Ever since watching a TV documentary about an ice hotel in Sweden, a junior high school student, Maira, had always wanted to visit one.

The Ice Hotel founded by Yngve Bergqvist, first built in 1992, is a collaboration of artists from all over the world who gathered to sculpt ice in the village of Jukkasjärvi, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle.

Torne River

The ice hotel in Jukkasjärvi, considered an art project, is created yearly with frozen water from the Torne River as the building materials. Ice hotel opens at the end of December and closes at the end of April.

Maira’s wish to see an ice structure was granted when she was 14, not to see an ice hotel, but an ice bar. She first saw the sign of an ice bar when on holiday in Copenhagen after attending a United Nations climate change conference with her mother.

Their accommodation was First Hotel in Longangsstraade 27. Known as Hotel 27, it is a small establishment but strategically located near Strøget, Copenhagen's famous pedestrian shopping street. Next to Hotel 27 is the Ice Bar Copenhagen.

Children allowed

At first, Maira continuously begged her mother to visit the ice bar and her mother repeatedly refused as a bar is not for underage children. Finally, Maira’s mother called the bar hoping that the its attendants will say “minimum age 21” so that Maira will understand of her mother’s principle. Surprisingly, at that time the bar attendant said, “there is no minimum age to visit.” It is now even advertised that the admission fee with the first drink for children is 100 DKK/Danish Krone  (USD 17), and 150 DKK (USD 25) for adults.

The ice bar hours are 12.00 to 23.00 from Sunday to Wednesday and 12.00 – 01.00 from Thursday to Saturday.  Mother and Maira went to the ice bar at 19.00, and paid    an entry package that entitled them the first drink and an ice bar T Shirt in snow color.

Designer parka

Bar employees gave each guest a blue parka, similar to an arctic explorer’s outfit. The blue insulated parka is a designer piece with thick gloves attached to it.

To keep heat from getting into the bar there are at least 3 doors to pass before visitors enter the ice bar with a minus five degree Celsius temperature. The ice bar in Copenhagen is like any bar, plenty of drinks on the menu and techno music playing nonstop. The difference between the ice bar and any bar is the structure (ceilings, walls, furniture, art works) that is made of ice and like the ice hotel is replaced regularly using Torne River ice from Jukkasjärvi, Sweden.

The ice bar’s lighting had a disco nuance without a spectrum of colors and made all the structures looked distinctly arctic. Apparently, the ice bar in Copenhagen has a specially designed LED lighting by Philips Electronics. Through this lighting, ice bar officials guaranteed: “guests will be taken to another dimension where dusk and dawn blends in to magic.”

Ice glass

Cold drinks are served in rectangular tumblers made of arctic ice and most drinks are  colorful as they are made of fruit juice, syrups, or liqueurs.

On their visit, Maira and her mother had fruit juice but in today’s menu a choice of non alcoholic drink is bocksaw:  white chocolate, strawberry puree and ginger ale. Among the alcoholic drinks are Jackhammer (famous grouse whisky, disaronno amaretto and angostura bitters); Crowbar (viva mexico tequila, licorice, blackberry liquor and lime): Nailgun (Hendricks gin and tonic water); and Toolbox (Absolut raspberry, raspberry syrup, orange juice, lime and champagne).

Few guests sat, as the bar stools made of ice were very cold, even with expensive cover made of reindeer-skin. Time at the ice bar is limited to 45 minutes, but since it was so cold, Maira and her mother only stayed for 20 minutes.

The pure ice from Torne River in Jukkasjärvi keep bringing happiness to the thousands who visited the ice hotel and the ice bars.  Today there are ice bars in at least 20 countries, but those affiliated with the ice hotel are the ice bar in Istanbul, Jukkasjärvi, London, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

The very short time that Maira spent at the ice bar in Copenhagen was more than enough time to feel the mixed sensations of an ice structure and all the ice services in it, created by those who appreciate arctic beauty.

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Photo: Maira’s private collection

To read more about the ice hotel and the ice bar, visit http://www.icehotel.com/uk/ICEBAR/