This year's theme was "Frosty the Snowman"

These ice sculptures were inspired by an ice exhibit in China.  They are made by 40 people from China that come over to the Unites States just to set up this exhibit.  This year's exhibit included a section showing one of the workers creating a sculpture using the same type of tools that are used to carve wood:

One of the best parts about this exhibit is how stylin' one gets to be for their grand entrance in the special parkas that are provided as part of the entrance fee $$$

I think it's worth it though...the $$$ and getting to dress in such a fashionable way!

There were many people there and it was very difficult to take pictures that do not have people in them.  Many people are visiting this hotel with their children just to see this exhibit during this time of the year.  It is also only 8 degrees so I generally only got one shot and moved on!

I also wanted to avoid frostbite :-)

Frosty!

Santa was there too!

Even Rudolph too!

There is a big slide that is made from ice for the kids that was very popular, but I decided to just let the kids have all the fun ;) ;)

And some cartoon characters and nutcrackers :)

I loved the oriental style dragon sculptor that one of the talented workers was carving.  I'm amazad that they can create such detail and beauty from a block of ice in those temperatures!

The Final exhibit was a very large clear ice nativity scene.  It was extremrly beautiful, but difficult to photograph (I was numb by the time I got there!)



Goodbye from Frosty himself :)

Thanks so much everyone for stopping by.  Please feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions.  E-mail addresses are not published.  Happy New Year and may 2014 be the best yet!!!       

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves. 
Andre Gide

Buenos Aies, Argentina is a city that I can not wait to visit again!  This is where I disembarked from my South American/Antarctica cruise.  It was VERY hot while I was there at the end of January...around  100 degrees Fahrenheit!  It is a very large city with beautiful architecture that reminded me of Madrid, Spain (can't imagine why ;).  The food was delicious which is a high priority of mine while traveling or not!  

One of the main reasons I chose this 20 day cruise was to pinpoint some areas of South America that I would like to vacation at in the future for more than one day and Buenos Aires is at the top of that list!  There is so much to photograph there.  Wish I'd had more time, but here is what I have until I manage to visit again.

Most of the street were lined with large beautiful trees




The last few photos were taken from a moving vehicle unfortunately.  I booked my hotel on Expedia while on the cruise ship near Antarctica.  I do NOT recommend doing this EVER!!!  Internet on cruise ships tends to be very slow and expensive as it was for me booking this hotel at 75 cents/minute.  My hotel was not in a great location and one must be careful while traveling in large unfamiliar cities so I didn't get out as much as I would have liked :(  I will be going back anyway!  

I will leave you with a bird I caught in a sunset photo that I'm quite proud of.  Thanks so much for visiting and take care!

If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it.

~ Andrew Denton

The above photo is of a tabular iceberg only seen in the Antarctic seas.

The only sunset I saw while in Antarctica.  It was after 11PM at night.  The sun came up around 3AM!

I was very surprised to see this relatively small boat out in the Gaylor Strait.  The waters were VERY calm on this day and in this area than in others that I will discuss later.

The above shows a volcano near the middle of the photo.

Very foggy most of the time.  Added to the beauty I thought.

I thought this penguin looked mad.  Maybe someone stole his fish?

It was not easy for me to capture photos of the seals in Antarctica.  I have some better ones from our stop in Montevideo, Uruguay.  It was wonderful seeing them in their natural habitat though!

Above is the best photo that I was able to get of a Humpback Whale in Antarctica.  We saw a lot of them, but it was NOT easy to capture a great photo of them!

I will end with a photo of an eskimo (yours truly actually)

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Please let me know if you ever have any questions since I'm always lacking in the description department.  I will try to answer them.  Take care everyone!

Michelle

Valparaiso:  This is where I boarded my cruise.  I had stayed in Santiago the night before.  I wish I'd stayed here.  This city seemed to have so much more character.

Puerto Montt (a little farther south):  

Castro:  Even further south...working our way to Antarctica.  I loved the lush green landscape and the pretty houses on the hills.

The little white dots in the water are salmon farms

Thank you so much for visiting.  I know  that I don't have a lot of readers anymore, but this is kinda like my autobiography.  Take care everyone!

Michelle