Brrrr!

As our time in Stockholm winds down, we are working through a mini punch list of things to do before returning to the States in early October.  One item on the list was to go to the coolest bar in Stockholm.  By cool we really mean cold . . . 20 degrees Fahrenheit cold.

Now with only forsaken hopes of spending a wintry evening at the Ice Hotel in northern Sweden, we substituted a quick trip to Stockholm’s Ice Bar. Just outside the main train station, a visit to Stockholm’s Ice Bar does not have the same allure of an evening stay in a hotel built of ice tucked 200 kilometers (125 miles) above the Arctic Circle.   Yet, when time is short, “any ice bar” will do.

At the appointed hour of our reservation, we were assisted by a staff member in donning heavy thermal, hooded ponchos with gloves attached with cords.   Our admission fee of 190 crowns ($28) per person included a bar drink.  We were informed as we suited up that we would be served a drink in a “glass” made of frozen ice.  We soon found the gloves were a necessary addition to our polar outfit. 

We had little preconception of what to expect.  The Ice Bar was rather smallish; accommodating maybe 35 people comfortably.  With only one other couple ambling about the ice columns and tables, we had the place almost to ourselves.  The bar drink menu was a weird limited combination of hard liquor combined with fruit juices or other mixers. The presentation in a “glass of ice” was pretty cool (pun intended).

With our gloved hands, we sipped our drinks, had our typical “how was your day conversation” and then bid adieu to the Ice Bar.

It was a fun experience, but one that does not merit repeating.   Been there, done that, got the frost bite.