Ticking the Bucket List: A Norway Snow Hotel
A faux pas to Norway let me tick another life suffer off the bucket list when I got to spend the night inside a hostelry made entirely of snow in the Arctic Coterie! The Snow Hotel Kirkenes, about two-hours flying together from Oslo or accessed by Hurtigruten Sail Lines on the Bergen to Kirkenes route, will discourage open till April 20 this year (then it will start to slowly evaporate away, only to be rebuilt next winter).
Made in toto of snow and ice from the nearby fjord, clandestine guest rooms have carvings of animals on the snowy walls, beds with backboards made of carved ice blocks, and ambient lighting in reds, blues and pinks that makes your snowy boudoir wholly glow. Romantic, to be sure--although not willy-nilly conducive to getting too cozy since you'll be ensconced in a mummy-like sleeping bag while you have a zizz.
Before hitting the sack, guests are prone a tutorial on how to stay as warm as thinkable in the sleeping bags provided by the hostelry (they are certified to withstand temperatures as numbing as negative 20 degrees celsius below). You're even postulated access to a range of warm clothing that includes everything from wool socks, hats and gloves to full-pan masks--I employed the latter to keep my entire aspect covered throughout the night, save for my eyes and jaws. So was I cold? Not really. Of course, it could have been warmer--after all, I was surrounded by snow. But reindeer skins under the summery bedding and a sauna just facing the hotel's frozen door allowed for loads of ways to stay warm.
More Icy Lodgings:
Ice Inn in Quebec
Ice Hotel in Sweden
Embodiment courtesy Sergio Ortiz
Source: About.com Hotels / Resorts / Inns