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A Valentine’s Day on Ice Sun, sand, and shorts are my chosen way to experience a long weekend! That was not to be the case for this Valentine’s day. My partner who suffers from Raynaud’s disease, hates the cold even more than I do. Being the romantic that he is, he decided to take me away for the weekend, to Montreal Canada. Sounds warm doesn’t it? I was in for a treat! I noticed something off when we continued past Montreal and Ralph, my partner showed no signs of slowing down. On we went to Quebec, further North, colder, you get the drift! Yes, there were snow drifts and snow everywhere! I knew I was geographically challenged but I knew enough to stop driving when you have reached your destination. Apparently, Montreal was not our first destination. We headed to Quebec City and to a frozen, yet soul warming experience. The Hotel De Glace was our destination and expectations, if any, were about to be exploded! We walked up to a normal looking hotel with windows, a front door, and lights. The lighting was amazing. Blue and purple hues adorned the front door and walkway. Though I noticed something odd. The wooden looking front door was not made of wood. It was made of colored ice. The walkway was ice with lights frozen in the center of the slabs. I began to understand how the hotel got its name. The entire structure, both floors, was made of ice. Thousands of pounds of ice stood before me in a 2-story structure ready to receive visitors, bar patrons, and even over night guests. It being a hotel after all. The entrance was a gorgeous 2 story ice brick structure with more ice steps and a waist high railing made of, you guessed it, ice. It was now time to get inside this gorgeous structure. I noticed on the way to the front door, the lights changed color from a rich purple to a soft and then darker blue, now I was in my glory. Any shade of blue being my favorite color, I knew things were going to get cool. As we reached the front door the blues slowly faded and soft reds and yellows lined the walkway to the registration desk. A site, the registration desk was hand carved ice in the shape of an oceanic vessel complete with port windows, mast and deck. The top deck of the ship acting as a surface for 2 young energetic staff waiting to check us in. The hotel had a freestyle guide that we could walk through on our own and experience as fast or slow as we wanted. That worked fine for us as seeing the ground floor bar and chapel were 2 highlights, we spent a lot of time at. A snow-white chapel took up a large portion of the right side of the hallway and contained 4 pews to hold about 20 people. Beautifully colored stained-glass ice adorned both walls in place of windows. A 10-foot-tall cross commanded center stage and a lectern was in place for a prayer vigil or pastor to take stance. The left side of the hallway contained the registration desk and a large bar with stools and coasters, all made of ice. The glasses were ice and you were limited to 1 drink as the glasses would melt. Upstairs contained 8 bedrooms with king sized bed ice sculptures and tablets office from the wall. Both the bed sculpture and tablet were covered in deer skin for belongings and to sleep on. The thing I expected the least was saved for last. When a guest awoke from their restful, if cold, nights sleep they were invited down to the bar area for a last mug of hot chocolate. And that’s not the best part, you arrived art the bar directly from the 2-story slide of ice that awaited you to slide into the warmth of camaraderie and hot chocolate with others sharing this once in a lifetime experience. The Hotel De Glace warmed me like no other place I have visited.