Ice for a cooler

Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 05:23 AM
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Ice for a cooler

We are planning to take a cooler bag with us for our drive around Portugal and Spain. However, I am concerned that finding some ice for it will be a challenge, judging by the 2 or 3 tiny cubes in drinks around other parts of Europe. Any suggestions? Obviously, we do not need a huge piece of ice, so I am wondering if we could take a small plastic water bottle and ask if our hotel will freeze it for us. What do you think?
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Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 06:01 AM
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Europeans tend not to use ice, but cool elements like these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-220g-P...=cool+elements

You can buy them quite cheaply, often in a supermarket. Hotels will generally freeze them for you.

Some supermarkets sell big bags of ice, but the cooler elements may work out cheaper, and a lot cleaner.
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Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 06:12 AM
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hetismij2 - yes I have these already and after sending my post, thought of them! Perfect! thank you!
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Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 09:20 AM
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Why would you be driving around Portugal and Spain with a cooler? You will find more then enough places to stop if you need something cold to drink.
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Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 11:20 AM
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Why not drive around with a cooler? We do the same when visiting the US.
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Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 11:47 AM
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The distances are much greater when driving around the US verses Spain or Portugal. There are far fewer places to stop, especially in the southwest or midwest.
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Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 12:29 PM
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For what it's worth, you may need to NOT have those "coolers" in carry-on luggage. I'm not sure, but would certainly look into it if I were taking them.
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Old Sep 3rd, 2015, 01:33 PM
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Our only piece of checked in luggage is a cooler, and finding bagged ice has never been a problem in Spain.

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Old Sep 4th, 2015, 07:59 AM
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I've purchased ice at gas station convenience stores in Portugal. You should have no problem finding ice.
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Old Sep 4th, 2015, 10:09 AM
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Robert, you have no idea what distances we cover in a day in the US. We still take a cooler with us to the UK or in the Netherlands, though in Europe we tend to use a 12v one which we plug into the car. We usually have a couple of cool elements with us to tide us over the ferry crossing.

No cool elements can't go in carry on, but since Gypsy8 is bringing a coolbox from home I assume that will be checked.
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Old Sep 4th, 2015, 10:48 AM
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Are you sure you're not from Texas?
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Old Sep 5th, 2015, 03:07 PM
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Well, Robert2533, we are not from Texas, but from western Canada, and think nothing of driving 10 or 11 hour days to get where we want to be. We always take our cooler bag with lunch and water and stop wherever appeals for a picnic.....tho not so often in the winter! We will bring our collapsable cooler bag and one of the aforementioned (hetismij2) ice packs as they are small and re-freezable. Both will be included in our checked luggage.
Thanks everyone, for your contributions!......some quite amusing
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Old Sep 5th, 2015, 03:40 PM
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Western Canada... that explains everything.
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Old Sep 5th, 2015, 03:43 PM
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If you can't find ice but can find ice cube bags in grocery stores that might be an option if you have access to a freezer. They look like this http://www.schur.com/en/icecubebags.

When my sister got sick in Scotland, all she wanted was a few ice cubes. We didn't want to buy one of those huge bags of ice as our flat didn't have ice cube trays. So froze water in a plastic cup and made crushed ice. I started traveling with a small flexible ice cube tray until I found these. Much smaller to pack as I only take a few in case we ever need ice again and don't have access to ice cube trays.
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