Post by Nictoshek on Dec 31, 2011 12:12:45 GMT -7
The Ice Chapel in Montreal’s Snow Village.
Montreal on Ice, in Miniature
By ELAINE GLUSAC
December 31, 2011
Visions of sugarplums and flights of fancy with Frosty won’t end with the New Year’s hangover if Montreal can help it. The city is home to a new Snow Village, a mini-city of snow and ice that includes models of some local landmarks like the Olympic Village.
Scheduled to run Jan. 6 to March 31 in Parc Jean-Drapeau, the 1.5-acre village features a 60-seat restaurant with tables made of ice, a convention center with capacity for 200, an Ice Chapel designed for weddings and a 30-room hotel with beds that are simply mattresses placed atop ice pedestals.
Snow Village’s development team, which includes Rami Kurtakko, a veteran of snow villages in Finland, plans to recreate the Montreal incarnation annually.
Travelers can visit for a few hours to ogle the architecture, ice skate, explore a snow maze, drink or dine (admission 13 Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars; 17 dollars weekends). Overnighters can check into a standard room for 259 dollars a person, or their very own igloo from 175 dollars a person. Warm bedding is provided but thermal attire is recommended.
www.snowvillagecanada.com/