ice ice babyyy

We went to an ice lounge in India last night. It was exactly what you would expect-- touristy, the kind of place where you go just to say that you've been. The entire place is -10° C (14° F), so they give you gloves and what I can only describe as an Eskimo poncho. EVERYTHING was made of ice-- the chairs, the statues, the walls, the bar, the cups.

quick BlackBerry photo to show my friends stateside what they were missing

Click below to see more pictures and find out how I (hopefully) managed to charm my way into getting a first class seat on my flight home in two days!

Eskimo poncho. Case in point. What's that I'm sitting on...?

An ice throne! [insert Queen of Narnia joke]

Ice vases. Those are real flowers; I have no idea how they survived.

baraf ki aunty

ceiling

All the signage and employees at ICE were saying -10, but the ceiling says -5! Not sure which is true, but with the poncho-jackets they gave us, it was completely bearable.

tiger statue

tiger again

ice sofa! or bench?

Aman Chacha and me

Taj Mahal-- or wait, should that be in this post?!

ice glass at the ice bar-- these melted periodically if you didn't wear gloves (due to body heat) and they have a HUGE collection of them underneath the bar so they can replace them easily

cocktail menu! 

I tried to order the mixamatosis (pepper and chocolate!), but they didn't have it, so I got the cilantro sour (coriander with vanilla, pineapple, and balsamic vinegar) instead. it was delicious and surprisingly sweet. I assumed with the cilantro, coriander, and balsamic, it would be kind of sour, but it wasn't. The lounge was pretty pricey, but the cover charge included unlimited mocktails, which was nice!

After the bar, we went to dinner at the Mariott. It was midnight by the time we sat down to eat, and I wanted something light, so I ordered a brie, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. They gave it to me with cheddar cheese instead of brie, but it was still really good! I eat SO MUCH cheddar when I'm at home-- my dad even brought me a block last time I was in India-- so it was really nice to have some after almost two months.
Cool story: I actually ran into the pilot of my flight home! He, along with his crew, walked into the lobby just after Spain scored and turned to me for the details of the goal and the game thus far.  I asked them where they were flying in from, and it turns out that they came in from Amsterdam and are leaving again on Monday night-- with me in tow! Hopefully this will secure me a free upgrade : )