The Ice Bar concept has become a global phenomenon, since its Swedish inception in the nineties. Even tropical countries such as Dubai with hot conditions pride in possessing one.
I lived the first 25 years of my life in a tropical country but have this magical love for ice (though I cannot stand the mind-numbing cold and windy winters).
So, when I read about the Ice Bar in Oslo, it was time to pay my first ever trip to one. This bar is made out of 60 tons of ice from the now-famous Torne river in Swedish Lappland, about 200 km north of the Arctic Circle.
Ice Bar in Oslo
A free drink — alcoholic or non-alcoholic — is included in the ticket. They allow you inside the bar at the top of the hour, for about 45 minutes, though some prefer to return to the warmer comforts much earlier.
Inside the Ice Bar Oslo
Before entering they also provide you with a parka and a hood, along with gloves. They are a must.
As the name suggests, everything inside is made of ice, except the floor which looked aluminum. The guests are welcomed by meticulously and artistically carved simplistic
Ice Sculptures
sculptures.
As you walk in, you turn left and at the far end see the bar, behind which a single bartender works on your requests. The narrow space just inside the entrance is separated
by a wall, made out of ice of course, and on the other side there are ice-seats for you to sit and enjoy the drink, and even have a conversation. Reindeer skin covers are laid on top of the seats, to protect your buttocks.
Obviously, the drink glasses are also made with ice and you will definitely need the gloves to hold them.
Mellow Feeling
It is indeed a strange, but mellow feeling to be inside a room that is kept at -5 C and is full of ice sculptures while outside the weather is a warm 20C. But by the time you look around the sculptures and enjoy their beauty, take some photos of them and of you with your friends, the time is up, and you are also starting to feel the cold. Time to come out.
One pays for the feeling, to be inside an artificially created cold weather room, decorated with ice sculptures glowing in the soft light.
Before I went, I wanted to take advantage of the online discount offer, but could not do as it needed java on the computer. I was using someone else’s computer and given the recent concerns about java, I decided it was not safe to install it in that computer. But I called to see whether they would offer the discount anyway. In North America, I may have been able to get the discount, but here, in Oslo, the person on the phone refused. Furthermore, it was my friend who called and spoke in Norwegian, but the Ice Bar person said he speaks only English.
Then, when we went in person to visit, it was probably the same person who told my friend he will speak only in English. The other staff were friendlier.
