Revista Travelers

THE ICE HOTEL

A review on the most popular ice hotel in the world. Pag 8

SNOWBOARDING IN NORWAY Some fine option to practice snowboarding in Norway. pag 10

LET’S GO BY TRAIN BABY!!!!

A helpfull guide to travel by train in Scandinavia. Pag 12

Denmark

Learn a little of this great country. Pag 14

ÅRE, SWEDEN THE PLACE TO GO FOR BEST EUROPE’S SNOW Pag 4

A review on the most popular ice hotel in the world.

PAG 8

LET’S GO BY TRAIN BABY!!!!

A helpfull guide to travel by train in Scandinavia.

PAG 12

SNOWBOARDING IN NORWAY Some fine option to practice snowboarding in Norway.

PAG 10

Denmark

Learn a little of this great country.

PAG 14

Åre ([o:re]) is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 1,260 inhabitants in 2005.[1] It is however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the municipal industry is based on tourism, most notably the downhill skiing and biking resorts in Åre and Storlien. In the wake of it have grown hotel-facilities with recreational and shopping opportunities.

PAG 8

Almost every text and picture were taken from several internet sites, each of them were tagged at the beggining of the article.

All the design work was made by Victor Gallego. Not used for any commercial purpose.

THE ICE HOTEL

EDITORIAL From the sky above. Snow is falling. Put on scarf and glove.

Snow is falling. Go look outside. Snow is falling. The old landscape it hide. Snow is falling. What a beautiful sight. Snow is falling. It sparkles in the light.

Snow is falling. Soft cotton wool flakes. Snow is falling. A white blanket it makes. Snow is falling. Short flowers disappear. Snow is falling The cold is here. Snow is falling. Its time to play. Snow is falling Lets make snowmen today.

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with Norway. You can fly to nearby Trondheim in Norway via Stockholm with SAS (www.flysas.com). More conveniently, Neilson (0845 070 3460; www.neilson.co.uk), the main travel company in the area, operates a weekly BMI charter from Heathrow to little Östersund. The transfer time is just an hour. Before booking you need to get to grips with the local geography.

THE PLACE TO GO FOR BEST EUROPE’S SNOW

By sweden.se

ÅRE, SWEDEN

Up on the mountain, giant flakes seemingly the size of playing cards floated silently from a packed sky, coating the slopes and the clothing of anyone who had dared to venture out on them.

Different accommodation bases sprawl along 10 miles of the northern shore of Lake Åre. There’s an efficient ski bus system and taxi service, but location is important. Åre By is the main and very attractive village in the centre with most of the hotels and rental apartments. It also houses nearly all the restaurants and shops, along with the fabled noisy Swedish nightlife. It’s been a resort since Victorian times and there’s a pervading sense of history. The central square and surrounding streets are lined with old wooden buildings. A 100-year-old funicular still clanks its way at walking pace from there up to the ski

Åre By carries many similarities to a little Alp village

area. There are also modern six-and eight-person chairs and a cable car. The hamlet of Åre Björnen is best suited to families with small children. It’s a five-minute drive east of the centre and linked on the mountain. The runs there are sheltered from the prevailing winds and it’s a great place to ski when the weather closes in.

A

fter I had pounded the hardpacked pistes of Courchevel and Val d’Isère it made sense to head north in search of reliable deep snow. Scandinavia is all too often unfairly dismissed by British skiers as being neither steep enough nor cheap enough. Sweden, Norway and Finland have dozens of downhill resorts but, to my mind, only Åre in Sweden is truly world-class. First you have to get there.

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Eating out 3175; www.buustamonsfjallgard.se) is a remote gourmet mountain restaurant with bedrooms attached, tucked away in a corner of the ski area. It’s also home to a rare private still. The owner, Lotta Florin, and her full-time staff of just four make 1,000 bottles of high-quality hooch each year (when they are not making beds or cooking and serving in the restaurant). The fish casserole and game stew are both delicious, but it’s the home-grown liqueurs that take your breath and much of the rest of the day away.

Timmerstugan (53106), at the bottom of the slopes, is a welcoming mountain restaurant with après-ski.

Fjällgården (14599; www.fjallgarden.se), at the top of the funicular, is the original slope-side restaurant and après-ski bar.

Fjällpuben (50240; www.fjallpuben.se) was opened last year by two celebrity Swedish chefs.

