First bar made of glacial ice opens in Patagonia, Argentina

by Jessica Festa on

The first ice bar in Patagonia, Argentina, opened last week, which also happens to be the first bar in the world created out of glacial ice, according to Paola Singer of The New York Times. Located just outside El Calafate, Glaciobar is the newest addition to Glaciarium, a new science museum focusing on the region’s hundreds of glaciers.

Glaciobar will provide patrons with gloves, hooded capes, and boots for warmth. For health and safety reasons, however, the maximum time allowed in the bar is 20 minutes. During this time, most people choose to sip on the house cocktail, a mixture of Fernet con Coca and Coca Cola.

Want to see for yourself what Glaciobar is like? Check out this video:


Christmas in Minnesota

by Annie Scott on


Location: Minnesota, in the icy northern central USA
Temp: 23°F in Minneapolis as I write, and the 25th has a projected low of 19°F
Snow: Lots of it!
Percentage of population who celebrates Christmas: 64.2 percent here are Christian “adherents“
Are you there right now: Yes.

All’s quiet on the northern front. What I love about Minneapolis at Christmastime is that we almost always have fluffy blankets of falling snow, which creates a sound barrier and makes the whole city seem blissfully peaceful. Still, there’s lots to do, from munching on doughy, cinnamon and sugar frosted puppy dog tails at Isles Bun & Coffee (trust me) to watching Dickens performed in Star Trek-speak.Even if all the crazy Scandinavian and German foods and traditions are Greek to you, you’ll love the way homes all over the city and suburbs really get into the fantastical holiday light decor. Like in other states, driving through the residential areas of the city to look at the dazzling holiday light displays is a common family ritual. Minneapolitans even take it a step further and throw a yearly, nightly Holidazzle Parade, which locals and children watch from the warm skyways (enclosed bridges which connect a large number of buildings in the downtown area; they’re like all-window hallways) and a heated tent, supplied with hot cider and cocoa, every Thursday through Sunday (this year’s parades ended December 20).

Families line up for hours at the Minneapolis Macy’s on Nicollet Mall to see the yearly SantaLand, a tradition which is almost 50 years old. Once you enter, you wind through animatronic elves and North Pole-esque wonders and eventually arrive at Santa himself for that “will my kid cry or ask for a present” confrontation (through December 30). A newer yearly tradition at the trendy bowling-alley-restaurant-theater, Bryant Lake Bowl, is a performance of David Sedaris’ SantaLand Diaries by Theater Limina (final performance December 21), a merciless account of working as a Macy’s elf, strangely heartwarming in its cynicism, and perfect for the dark-humored Nords of Minnesota. It typically sells out.

If you’re into holiday theater, a show which every Minnesotan must see once is The Guthrie Theater’s annual A Christmas Carol. It changes a little every year with new adaptations and actors, so there’s always something new to see. What is constant is the beauty and authority with which the classic tale is presented, with enough Dickens for true fans and enough wonder for the whole family (through December 31). Folks travel from far and wide to catch it — and now, many are traveling over the rivers and through the snow for a newer tradition: A Klingon Christmas Carol, presented almost entirely in Klingon by the translation-focused company Commedia Beauregard, with a single English-speaking Vulcan narrator (who happened to be my best friend this year through December 13, clip here). Over in St. Paul, Ballet Minnesota’s annual Nutcracker Ballet plays through December 20 at the O’Shaughnessy. Minnesotans never want for live performances. They say it’s because it’s so cold in the winter; all the indoor entertainment industries thrive.

For Scandinavians, the place to be is The Swedish Institute of America, where they have A Nordic Christmas (through January 10). Insider tip: The SIA’s gift shop always stocked with hard-to-find imported gifts and candies. It’s a Minnesota Christmas goldmine.

Lastly, if you’d prefer liquor over lutefisk and lefse, head to The Chambers Hotel, where they have an Ice Bar (that’s me there with my friend Tim in 2007 — it’s not glass, it’s all ice!). It won’t be open on Christmas Day, so if you’re looking for some literal holiday drinking, head to Gameworks for beer, cocktails and gaming, The Saloon, which is one of the Twin Cities’ most fabulous gay bars, Market BBQ for raucous karaoke or Park Tavern for bowling.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!

Ice Bar in Dubai

by Neil Woodburn on


Is it just me, or has the city of Dubai gone completely crazy?

We’ve posted a number of times here on Gadling about the wild construction frenzy enveloping this city and the wacko projects which have been popping up around town, such as a ski resort in the frickin’ desert, for example.

Well, not to be outdone by their friends to the (way) north, Dubai is now host to the Middle East’s very first ice bar. Yep, an actual bar made out of ice.

We’ve posted about ice bars here on Gadling as well, but they’ve been located in places like Montreal and Stockholm. I never thought we’d be posting about an ice bar in the middle of the frickin’ desert, however.

And yet, all that oil money has brought ice to the desert.

According to recent an AP article, the $3 million bar was craved out of ice in Canada and then shipped to Dubai where patrons enjoy “walls, tables and chairs; cups, glasses and plates; … art, sculptures, beaded curtains, a chandelier and the bar” all made entirely of ice.

And you wonder why the price of gas is so high?

Photo of the Day (2/10/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

There is something about StrudelMonkey’s photos of food and beverage that always seem to draw me to them. Perhaps it is my insatiable appetite to experience new bits, nibbles, sips and guzzles in exotic areas. In this most recent addition to the Gadling Flickr pool we are lured into the Absolut Ice Bar in Stockholm, Sweden by two drinks on ice. And when I say on ice I really mean in ice – ice glasses. According to the photographer everything is made ice which means you’ll have to throw back the vodka extremely fast or wear some mittens while babysitting your glass. As wimpy as I am about the cold I wouldn’t mind chilling out at this cool spot on a frosty Saturday night.

Being Cold Is, Well, Cool

by Iva Skoch on

The NY Times had a couple of suggestions for getting cold this winter: Being Cold is the Hot Trend this Winter. The first suggestion was the ice bar newly installed at the Four Seasons in Paris (and not yet on their web site).

I’ve been to London’s Absolut Ice Bar, which is actually kind of fun. It’s been open a year now, and the gimmick is this: you pay an entrance fee and get a parka to wear and enter the small bar. You’re supposedly allowed in for only 40 minutes or so, but the rules are lax. Anyway, the entire bar, tables, and portions of the walls are made of blocks of ice. It’s dark but has colorfully lit surfaces, taking advantage of the transparency of the ice. You’ve got a choice of various drinks–all made with Absolut Vodka, of course–poured into squarish “glasses” which are also blocks of ice. And, yes, there’s one in Stockholm, too. And that one’s linked to the management of the igloo Ice Hotel in Sweden (see Erik’s post about it here).

Another NYT suggestion was the CryoTherapy Center in Slovakia, where you’re stripped down and get chilled from room temperature to below zero in one chamber, then enter a chamber that’s chilled to -184 degrees F, colder than the lowest recorded temperature on earth. Then, if that’s not torture enough, you head to the gym for a workout.