Baby, it's cold inside

LONDON — Feb. 19 — Not cold enough for you in Seattle? Come to London where you can chill at the Absolut Icebar, a bar made entirely of ice and kept at a constant 23 degrees.

The bar, one of the few in the world (others are in Sweden and Milan), developed with the owners of the original ice hotel in Sweden and Absolut Vodka, holds 60 people outfitted with silver thermal capes with hoods and ski gloves, better to grasp the drinks that are served in, you guessed it, glasses made of ice.

This may be your ticket if you've been looking for a non-smoking bar in London, but it will be a pricey one.

Admission is $21 which includes your choice of one of a selection of candy-colored drinks made from vodka mixed with liquor and juices.

Bartenders work in two-hour shifts. Patrons are limited to 45-minute time slots which must be reserved in advance.

"Some people can only take 15 or 20 minutes, then they have to leave," says head bartender Beata Castangia. "Others want to stay the whole time to get their money's worth."

Friends and I donned capes and gloves Friday afternoon too see what it was all about, and with Fashion Week in full swing in London, the place was packed.

The drinks were fine (the little square ice glasses are smashed and melted down after use), but the real attractions are the ice sculptures, the bar made of ice and the ice stools covered with fur padding. And of course warming up to the other caped and hooded patrons over drinks with names liked "Iced Kiss" and "Lapland Tundra."

It's a gimmick, but a cool one. All the ice, including the glasses, is imported from the Torne River in Sweden.

Opened in October, the ice bar will close for a week in March for a literal melt down, then open again totally rebuilt.