The name means “mountain pub”, but it’s a lot more than that - it’s a smart but cosy restaurant specialising in regional dishes such as Arctic char, whitefish roe and reindeer.

Dahlbom På Torget (50820; www.dahlbompatorget.se), in the main square, ismyfavourite for lunch or dinner. It serves reasonably priced burgers, fish dishes, and the signature spicy Thai soup of its chef, Jonas Dahlbom. It’s also a lively evening bar favoured by the locals.

Madonna di Campiglio (51161), near the Brunkulla apartments, has good pizzas to eat in or take away and is also a late-night watering hole.

Bygget (12345; www.bygget.se) is one of the most popular bars as the lifts close. It later transforms itself into a nightclub.

Wallmans (17941; www.wallmans.se/en) houses a restaurant with cabaret show where the waiters are the actors. It also has the Dippan après-ski bar and nightclub with live music.

Snowmobiling Anyone can do it. All you need is warm clothing (provided), nerves of steel and a love of mind-boggling speed - the tools of the average committed skier. You also need to bring along a valid driving licence and be sober. Swedish police with breathalysers apparently also ride snowmobiles.

The reward for me was two hours of unequalled adrenalinand petrolfuelled action against a wild winter landscape that came complete - on cue - with a whole herd of grazing reindeer.

Dog-sledding

If you are standing on the runners of a dog sled trying to convince 10 Swedish-born Alaskan huskies to give it some paw power, don’t say “mush!” “Framät,” whispered my instructor, Ricky, from Åre Sleddog Adventures (30381; www.aresleddog.se). He was a mechanic from Stockholm but somewhere along the line swapped wheels for worming pills and answered, Jack London-style, the call of the wild.

“Framät!” I yelled. The response was roughly similar to what happens when Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button floors it on pole. Somehow I managed not to tumble off the back.

I did try braking - pushing down on a bed of vicious spring-loaded spikes that dig into the snow. But the dogs were so fresh and strong it was like speed-ploughing a field. However, they soon calmed down as we glided along the edge of the lake and through the surrounding woods. It’s important, I’m told, to show your team who’s in charge.

“Vänster [left]!” I shouted at my leading dogs. They promptly turned höger - right.

Some facts

Åre has since the 1990s become the largest mountainbike resort in Sweden. In 1999 it was the host for the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships and it hosted the Nordic Championships 2007. There are numerous graded biking trails down the mountain. The Åre Bikepark is open from 1 May until 15 October and is the host for the Mayhem Festival.

During summer Åre can also sport hiking, paragliding, kayaking, and a golf course about 15 minutes form the village. In July every year there is a multisport competition in Åre - Åre Extreme Challenge. It counts as the Scandinavian championship in multisport.

It’s important to show your team of dogs who’s in charge

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THE ULTIMATE OF SNOW ART BEAUTY

By icehotel.com

This is what we have promised to offer the rest of the world; with Jukkasjärvi and Torne River as a starting point, develop and offer sensuous, inspiring and unique experiences within art, nature, accommodation and gastronomy. That reflects all seasons of the year.

So it is not a only a hotel we build each winter, it is an ephemeral art project. And it is not a menu we create for every season, we cultivate the many flavours of Swedish Lapland.

Each year, we attract visitors from all over the world to a little village in Lapland, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. Many of them we take further north, explore the high mountains, all the way to the northern Norway to visit the fjords.

In spring 2008 Gävle Energi and ICEHOTEL patent- Becoming CO2negative River it the source or our inspiration and the ed the brand name Torne building material of ICEHOTEL. Each summer, we give back the loan to the river and ICEHOTEL is once again CO2negativ. fresh, flowing water. But our activities affect the cli-

Others encounter us and the Torne River ice in world cities such as London and Tokyo, or at a trade fair in Chicago or Barcelona. See, our river is not only the most well-traveled one - it is also famous all over the world.

What is ICEHOTEL? A hotel built of ice and snow, would be the most common response. The first and the largest in the world, someone might add. But we have more thrilling stories to tell.

Lean closer to your computer screen and we’ll whisper them in your ear.

mate after all. That is why we decided to be become CO2negative (carbon dioxide negative) by the year 2015.

To achieve the goal we will produce, by our selves and in partnership with Gävle Energi, more renewable energy than we consume. Part of this production will take place in Jukkasjärvi. Here you can follow our work towards becoming CO2negative together with Gävle Energi, under the brand name Källmärkt (‘Source-Labelled’) .

