The Iconic Icehotel in Sweden Reveals the Supernatural Suites Set to be Launched in December

The iconic Icelhotel in Sweden has massive elephant in the room all set to launched in December 2015.  The Lapland Ice hotel new design has been announced. Big and better than ever before, visitors will be able to stay a night in one of 19 individually themed rooms in “Jukkasjärvi”, sharing a room with a life-sized elephant, a Russian imperial-inspired theatre set or even an icicle cave. The winter wonderland is constructed every year in December and lasts until its melts away in March. Therefore, every year talented sculptures and artists hires to create a magical hotel. This year to construct the Ice hotel is not an easy feat, with more than 5,000 tonnes of natural ice being harvested from Sweden’s national river Torne.

The skillful natural gifted artists to have an input in the creative designs and received over 130 submissions to choose from. Aptly named “Elephant in the Room” by sculptor AnnaSofia Mååg, was one of the selected designs. Her new creative design will feature a three-meters-tall African elephant overlooking the ice framed bed. Moreover, between the beautiful suites there will also be a 1970's inspired Love Capsule, and an imperial Russian-inspired theatre set called Labyrinth Saga bring to life a forest of Gothic-like ice pillars, cocooning the suite and transforming it into an intimate ice cave. Therefore, in addition to the exclusively-designed rooms, the Icehotel will have two luxury suites with secured glass doors while the others have curtain doors, an en-suite bathroom and private sauna.

The total vast accommodation boasts 55 rooms, with the equivalent of 700 million snowballs used to form its walls, ceiling and decorations. No attention to detail is spared with the furnishings, with the chandeliers alone made from 1,000 hand cut ice crystals. The option of northern lights wake-up can be arranged for those wanting to witness the Aurora, and a spa is on site for relaxing afterwards. The Ice hotel is all set to open its ice-cold doors to the public on December 11. 

Greenland's Uncover Hidden Gems

Russian photographer “Daniel Kordan” in the recent times returned from a sailing excursion to Greenland, bringing back with him loads of stunning pictures that he captures the majestic beauty of the expanse between Saint Petersburg and Greenland. Well, for last few months, he lived aboard a yacht out on the Atlantic, where Kordan led photography workshops that took advantage of the remarkable natural surroundings. Therefore, from morning to night, he and his fellow voyagers explored wonderful icebergs, caves, glaciers, and cliffs at each landing. As their journey goes on, ever day promised something new discoveries as one day, Kordan stumbled upon hidden gems in the icy wild. He says; I was so admired with Jack London stories from my childhood and my Greenland expedition reminds me his stories. Luckily we had the great chance to ask the photographer a few questions about his unbelievable adventure.

He expresses his journey in exciting words; it was a unforgettable sailing expedition to Greenland. We used the yacht Peter the First to sail from Saint Petersburg to Greenland through Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Therefore, our journey took us two months to get to Greenland and the same time to return. We invited photographers to some stops on our way for weekly sailings around Greenland. It was a kind of photography workshop for them. Indeed this was our first experience to exploring “Disko Bay” and the “islands of Baffin Bay”. I wanted to travel more and more to Greenland, because this area has several remote and unmapped areas that are perfect for photography. Believe me, it wasn’t that easy, but we were captivated by the lovely nature and the chance to explore new areas every day. Our team consists on friendly and hard-working sailors. The captain of Peter the First and his crew made the world record quite a few years ago they circled around the North Pole in just one season. Therefore, we got a valuable experience and learned a lot of legends from locals. We’ve found gorgeous fjords and mountains, and we hiked up to elevations 1 kilometer above the sea to look at ice caps. Moreover, we’ve found a marmor cave leading far into the glacier, and we discovered an old whale cemetery. One of the most enjoyable experiences was bathing in the hot springs of Greenland. We’ve found numerous hidden beaches and hot lakes.

SAIL Amsterdam, Biggest Attractions in Holland

SAIL Amsterdam is one of the biggest attractions in Amsterdam Holland, and the greatest nautical spectacle in the world where scores of tall ships and thousands of other historical ships gather along the river IJ for a wonderful parade. SAIL Amsterdam inaugural edition took places in 1975, under the name “'Sail Amsterdam 700” to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Amsterdam and it is the largest free public event in the world. At the heart of this internationally popular event is an incomparable flotilla of Tall Ships, maritime heritage, naval ships and inspiring replicas. Furthermore to the vessels themselves, each day offers up a diverse program of cultural and sporting activities of broad public appeal. The successful event proved such a big success that a 2nd edition was planned in 1980. Therefore, in order to deliver solid direction, the “SAIL Amsterdam Foundation” was established in 1977. After that, SAIL has returned to Amsterdam’s waterways organized every 5 years regularly between August 19 to August 23, during which the ships take part in several events such sailor choirs or re-enactments of naval battles to display the city’s maritime legacy. SAIL Amsterdam 2015 will totally astonish you. Therefore, days prior to the occasion you can get a preview of the astounding fleet in IJmuiden, where the ships gather for the parade. This so-called “PreSail Ijmuiden” also entices thousands of boat lovers, water sports enthusiasts and curious people.

