Monday, December 23, 2013

Ice Sculptures

We had unusually warm weather over the weekend with temperatures in the 60's. So what did we decide to do? We visited an ice sculpture show where the temperature was 9 °F (-13 °C). The Gaylord Hotels sponsor these shows every year and I have wanted to go since I first heard about them--even though that was only a couple of weeks ago from a commercial on TV. :) The Gaylord hired 40 master ice sculpture artists from Harbin, China that is known for its world famous International Ice and Snow Festival. They created the wonderland from 5000 blocks of ice weighing two million pounds.

There were life-size and larger colorful characters in several rooms that we wandered through that depicted scenes from the poem, Twas the Night before Christmas by Clement Moore. We also saw scenes from New York City and the Christmas manger scene all made from ice. The first thing we did before entering was to get a large parka to help with the cold inside. Since I was already wearing three layers including a winter coat, I wasn't sure I needed the addtional parka. However, it wasn't an option and I'm really glad that it wasn't it. Did I mention that it was 9 °F in there? Afterward, we walked around outside looking at other Christmas decorations with only a sweater on. We had an enjoyable outing in both the warm and the cold.

Here are a few pictures from the ice show. Remember everything you see here is made from ice. Interestingly enough, the camera picked up the edges between the blocks of ice more than our eyes did.


























10 comments:

  1. They are some very cool sculptures :) Hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They were different than I expected. It thought everything would be clear ice. However, they were a lot of fun with all of their colors.

      Delete
  2. Now those are really amazing ice sculptures! Not at all what I thought by your post title. Although, I really do like the nativity scene in clear ice.

    Have a merry Christmas, live and learn!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The nativity scene was my favorite. That was one that didn't photograph so well where you saw all of the blocks in the picture more than in person.

      Delete
  3. Wow. I've seen sidewalk ice sculptures before but never anything like that. What a neat thing to do. Wish we had it here!

    Merry, merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're just going to have to create your own with the next snowfall or lake that freezes over. :)

      Happy Holidays!

      Delete
  4. I have seen a couple of ice sculptures, but never anything like that. What lovely scenes they created. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a lot of fun and especially for families. We saw a lot of families there from grandparents to small children. Speaking of which, have a Merry Christmas with your family.

      Delete
  5. We have a Gaylord Palms here and they have the same ice display. Well, not the same, but the ice display in general. We did not make it this year, but are going to try to make it next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know if they rotate them, but I saw that they had different displays in different places. It would be a fun activity for you to do with your grandchildren next year, although it isn't cheap.

      Delete

What do you think?