An “Ice Bar” is something that I’ve always wanted to go in. I remember seeing family, friends and colleagues with pictures inside of ice bars in Norway & Sweden. Finally, I had the opportunity to go to one and it’s the largest one in Europe. When I signed up for the tour, I was anticipating a bus tour followed by a stop at a bar where we went in for 15 minutes, took a shot of Finnish Vodka and left. The entire bus of guests had very similar expectations and had no idea about the surprise that we were in for. Why don’t I just tell you about the entire tour…
All of the guests that I was with boarded the bus and our guide told us that we were going to stop in the town center where we could take a few pictures of the food market and Senate Square. We only had about 10 minutes to walk from the bus to the town center and take advantage of the photo opportunities before we had to venture out to the “Winter Wonderland” location for the Ice Bar. The open market had lots of fresh fruit and vegetables for sale (at very high prices). I did a quick loop around the market, took a few photos and headed back to the bus.
The “Winter Wonderland” was on the outskirts of Helsinki, so the bus ride took us about thirty minutes. When we reached the Winter Wonderland, the outside of the building looked like nothing more than a giant warehouse with a desolate parking lot in front. As we entered the building, we could see a souvenir shop to our right and a kids recreation center to the left. Straight ahead there were several women ready to hand out “gear” for the “cold weather” we were about to endure. We all were given snow suits (they were very attractive and flattering), socks, boots and gloves (they were definitely gardening gloves and not winter gloves, but they did the job) and headed into the –4 degrees Celsius environment.
At the front of the area there was a flat area of ice where people could go on the sleds and someone could push them. Being by myself, I had nobody to push me :( No worries, though. I was just thrilled to be there! Next to the sleds, there were two real live reindeer. They were so cool!
Up a hill and around a corner, we could go tobogganing. There were this plastic slats with a handle on them and we could go down the hill on one. I didn’t have anybody to take a picture of me doing it, so I took a picture of the sign instead as well as a picture from a bridge looking down on a small area of the frozen city.
Once we went over the bridge and came back down on the other side, we found “Santa’s House”. One of the women from my bus had actually walked into Santa’s House, so I followed her in. It was heated, cozy and warm!
For an extra charge, some guests went dog sledding – but it was 30 Euros for two laps! No thanks, I’ll watch :)
Now onto my favorite part of the day – the igloos and the ice bar. The ice bar was huge with the colorful lights shining through the ice in blue, purple and green hues. Standing at the bar was a jolly guy (no, it wasn’t Santa) handing out shot glasses made of ice and full to the brim with Finlandia Vodka. Surrounding the bar were long picnic tables made of ice as well as tall bar tables to stand around and sip your vodka if you wished.
Seven igloos were opposite of the bar and tables. Each igloo represented family “homes” – some with one large bed, some with five beds all with an animal pelt in the doorway to trap in warmth. Here’s a picture inside a two of them…See how cold it was!?!?!
After visiting all of the igloo homes, it was time to go back to the bus. I must admit, I was a bit sad to go. Our final stop before heading back to the ship was at the “Church in the Rock.” From the outside, this church was understated and truly looked like a set of double doors entering a cave. When I walked through those double doors, I was amazed – the church was literally blown into the rock! The natural light which comes through the glass panels in the ceiling, the walls constructed of rock and the 15 miles of copper wire that create the ceiling – it was a sight to be seen.
Just another day in the life of me…a blessed girl!
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