On the wharfs, the SAIL program organizes sporting events and children’s activities and remarkable fireworks shows at night. Apart from the participating ships, thousands of smaller yacht and boats filled with audiences join them making an exclusive sight. The success of Sail Amsterdam 700 led to the establishment of the Stitching Sail Amsterdam (SSA, Foundation Sail Amsterdam) has been organizing the event every 5 years. The event is highly believed to be inspired by the “Eerste Nederlandse Tentoonstelling op Scheepvaartgebied” literally, “the First Dutch Exhibition in Shipping Technology” that was organized in the summer of 1913. Moreover, to the real ships that visited Amsterdam, there were exhibitions that displayed models of modern boats, and paintings and drawings of historic ships. Moreover, to relax the spectators there is concerts and rowing competitions were also organized. Sail Amsterdam 2015, the ninth edition of the sailing event, will be held on scheduled date of 19 August until 23 August 23, and is likely to be attended by 2 million people. The exhibition ended with large fireworks, which is also a sightseeing view, perhaps life time view.  

Kata Tjuta, A Group of Large Dome Formation in Central Australia

Kata Tjuta, is also called “Kata Joota”, and also famous as “Mount Olga” or colloquially as “The Olgas”, are a group of large domed rock formations “bornhardts” cover an area of 21.68 km2 located about 365 kilometers southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. Both Uluru, and Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga form are the two major landmarks within the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. The majestically beautiful 36 domes that made up of Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga are composed of conglomerate, a sedimentary rock containing of cobbles and boulders of varying rock types as well as granite and basalt, cemented by a matrix of sandstone. Moreover, the alternative name, “The Olgas”, comes from the tallest peak, Mt. Olga, which is, highest point is 3,497 feet above sea level. In 1872, Mt. Olga was given name by Ernest Giles in the honor of Queen Olga of Wurttemberg. In 15 December 1993, a dual naming policy was adopted that allowed official names both traditional Aboriginal name and the English name. As a result, Mount Olga was renamed Mount Olga / Kata Tjuta. However, on 6 November 2002, the dual name was officially reversed to Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga.

The region organized an event known as the Woodroff Thrust, thrust granulite facies rocks northward over low-grade metamorphic rocks. The ultimate erosion of the formation resulted in a molasse facies, or deposition in front of rising mountains, though in this case the Petermann Orogeny, to make the deposit recognized as the Mount Currie Conglomerate. The Mount Currie Conglomerate is made up of predominately of basalt, granite porphyry, gneiss and volcanic rock fragments with a matrix composed of angular quartz, microcline and orthoclase among other minerals. Anangu are the traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta and the land around and they have been at this place from unidentified time. Although Anangu people have connected to the area for thousands of years and some historical records advice they may have been there for more than 10,000 years. They have always known that this is a very special place. There’re “Many Head” the huge rocks are separated by steep-sided gorges and valleys. Walking tracks lead around the area to lookouts, waterholes and picnic areas, while the main trail, Valley of the Winds, is a 7.5-km loop.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is so-called Red Centre of the continent and is a UNESCO World Heritage area. Both Uluru “Ayers Rock” and the Kata Tjuta “Mount Olga” are made of sediment originating in this Mount Currie Conglomerate and both have a chemical composition alike to granite. Scientists predict the rock dating have been given it an age of 600 mya, matching the date of the Woodroof Thrust event. Therefore, the actual fresh rock that makes up the Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga and Uluru / Ayers Rock are medium to dark gray with green or pink hues in some laminae. The bright orange-red hue, for which the structures are noted, is due to a patina over finely divided feldspar coated in iron oxide.There are several Pitjantjatjara Dreamtime legends accompanying with this place and undeniably everything in the vicinity including, of course, Uluru / Ayers Rock. A vast number of legends surround the great snake king Wanambi who is said to live on the summit of Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga and only comes down during the dry season. The majority of mythology surrounding the site is not unveiled to outsiders in particular to women. As is the custom, should women become identified to the "men's business" they are susceptible to violent attacks, even death. Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga can be accessed via Ayers Rock Airport. It is then a 55 km drive south, then west. Tourists have to pay National Park entry fee. The park is protecting hundreds of plant species, 24 native mammal species and 72 reptile species. To protect these, off-road access away from Uluru and Kata Tjuta is not allowed.

Kata Tjuta is most beautiful when viewed at sunrise or sunset. If you’re after some serious adventure, you can even grasp how incredibly ancient and strangely imposing Kata Tjuta is by tackling the moderately hard Valley of the Winds Walk. It is highly suggest to walk early in the morning as it makes a much comfortable. Therefore, if the climate is suitable for walks then visitors are allowed to walk, hence if temperature is 36 degrees or more, then walk is closed from 11am at the Kalpa lookout. So, early morning walk is best to avoid disappointment. If the temperature is due to be 36 degrees or more then this walk is closed from 11am at the Kalpa Lookout, so get there early to avoid disappointment. Another 2km walk that is available is the Olga Gorge Walk (Tatintjawiya), which walks into the beautiful gorge. The nearest accommodation to the Olgas would be at the Ayers Rock Resort, where there is a range of accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets. There's a picnic and sunset-viewing area with its glorious, blood-red best at sunset.