It might be cold, but it sure is cool!

February is usually a pretty cold and miserable enterprise in New England.  It's a time when practical folk escape to places where the only requirements for survival are sunscreen, wispy beach cover-ups, and thirst-quenching umbrella drinks.  I'm not sure what synaptic misfiring went on upstairs when I suggested to family and friends a few years back that we go spend a weekend in a place where the moisture in your nose crystallizes the moment you step outside, and you need a lesson how to sleep in order to survive the night.  I think we discovered that at a certain point, say minus 30 degrees, Fahrenheit and Celsius become pretty much equal by then, no conversion necessary.  It's good to get out of your comfort zone every once in awhile....

Welcome to the Ice Hotel, Quebec, Canada!

Pretty ice carvings abound.

The chapel.

 The cafe.

The Disco.

The Absolut Ice Bar....

....clamoring for something to warm up the pipes with.

Never thought I'd be drinking vodka out of an ice cube. 

One of the "bed" rooms (bed = ice block, pallet, animal hide)

They suggest sleeping nude inside the special sleeping bags....of course the children objected to such a disgusting prospect. We opted for the next best suggestion: non-cotton-fibered material.  Cotton retains moisture, which will make you even colder. Against rational thought, you're to sleep with your face outside of the sleeping bag so as not to produce condensation inside the bag. 

 

Seriously?  At 2AM when I thought my nose was going to fall off from hypothermia I bailed and finished the night in the lodge where our suitcases had a beautiful room with queen beds and luxurious down quilts.  

Out of our lively party of thirteen (six adults, seven children), only four made it all the way through to morning - one dad (Steve) and his three impressively "just do it" teenagers (Melissa, Abby, and Steven).

 This is a really fun and crazy thing to do once in your life.  In all fairness, we happened to pick one of the coldest weekends ever on record.  I think most people could manage the entire night.  They even have honeymoon packages, though I think I'd opt for the sunscreen/umbrella-drink location for that kind of event.  The Hotel de Glace is constructed anew each January, and rooms are available until March, or until they melt.