Thread: Norway - An idiosyncratic country.

When I thought back there are a few things that I didn't mention.

One is that we travelled early on into Sweden and stayed in Kiruna. From there we visited the first Ice Hotel in the village of Jukkasjärvi. Initially there was a display outside


IMG_8309.jpgIH wall.jpg


and then we went into a bar where you could drink from glasses made from ice.

IH Glass 2.jpg IH Glass.jpg

It all seemed a bit ho hum until we visited the rooms. These were set up along a hallway with the rooms off to each side.

IH Hallway.jpg

There were more than twenty of these rooms plus an additional gallery display at the beginning of the hallway. Each room comprised a theme, a sculpture or multiple sculptures and a double bed made of ice with furs spread over the top.

IMG_8319.jpgIH Scupture 2.jpgIH Scupture 1.jpgIMG_8318.jpg


Although the concept is that people pay money (huge sums) to stay in the ice hotel, it seemed that the real sleeping quarters were not these sculptural wonders but separate rooms beyond as there was a locked door at the back of each room. However, we did not see inside those rooms so it is conjecture on our part. As there was a note on the beds of each room requesting visitors not to sit or lie on the ice beds, this further supported the thought. The main rooms on view were amazing.

Well worth a visit.

Regards
Paul

I'd be pretty sure that those rooms you saw in the ice hotel with sculptures and beds with furs on them are where you sleep.
We stayed in the Snow Hotel in Kirkenes and it looks pretty much the same.
An ice bar with ice glasses and sculpture of a different theme in each room. And open for people to tour during the day.
At night time you're given a good quality sleeping bag and you sleep on top of the fur pelts.
The bed itself is not ice but the surrounds are.
It is kept at mins 4 degrees which is cold but the sleeping bags are very good.
It wasn't my most comfortable nights sleep and if you wanted the loo you had to go back up the ice hallway.
Perhaps, as you pointed out the door at the back, they may have had loo's there.
But we certainly didn't.
We would't do it again but very glad we did it once.

Mattocks

I can't be absolutely certain of my comments. The door at the back of each room was locked shut. I should have asked, but I didn't.

Regards
Paul

Paul
Is that the same ice Hotel that they only build during the “Winter” months in Sweden.

Cheers Matt.

I said I had remembered a "few things" in the previous post. Something that was very apparent was the degree to which Norwegian life depends on having a mobile phone.

For example, you needed a phone to get on the bus as there was no other way to pay. Rather bizarrely, to my mind, some public toilets required you to pay to get in except it was no longer a penny! One of the plush shopping centers had a "pay to pee" and the bus terminal as well. Simon explained it was supposedly to prevent homeless people dossing down there. However, I find that a little extreme. It was certainly annoying. I don't have a phone so potentially it was an issue if I hadn't planned ahead. SWMBO said that the times when she would have had to swipe her phone she managed to gain entry as somebody was exiting. The requirement to pay is at the first door rather than the cubicles, so she told me.

This next little story I was a little hesitant to recount as there is a slightly grissly nature associated, but I will make a mention as it kind of amused me.

You may remember in an earlier post I talked about the Norwegian Sea Eagle. They are a majestic bird and my distant shot on the shore gave a very poor impression of them:

Norwegian Sea Eagle.JPG

However, in the university museum there was a stuffed bird, which gives a better impression of size or would do if there was something alongside for comparison.

Norwegian Sea Eagle 2 (2).jpg

It was about 600mm tall and looks more like a Grouse on steroids. I don't think they captured the bird's best side.

I have to digress a little for rest of this story. Simon and his partner have a much loved Alaskan Husky, who is both a rescue dog and also an ex-race sled dog from their time in Kirkenes. This is a pic of her a little while ago:

Sorry (2).JPG

And this is her today. She is thirteen years old now and spends most of her time sleeping, sometimes with the new baby girl. There is a baby girl in there too if you look carefully.

Sorry and Ayla.jpg

Although a house dog nowadays, only going outside primarily for comfort visits, she does go for walks but very reluctantly. In fact she drags the chain (actually a harness) on the way up the road along the side of the fjord, but on the way back it is though she is back in the dog sled team and you have to hold on to her all the way. On one occasion I happened to be walking with her on the return and she was practically towing me along when she suddenly stopped and dived up onto the snow bank alongside the road.

I haven't explained that the dog's name is "Sorry." Back in Kirkeness, when she was a puppy in a litter of six, a young Chinese girl, who was visiting as a guest, was given the task of naming the pups. Coincidentally, she had only about six words of English and she gave one of them to each pup. "Sorry" was one of her English words. Back to the story: Sorry, and you know whom I am talking about now, dived off into the snow and came back with something in her mouth. I quickly called out to Simon that Sorry had picked up something, because she is on a strict no-meat diet for health reasons. It turned out to be an Eagle's head and a little gory, but I do have a picture to prove I am not making all this up.

Norwegian Sea Eagle 3.jpg

We got to see the Northern Lights and our daughter and her partner missed out (it really is the luck of the draw). They were both fairly disappointed about this and at least one of them hasn't spoken to us since. I was going to mention to them we had also seen the Norwegian Sea Eagle too and send them a pic of the Norwegian Sea Eagle's head, but decided on reflection that it may be a step too far.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Simplicity

Paul
Is that the same ice Hotel that they only build during the “Winter” months in Sweden.

Cheers Matt.

Matt

I am a little vague on this. I think some aspects are built every year and it is a huge undertaking. They open sections in phases as it is being constructed and that is how it used to be. However, I think parts may now be permanent (the same happens at the Ice Hotel at Kirkenes).

There is some more information here, but still not absolutely clear:

Icehotel (Jukkasjärvi) - Wikipedia

When Simon was at Kirkenes he assisted in the construction. They had a large balloon type bladder over which water was blown through a snow making machine. After the snow had frozen solid, the balloon was removed and then the furniture was made. Up there they cut ice from a nearby fjord using chainsaws equipped with a huge bar. That was used to make the furniture.

Regards
Paul