Nanortalik, Greenland

September 6, 2013 

On September 6 we spent a half day in the village of Nanortalik, Greenland.  This is the southernmost town in Greenland with a population of 1500.  The name of the town means "place of bears."  Polar bears are occasional guests in this area in late spring and early summer as they drift with the ice floes from East Greenland. The town is located on a small island half a mile off the mainland coast. A permanent settlement  was founded here in 1797 when a trading center was established nearby.  All sorts of goods were sold to the Inuit (native) hunters in the area and payment was usually in the form of seal fat, seal skins, skins of foxes, shark liver and polar bear furs.

Many of the buildings of the town are from the 19th century.  There is an outdoor museum which is housed in a few of these buildings.  There are many items from the old Inuit culture, the Norse settlements in Greenland from 982 AD and the Danish colonial power 1791-1953.  We saw old kayaks, sealskin covered long boats, old radio equipment, items from a bakery, etc.  One of the main attractions is is a traditional sod house, the kind used by the Inuits for centuries.  By the way, Inuit is the correct name for the inhabitants of Greenland.  Eskimo is incorrect and is considered a derogatory name ('eaters of raw meat'.)

The church was built in 1914-1916 and is Moravian.  We looked inside briefly - there was as service going on to give thanks for the safe return of some fishermen from a recent outing.  

The town is a typical Greenlandic town where modern lifestyle and hunting tradition meet.  The people live in small colorful houses. School was out for the day so there were groups of young folks walking about.  There was a show in the cultural center of local dances, quick-paced and evidencing Scottish and Norse influences, and a performance by a children's choir.   The space was very small so we couldn't get in but we did get a couple of photos of children. 

What a step back in time this was.  The people are very friendly and smiling.  It is a big deal for a ship with a couple of thousand people to drop in for a few hours. The headmaster of the school was manning one of the check-outs at the Tourist Center. It does provide some income for the community which is nice. 

Most of us felt these two days in Greenland were the highlight of a trip full of highlights.  Memories of breathtaking, majestic scenery, and colorful villages will linger as we soon plug back into our busy, "modern" way of life.  

Mixed in with our photos below  are photos of the area from the late 1800's.

Nanortalik, Greenland with one of the Eurodam tenders in
the foreground. 

View from town looking out to sea

Definitely a different language

Children folk dancing in the cultural center

Local youth

Typical native attire.  This woman spoke very good English.

Daycare out for a walk

Moravian Church built 1914-1916

Part of outdoor museum consisting of old buildings

Former bakery built in 1840

Oven

Traditional sod house

Kayaks

Sealskin covered long boat

This village girl told us the little girl in photo on her right is
her grandmother

Davermans, Rogers Baucoms

Greenland

Well folks, did we ever get blown away a couple of days ago.  On Sept 5-6 we were in Greenland. Greenland! Can you imagine that?  On Sept 5 we spent the day cruising through Prins Christian Sund. This is one of a complex network of narrow channels and fjords which make up the southern end of Greenland.  Sailing through these channels is only possible from midsummer until late autumn because the sea is blocked with pack-ice at other times.  The transit is a wonderland of steep granite mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and icebergs.  This rugged landscape was formed by carving glaciers during the ice age.

We spent the entire day, from around eight in the morning till six in the evening, watching the passing scene, taking zillions of photos and having our breath taken away by the dramatic scenery.  The weather was cloudy and rainy at first but it slowly improved through the day.  One of the highlights was passing a small settlement called Aappilattoq ("the read place"), the only settlement in this network of fjords and channels.  170 people live in this village which is one of the most remote in Greenland.  The houses stand on a very small stretch of flat land below an almost vertical (2970 feet) high mountain.  The steep slopes extend directly to the shore so it is impossible to walk farther than 1.2 miles from the settlement without coming to a dead end.  From July to late autumn it is possible to get to and from the village with boats but at other times helicopters are the only means of transportation.

The ship paused beside the village for a while to let two small boats go ashore to take clothing and other donations made by the ship personnel.  Included in this mission were some 30 pizzas which were quickly devoured!  It is hard to imagine living this remotely.  The photos below will give you and idea of our amazing day.

 

Entering Prinz Christian Sund

The beautiful blue of the icebergs was stunning

Largest glacier in this area

Wow!  Icebergs come in all sorts of shape

Glacier meeting the water

Highest waterfall

Aappilattoq, the only settlement  in this systems of fjords and channels,
sits at the base of this mountain.

