Ice, Ice Baby: Rio Opens First Chilly Bar Ahead Of Olympics

The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will be sweltering — but you'd never know it if you were inside Rio's newest bar. Ahead of the Olympic season, Rio has created the Brazilian city's first "Ice Bar," which is as ridiculous as it sounds. The bar itself is made entirely out of ice, and drinks are served inside ice blocks. The Ice Bar phenomenon isn't new — cities in Europe, such as London, have opened ice bars, but they aren't usually in cities with tropical climates like Rio's. Rio's Ice Bar is perfect for tourists who want to get a taste of the city's landmarks — it features ice sculptures of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue and of Rio's Sugarloaf Mountain. If you're a tourist — or a local who wants to try the latest fad — you can't just walk into the bar, though. You'll have to buy roughly $15 worth of Brasil Kirin beer from Prezunic, the supermarket chain that's sponsoring the pop-up bar. And if you're worried about being too cold, the ice bar has that covered, too — patrons are given gloves and parkas when they enter. They spend a five-minute waiting period in a room that's chilled to 17 degrees Fahrenheit, before visiting the bar itself, which is set to about 14. Customers can only spend 20 minutes in the bar at a time. The bar is sure to be a boon for tourism, even after the Olympics — Prezunic told AFP that it expects 20,000 Ice Bar visitors within two months.