A picture's worth a thousand words.....

Today I arrived in Jukkasjarva, the town which has the Ice Hotel.  Lots of beautiful things to see including the amazing Ice Hotel itself.  Tonight we spend the night one of the ice rooms, on a bed of ice and reindeer skin.  Tomorrow night we are in one of the warm chalets.  I think both will be special in their own way.  The cold room is -5C.  We did a tour called "How to survive the night in the Ice Hotel".  Very informative, apparently other than the sleeping bag you should only have 1 layer on. 1!.  I am going along with what they say but if I am cold I am going back to the dressing room to pile on the layers.  There are only 2 hours of daylight between 12-2 so its dark and pretty with lights most of the time.

Oh my the Layers!  I have never worn as many layers of clothes as I have today, and I can still feel the cold.  And its only -15C.  Last week it was almost -30C!!!
This evening on our way home from dinner we walked through the town.  I was wearing:
1 pair woolen hiking socks
1 pair "special" wool ski socks that go up to the knee
1 pair tights
1 pair jeans
Special boots that are super thick and durable and have a fleece and special insulating layer
1 vest, 1 t-shirt, 1 fleece body warmer, 1 fleece full layer, 1 wool jersey  aaannnnd
1 pair wool gloves, 1 pair fleece gloves, 1 pair mitten liners and 1 pair suede/leather mittens the size of plates
1 very hectic and heavy snow suit
then to top it off a beanie and balaclava and scarf.
Needless to say taking pics or blowing your frozen nose take ages and much adjustment.  My nails hurt from all the taking on and off of gloves.
But its been an amazing experience so far.  The very sad thing is Bron was sick this morning so she stayed behind in Stockholm and Hans, Helena and I are forging on alone.  Its been lovely, but we miss her.

Enough words, here are some much promised pics :)
Just as a side note - all these pics are of the "Art" rooms, ours is more basic but still ice and snow.

Side view of Ice Hotel 

Cute....during waking hours.  Not so much if you bump awake up at 4am.

This one is my favoute - Its called "Bubble Suite"

Chapel - they have up to 4 weddings a day during the season

Hans in the choir stall of the Chapel

Altar of the Chapel

Traditional Swedish window dressing

This one is called "Frigid-Dare" Thats food you see :)

Reception Hall

A house on the way home from dinner - can you see all the snow layers there?

Gift Shop

More from me soon xoxoxoxoxo

LK