Our climate goal includes all our operations in Jukkasjärvi, all activities and ground transportation, all our ICEBARs and events around the world.

Like most companies, we have a history and a business concept.

Our ideas originate from the place we stand on; Jukkasjärvi. The river Torne that flows outside our office windows, the cold arctic climate, The Northern Lights and the Midnight Sun. Every season allow us to get inspired by the river, whether it is crystal clear ice, rapids shooting on a riverboat or a magnificent, recently caught grayling.

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Norwegian terrain parks have invested a great deal of time and money in order to provide riders with more challenges and greater airtime.

Leading the park scene is Hemsedal. Voted as “the best terrain parks in the world” by the interna-

tional snowboard press, Hemsedal’s parks are widely known for their high standards.Big jumps, fun boxes, quarter-pipes and rails make Hemsedal an ideal playground for thrill seekers. You will find five parks here, including a separate park for beginners, and up to 20 elements per run.

For those seeking to combine big city life with daredevil jumps and tricks, you should visit Oslo. Within half an hour’s reach from the bustling city centre you have two excellent terrain parks - Oslo Winter Park Tryvann and Varingskollen.

You will find one of Norway’s largest terrain parks at Oslo Winter Park Tryvann. Tryvann will host the World Snowboarding Championships (WSC) in the winter of 2012.

The park is also host to the annual The Oakley Arctic Challenge. Established in 1999, The Oakley Arctic Challenge was created as an independent alternative to more established snowboarding events.

The Oakley Arctic Challenge is owned by the legendary snowboarder Terje Haakonsen.

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Yo u can bring as much luggage as you want onto the train - as long as you can keep the aisles free. Overhead compartment space is available Before You Get on the Train in on all regular Scandinavia In the train station, keep an eye on trains. your purse. Scandinavia is a safe region, but no region is entirely free of thieves.

Look for the large timetables showing the train schedules. They’re hard to miss and show train schedules divided into arrivals and departures. You’ll want the departure train schedule.

Write down the destination stop as well as the number of the train you want to take (and possibly a second option just in case all seats are booked.)

Buying Your Train Ticket in Scandinavia

LET’S GO SEE SOME LANDSCAPE

It’s easy to find train stations in all Scandinavian cities. But what do you do once you’re there, and you want to travel elsewhere by train? Let’s find out.

If you want to be all set before your trip, get your EUrail train tickets online.

At Scandinavian train stations, you can easily purchase your train ticket from one of the automated machines found near the timetables (all take cash, some take credit cards.)

Simply select “English” as the language first.

You can also go to the ticket windows to buy a train ticket.

They also speak English but you may be waiting in line.

The last option, which I do not recommend, is to try to pay your fare directly to the train conductor. In some locations, that’s ok - in others, it’s not possible and you find yourself back on the platform, having to wait for the next train.

By goscandinavia.about.com

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THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT

In Denmark we dare to think unconventionally.

We have a tradition of liberalism and room for creativity. We are eager to safeguard the environment which is reflected in our lifestyles and in the development of sustainable cities

Arts an culture

Because of its wealth and prosperity, Denmark is a country with great cultural surplus. Art is often supported by the government and this gives abundant opportunities for artists to develop and express their creativity. But Denmark is also a place where young and untamed culture blossoms in the underground. You find unfinanced graffiti, and street art and cultural festivals based primarily on voluntary work. Dive into the multifaceted cultural experiences of Denmark.

Music

by denmark.dk

Get an introduction to Danish music history and the current Danish music scene. Explore the various external links and gain access to databases of Danish musical works, musicians and ensembles. You can also experience Danish music and see concerts with contemporary Danish bands.

Fashion

Ranking as Europe’s fourth largest fashion city, Copenhagen hosts its own fashion week during the months of February and August. The Copenhagen Fashion Week is the biggest of its kind, and aims to boost the professional Danish fashion industry.

The Danes are generally well educated, well informed, yet at the same time enjoy a distinctly Danish lack of formality. This gives the Danes a relaxed and often humorous attitude to authorities and life itself.

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Performing arts, literature and visual arts

DanishArts.dk’s international work is designed to support collaboration between Danish and international artists and art institutions to provide inspiration, foster knowledge and thus give rise to new and exciting works of art to enrich our world.