Sweden Ice Hotel + Northern Lights

So the main point of my most recent international adventure was to cross 2 items off my bucketlist:

1.  See the best view of the Northern Lights

2.  Stay at the Ice Hotel in Sweden

Luckily, we crossed off both of these items in one single night.  Here’s how our adventure at Sweden’s Ice Hotel panned out:

 

Arrival at the Ice Hotel

 

Checked in, dropped off our stuff.  Suited up in some awesome gear the hotel provided, but you’ll have to wait for the album on Facebook to see those.

 

 

Set out to get some dinner, as we were eager to experience more of the local flavor since we had the opportunity to rent a car while in Kiruna.  On our way back after eating, we came upon this amazing view of the northern lights.

 

 

For those of you that doubt the visibility of the Aurora Borealis to the naked eye, here’s a video of the northern lights to show you how strong they were. Scientists predict that this year will be the best time to see the northern lights due to the solar storm cycle that is currently reaching it’s peak.  So if you’re reading this, make the effort to see them while you can either this year or next.  Thank me later.

After seeing this spectacular display, we of course had to celebrate.

What better way to do so than to have a customized cocktail in the ice bar?

 

The ice hotel was given a specialized edition of Absolut Vodka after appearing in a James Bond movie.

 

 

You probably could have guessed this, but yes – the cups were made of ice.

 

 

Each of the art rooms at the ice hotel had it’s own custom cocktail.  And it was goooooood.

 

 

Church anyone?   (Don’t think anyone would be falling asleep during this sermon…)

 

 

Headed back to our rooms and called it an early night.  I was going into this trip thinking that we would have been staying up all night trying to get a good shot of the northern lights, but as you have seen above – that goal was accomplished!

 

 

Woke up in the morning & had an authentic Swedish breakfast consisting of organic yogurt, goji berries, and fresh made bread with Lingonberry juice.

 

 

Amazing views at sunrise, which lasted for a couple hours.

 

 

Did a little exploring around Kiruna in the rental car…things got a little cold.

 

 

Noon approached and by this time – we had felt we had experienced just enough of the coldest weather in our lives to officially complete our trip to the Ice Hotel.  Really a beautiful place, and I highly suggest you make the trip.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

PS – ever feel nervous taking off on a plane before?  Try on a runway covered in snow.  Yeah, makes you feel totally safe.

 

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