And it’s Back!: Quebec City’s Ice Hotel
There’s no need to be a polar bear to enjoy this chilly charmer, where all the furnishings are made of ice and snow. There’s an ice reception desk, magnificent chandeliers, eighteen foot ceilings. Visit the chapel – you can get married there- or the Ice Bar for a shot of vodka in a square ice cube goblet, smoked salmon on an ice plate. Spend the night in the Jazz or Hockey suite . Detailed instructions are given about what clothing to bring. Beds are made of blocks of ice, beneath a wooden base. A comfortable mattress is topped with a Nordic sleeping bag that can handle the temperature.
A few intrepid members of our group slept there. “It was the experience of a life-time,” said one, obviously planning to dine out on the experience in New York. “I felt like a popsicl,@ moaned a Californian. It’s wildly popular with people from the southwest U.S. and Europe – thus reinforcing Canada’s frozen stereotype.
The rest of us preferred merely to visit. You can also go dog sledding with Alaskan malamutes, snowshoeing and snow boarding. New this year, an ice rink and a long slide, covered with – what else – ice and snow. The theme is the First Nations of Northern Quebec.
The canny Quebecois have known for several centuries how to enjoy rather than endure winter. They might as well. Snow comes in October and leaves in April. “We have four seasons,” our guide said cheerfully:”A Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Construction.”
The entire city celebrates. The former battleground of the Plains of Abraham, becomes a gigantic playground with all manner of winter sports: sleigh riding, tobogganing, ice fishing. It’s a kaleidoscope of colour, a wondrous assortment of tuques, fur-caps, Michelin babies with tiny red noses and resigned expressions (“What are they doing to me now?”)
Teams come from around the world to participate in the Ice Sculpture competition – one year the Kenyans built a rhino. There is much tooting of horns, then silence as the revellers take un coup de caribou, a bracing mix of port, alcohol and maple syrup. Others favour brandy, vodka, sherry and port. Everyone has their own recipe. I tried to copy one down, but my pen froze.
There are special events on weekends: the Grand Vitree, a championship dog race through the city, a costume ball, parades – all against the backdrop of ancient grey stone, bright lights sparkling on the snow. Christmas decorations stay up until after Carnaval.
At night, pay a visit to the countryside to an Erabliere (Sugar Shack) for a traditional sustaining meal of tomato juice, pea soup, baked beans, tourtiere, cretons, cole slaw, pork rinds, ham, pickled beets, sugar pie. A folk singer musically multi-tasks with spoons, harmonica and accordion. This is your chance to stock up on maple syrup, jam, jelly and candy.
www.hoteldeglace-canada.com January 6-March 25
www.carnaval.qc.ca January 27-February 12