On to Greenland
Friday, August 28th, 2009Cloud cover from leaving Iceland until about 1/2 hr before reaching Nuuk the capitol of Greenland so didn’t get to see Iceland from the air as arrived after dark & left in the cloud. Planes are getting smaller as this flight was in a prop driven Dash 8-100, don’t know why the 100 as it only carries 35 passengers?
No sign of any customs personal when we landed just off the plane across the tarmac, in the terminal & out to the taxi lane. Couldn’t find much hotel info on the web, looking up much of any info on this country is a chore, it’s as if it doesn’t exist, so just used the tried & true hotel finding method, ask the taxi driver, works every time. Got the last room but got a room at the first hotel we tried. Haven’t had the nerve to convert the price yet as in Iceland I was warned it was expensive here & it’s a NICE 4*, Hotel Hans Egede, www.hhe.gl but what to hey These 2 countries blew a hole in my budget a long time ago but in Iceland’s case it was sure worth it & how many people can say they have visited Nuuk let alone Ilulissat, bragging rights don’t usually come cheap plus I am sure there will be some fantastic country to see.
From the flight in looks like the country is glacier covered except at the coast & this is southern Greenland. Desolate looking place with the land scrubbed to the bare rock by the glaciers & the town at first glance resembling a northern construction camp. On closer inspection this capitol of 16,000 is a bit more than that brightly colored buildings your basic primary colors reds, blues, whites & the odd yellow.
Can see three tower cranes from my hotel room window so things aren’t slowed to a standstill by the recession, also some residential construction in Iceland.
Had planned on a boat tour of the area but as they need a minimum of 4 to run it & only 2 signed up it didn’t go so just catch up on my journal & explore Nuuk a bit then tomorrow off to Ilulissat.
The taxi driver came through with flying colors as the hotel he brought me to is smack dab in the center of activity here in Nuuk. I just love good taxi drivers as they tend to have a better knowledge of all facets of a city or town than any one else. Of course having been one on several occasions in different parts of Canada might prejudice me just a tad or the fact that when I am in Ontario my daily driver is a Checker in Yellow Cab livery.
It’s just an easy little stroll down to the shore where one finds for today’s trivia “Santa’s Post Office and the World’s Largest Letter-box where letters to Santa from all over the world arrive.”, the National Museum of Greenland, Hans Egede’s house (don’t be so lazy Google him) & the other main sights & shopping district & market of Nuuk.
A nice sunny fall (Canada weather) day relaxing, informative & productive at the same time, Found further proof of the mini ice-age that lasted from around 1350-1850 so once again our period global warming climate change is just a whim of nature, NOT anything man made as some ego-maniacs with a personal agenda would have us believe, Nuuk is a bustling little city where you can still smoke in the working man’s bars.
Oh yeah & one thing I have never seen else where that should be mandatory every where a sign at the entrance to the restaurant here in the hotel in international symbol a circle with a line through the picture of a cell phone (NO CELL PHONES). Must be needed as at breakfast this morn when sign was turned around there was a guy with not one but TWO Crack berries!!!
Manaña a 3 hr flight to Ilulissat north of the Arctic Circle.
busman7