ICE PALACES are the stuff of legend. For more than two centuries, Russia and then North America witnessed a succession of these creations, each more elaborate and preposterous than the one before. They were short-lived, glittering places of wonder.
One of the earliest was built in 1740 on the whim of a Russian empress, who reputedly forced a shivering courtier and his bride to spend their wedding night inside on a bed of ice, with guards around the walls lest they try to escape. I, on the other hand, am about to spend an unguarded night in the modern equivalent: an ice hotel. Yes, my bed is also made of ice and my room unheated. And yet I am staying here without the Empress Anna's military encouragement.
The truth is, I'm fascinated by ice. And for ice junkies, the Swedish hamlet of Jukkasjärvi 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle ...
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