Harbor of the settlement

Making our way out of the fjord at days end

Amsterdam

Thursday, August 16, 2013


The date for our much anticipated Anniversary Cruise is finally here. Bonnie and I flew to Amsterdam, arriving yesterday morning (Aug 15) to begin a cruise beginning in Amsterdam and finishing in New York 28 days later. We are traveling with our best friends, John and Marcy, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Imagine that - an 80th anniversary cruise!

The flight Atlanta-Amsterdam was effortless and smooth. Flying through the night does leave one a bit tired and disoriented but that's what it takes to get to Europe. We took a train from the airport to Amsterdam proper then a cab to the hotel. When we opened the door to the hotel we saw stairs, lots of them, heading straight up, up, up. With four pieces of luggage and being tired, this was just what the doctor ordered. These stairs led to the check in area and from there were more stairs! Fortunately they had a big brass hook attached to a cable that you could hook your bag to and with the push of a button, up it went. Pretty slick

Lots of steps! Hook for luggage was AFTER these stairs

Easy up with luggage

After getting thinrgs into the room (very tiny) we headed out to explore and have a snack. We found a charming place just a block away and sat canal side in the sunshine for a relaxing light lunch.

Our hotel in Amsterdam

Hotel on this canal

Canals everywhere

Living on a houseboat is very popular

Greg's good friend, and the bass player for The Obsessed (Greg's band),  lives in Amsterdam so we contacted him and made supper plans. Guy (pronounced Gee, said with hard G) came to the hotel and walked us to the restaurant, Momo, an Indonesian fusion kind of place, very chic and euro. We were joined by Guy's girlfriend, Alexis, who was not only beautiful but charming and bright as well.

Alexis and Guy

John and Marcy joined us and the six of had an amazing meal of sushi and other Asian delights. Tons of food and lots of flavor. Guy insisted on picking up the tab and would not be talked out of it. Delightful evening for sure.  Back at the hotel we truly crashed, having been up for close to 36 hours. Mercy!

 We awoke this morning pretty refreshed and had a simple but super breakfast provided by the hotel. We then ventured out to explore and maybe go to a museum. It started to rain so we ducked unto a local eatery and had a light snack instead.

Quick bite before going to ship

Man sized chess game

More people travel on bikes than cars

From there it was back to the hotel, load into a cab and head to the pier to get on the ship. You would think this is a crowded, difficult process but it is anything but. They take your luggage right out of the cab (you see it later in your stateroom). You go to the sign in area and you are checked in, given an ID card, and that's about it.  Next thing you know you are on the ship!  Of course we had done preregistration online before leaving Knoxville. 

We met up with John and Marcy, headed out to eat, and were interrupted by an announcement that it was time for the lifeboat drill. The purpose of this is to have a dry run at finding your assigned lifeboat position. When that was over we did grab a bite. During this time the ship got underway so we watched as we cruised right by downtown Amsterdam.

Next we headed to the spa where they were doing drawings for various spa treatments. Bonnie won one of them, a treatment for getting rid of bloat and toning up. 

We had a great dinner, browsed around the ship, then went off to our room for a very welcome bedtime.  

50th Anniversary Cruise

In August Bonnie and I celebrated our 50th Anniversary by taking a cruise.  We left home on August 14, 2013 and returned September 14.  The cruise started in Amsterdam from which we cruised the Baltic Sea, stopping in ports in Germany, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, and Denmark.  We spent a day back in Amsterdam and then continued the trip, visiting Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia.  The final port of call was New York City where the trip ended.

Needless to say, the trip was fantastic.  We were accompanied by our dear friends, John and Marcy Baucom who were celebrating their 30th Anniversary.  We jokingly refer to this trip as our 80th Anniversary Cruise!  You may remember that it was John and Marcy who visited us in Spain back in the Spring.  

Coming aboard the ship in Amsterdam were Lana and Bob Daverman, great friends of ours and the Baucoms as well.  They were aboard for the trans-Atlantic half of the cruise, having done the Baltic Sea cruise several years ago.  Together we shared and enjoyed many meals, sights and adventures.

I had planned to do a blog of this trip as I did of our Spanish adventure in April and May.  Alas, internet service aboard the ship leaves much to be desired and it was technically impossible (too slow and expensive as well) to create the blog and upload photos which is internet intensive.  I did do a daily diary, with photos, that I sent to family and friend via e-mail, so I do have a record of what we did and saw.  My hope is to gradually transfer this information and photos to this blog so that there is a permanent record of this special trip.  

So...I will get to work and see how this project unfolds.  Postings will be irregular but I will try to keep moving forward as best I can.