Friday, March 1, 2013

Chilly Vacations


Five women posed with skis, Leavenworth, Washington
Sometimes, I think I would like to stay at the Ice Hotel. Then I remember that I am wearing a long coat in my mildly cold office.

Still, it sounds so exotic! Intricately carved ice. Accomodations like igloos. Sleeping on top of reindeer skins. I could do it for one night, right?

Greg and I are not "beach people." Yes, I love St. George Island and I love taking daytrips to the beach. But I have no desire to lay on the beach for days, hot, sandy and sunburned. I would rather explore a new city or national park than lounge on an island somewhere in the Carribean.

But it wasn't until recently that I really contemplated the other extreme: cold vacations. I confess, I have never been skiing, and I probably never will, because I know my limitations. I shouldn't attempt things like aerial silks, souffles, and skiing. But I could be easily enticed to spend a long weekend in a lodge, curled up under heavy blankets, reading beside roaring fires, and drinking thick hot chocolate.

I would love to relax for a few days in a lodge, from the cutting edge Hotel Zhero  in Austria to the modern classic Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado.

Three more things I want to do on cold vacations:

1. Reindeer Sledding in the Norwegian Lapland.

2. Snowshoeing in Vermont

3. Soak in Iceland's Blue Lagoon. The water is warm even in the winter when snow is falling!


Here's what I would pack to curl up with a book next to a roaring fireplace in any of these places:

1 comment:

  1. Confession: my husband and I are "beach people." Surfer/outdoor enthusiast and boogieboarder/reading sunbather respectively. It's home. Besides a teensy stint in Alabama, I've only lived near the beach and grew up in California, so it's all I know. Don't give up on the beach...it's magic.

    Carmen
    www.sixthandolive.blogspot.com

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