Saturday, February 16, 2008

BRRR--Baby It's Cold INSIDE!!

Yes, we did it, we finally did it! Some of you may remember that a night in the Ice Hotel was part of my birthday gifts. Well here it is.


These are just a few of the amazing pictures we took of the Ice Hotel in Quebec City...and there is no way to fully capture on a camera the adventure it was to spend the night here!

This is the entrance into the lobby and on back to the N'ice Bar where you can have a drink out of a glass made of ice!

You have instructions on how to sleep in and deal with the extreme cold:
  • First you get in the hot tub to warm up your body heat.
  • Second you COMPLETELY dry every imaginable crevice on your body...between your toes, behind your knees, everywhere...you do not want anything wet when you get in your sleeping bag.
  • Third you put on your dry, wicking long underwear...NO cotton, because it gets wet and stays wet. After you pull on your wool dry socks....
  • Fourth you stand on your bed...because the floor is snow and that will make your feet wet...and pull up your silk inner linear that is to wick away any body sweat in the night...again, you don't want moisture in your sleeping bag.
  • Fifth you wriggle your way down into your sleeping bag-good down to 40 degrees below-and zip yourself in...these bags come up over your head in a cocoon style...until only your eyes and nose are exposed...you do not want your nose in the sleeping bag - WHY you ask? That would cause moisture in your sleeping bag and - say it with me - "you don't want moisture in your sleeping bag!
You are now ready to hunker down for a very warm and cozy night's sleep...and surprisingly enough...it is very warm. You don't want to go sticking your arm out in the night or anything...but I was too claustrophobic to cocoon myself so I just pulled the sleeping bag up to my chin and slept with my hat on. I'm sure I was quite a sight.


Yes, this wonderful fireplace is actually in our bedroom...but besides adding ambiance, there was very little heat coming out of it to overcome the 15 degree temperature of our room.

Right outside our bedroom door we had our private hot tub and sauna out in a private courtyard...it was great.


The wall carvings in both the ice and the snow were absolutely amazing.
It takes 6 to 8 weeks to build the Ice Hotel and Chapel and then in the spring, it is bulldozed down.
It does have electricity but it is just for ambient lighting...not for personal use.
You literally go and have a drink, walk around and head to bed...when you are in the hotel, you are always in your full winter wear...coat, gloves, hat, and boots...until you go to bed.
The public can tour the hotel until 9 at night and drink in the bar until midnight.

This was truly an adventure of a lifetime...even though it is over in one night.
To add to this adventure - the next morning we went dog sledding...I rode on the sled while my handsome musher husband drove the team...we did have a 15 minute lesson on just how to do that. It snowed on us the entire time...and it was magnificent! What fun! I would recommend this trip to anyone daring enough to try it.

I realize it is not everyone's cup of tea to go to the frozen tundra in the middle of winter...but if you ever want to buck the system of going somewhere warm - this it the place to be. A winter wonderland at your fingertips.

2 comments:

Pamela said...

Great description of it all! And as one of those who was in the paupers room with just a bed and walls, the idea of your own fireplace and spa area sounds nice and romantic!

Pamela said...

And it's not a cup of tea to go-- it takes a cup of caribou!

We asked the bartender at N'Ice about how he felt about the prospect of the hotel coming down so soon and he sure did smile big!