X:Kiruna, Sweden

One of Mark's lifelong dreams was to see an entire day where the sun never rises and an entire day where the sun never sets.  So off we went to Kiruna, Sweden, 200 kilometers North of the Arctic Circle, for a three day trip where the sun never rose!

In addition, since we were going all this way, we spent a night in a unique setting, the X:Ice Hotel!  This hotel is built every year in November and exists only during the winter months, until April or so when it melts back into the river from which it came.  

After our night at the Ice Hotel, we switched to warmer lodgings at the Ripan, a hotel/campground in Kiruna itself.  Learn more about what we did there.

Our arrival in Kiruna - 1:15 in the afternoon and no sunshine!	The ice hotel itself.  On the left is the Ice Chapel, and on the right is the main entrance.
Our little room in the morning.  Karen is holding a cup of warm lingonberry juice and she is still in the sleeping bag that they gave us.	The ice hotel has a number of very fancy, artistic rooms (with a price tag to match!)  During the day, you can tour the ice hotel and see all the rooms (and, if you aren't actually staying at the ice hotel, they'll charge you for this privilege!!)  This is one of the fancier ones, complete with its own city.
The ice chandelier - crafted anew each year, and one of the more finely crafted bits of ice sculpture in the hotel.  The chandelier is lit by LEDs, which give off a large amount of light and little heat, unlike incandescent bulbs...

Next stop, the ice bar.  Originally just in the Ice Hotel, now franchised out to Stockholm and Milan, but all built out of ice from the Torne river in Kiruna, and serving drinks from "glasses" made from that same ice.  Sponsored by Absolut vodka, the bar serves a number of vodka/fruit juice drinks, specially designed to be quite colorful - it was actually quite pleasant inside (once you got used to the cold).


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