.  I never had this juice before I arrived here and have never had it since but it is delicious.  There was free hot loganberry juice any time you wanted here.  Happy days.

This morning we were going out on a Huskie sleigh.  We had breakfast which was provided by the hotel and went on our tour.  This was loads of fun, it was bright and plenty to see although most of the scenery looked the same.   Kept our eyes peeled for moose as there is plenty of them in the area but saw nothing.  Am just not one for seeing wildlife when I am out and about.   The tour was great and the dogs are just gorgeous.  It gets dark here very quickly which is why they start the day so early.  We are going home tomorrow and our flight is at 7.00am which means leaving here at 5.00am which is a pain in the arse.

When we got back to the hotel it was time for us to check into our cabin for the night.  Nice and all as the ice hotel is and funky as fuck, we were sooooo happy to get into the cabin.  The fact that it had a toilet and a shower in the same cabin was great.  Beds with pillows and you could walk around in your bare feet if you wanted on a wooden floor.

The bed looked very inviting and we put the heads down for a nap.  When we woke up it was getting dark.  Went into the tourist office and there was a choice of an ice sculptor class or going to see MacBeth in the theatre.   Went to see MacBeth.  This theatre was amazing.  Its has no roof but everything is carved just as a real theatre would be.  Its free in and hardly ever full so we climbed to one of the box seats.  Sitting in a little cocoon of snow we pulled up our hoods as it started to snow and watched MacBeth.  The lighting and costumes were great.  If you knew what the play was about then you could enjoy it.  Luckily we did!  Otherwise you wouldnt have a clue what was going on since it was in Swedish.  It was actually the fact of where you were, what you were sitting in, what your surrounding were rather than watching the play that made everything enjoyable.

After that we went to check out the church.  People getting married in here all the time and they have an ice altar and ice pews.  Amazing detail!!!

When we left there it was time to head back to the cabin and get some sleep before the cab came.  They had given us our breakfast in a bag to go which we thought was very cute.  Was welcome sitting in the taxi on the way to the airport.  Two flights home and arrived at Dublin.

Definitely one of the most unusual places I have ever put my head down for a ight.