World’s First Permanent Ice Museum to open in Istanbul

Eurovision song contest winner Alexander Rybak will perform at the opening tomorrow of a new, very different, permanent museum in Istanbul.  I’m hoping to make the opening.

Referred to as Magic Ice, visitors to this new museum will need to dress warmly as it will be a chilling -5 degrees year-round.  On display will be 34 ice statues, with a theme that changes every six months.  I’m thinking that ticket sales will be hotter in Summer.

The details are not for those watching their carbon footprints:  70 tons of ice have been imported from Sweden for the statues.  However, on a more positive note, the walls and the tunnels of the museum were made with 100 tons of ice generated in Istanbul.

The concept of the museum was created by designers of the world-famous Ice Hotel in Sweden at a massive cost of 20 million Euros and fulfilled by Norwegian Lotofen Trading Company. Turkish engineers fulfilled infrastructure, heating and cooling systems.

I’ m not sure why, but the day chosen for the opening, April 23, is celebrated throughout Turkey as National Sovereignty & Children’s Day.