8/13/25: Greenland Impressions

Click to see where Steven and I stayed and our ferry/boat stops up Greenland's West Coast.

1. Wonder if our initial observations of positions of power held by White Danes and not Greenlandic Indigenous people: on the boat, at the tour office, at the hotel restaurant, etc, will be borne out? 36 hours in, Indigenous people were in each case responsible for secondary jobs. P.S. Our initial impressions were sadly what we also observed throughout our trip.

2. Surprisingly large number of small cars considering the terrain and weather.

3. Roads were generally in decent condition, considering the exceedingly short timeframe they have for maintenance.

4. Extremely friendly people; also, many are trilingual, speaking English in addition to Greenlandic and Danish.

5. Women on the plumper side, though admittedly not politically correct to say.

6. Even small villages have a strong artistic presence, with a large number of impressive sculptures and murals, unlike similarly sized villages in the US or Canada.

7. Grocery stores, even in very tiny communities or settlements, have an ample supply of fresh fruits, veggies, and pastries, and are open extended hours. Unlike the 'food deserts' we constantly hear about in the US, that didn't appear to be an issue from what we saw.

8. Stores were incredibly well stocked, even in settlements of just 60-80 people.

9. A huge number of smokers, exponentially more than in Iceland, which we'd visited just before arriving in Greenland.

10. What we call 'jam' translates to 'marmalade' on English menus in Greenland!

11. Many homes are in dire need of repair, with what looked like tarpaper roofs.

12. Wonder what the average annual income is.

13. Even the smallest settlements have some access to medical care and a basic level of education.

14. However, we observed that dental care must be tough to come by.

14. Brightly colored buildings, most of which are color-coded. Red for churches and schools, yellow for hospitals, blue for power stations, green for contractors, black for police departments, white for municipal offices, etc. A big takeaway is that the colored wooden buildings are characteristic of the country.

15. Sled dogs are referred to as 'sledge dogs' in English.

16. Dated and dilapidated apartment buildings were the norm, not the exception.

17. Learned that Greenland has sadly the highest suicide rate in the world, with 120 deaths per 100,000 people.

18. Little emphasis is placed on the environment from what we saw and were told. There were no recycling containers, no signs asking not to trample the grass, etc., as we saw throughout Iceland. Discharge from the Great Greenland factory in Qaqortoq went directly into the fjord, etc.

19. Prams, not strollers, were used exclusively from what I observed.

20. You need a certain degree of fitness to navigate the multiple sets of stairs in any Greenland town!

21. Staircases were everywhere in the smaller settlements - none were private, either. Likewise, neither was the land under the homes.

22. Another takeaway from towns, especially in southern Greenland, was the preponderance of aboveground pipes.

23. Considering Greenland has a population of under 60,000 people, the number of monuments and statues throughout the country was 'monumental!'

24. You all know that Steven and I cannot in any way be confused with 'foodies.' However, some of the best meals we've had traveling to well over 100 countries and territories were in Greenland, a fact that surprised the heck out of us. I know I shall long remember the mouthwatering meal I had in the tiny town of Aasiaat and the equally delicious ones Steven and I both savored in the capital city of Nuuk.

25. If you're looking for a place off the beaten track that's not inundated with tourists everywhere you go, that has spectacular scenery in virtually every location, where ferry or boat travel is not just a means of transportation but an excuse to take in some unbelievable vistas, where you have a good chance of spotting whales and other animals, where you can feast on some great, albeit unusual dining options if you like to eat on the wild side, where there are remarkable opportunities for hiking and exploring the great outdoors, and/or you want to visit a country at the forefront of the news, AND you won't come unglued when, not if, the weather changes your itinerary, I say go to Greenland! Just be forewarned that, while the country will NOT make anyone's budget list, you'll have the time of your life.

Next post: Touring the Ottawa Valley with one of my brothers, the day after arriving in my hometown from Greenland via Reykjavik.

Posted on November 23rd, 2025, from our home in Denver, where Steven and I are excited that we will soon celebrate the American Thanksgiving holiday in Chicago with our four children and their families, each traveling from a different US time zone. It will be the first time we will all be together since our far-flung loved ones joined us at our home for Thanksgiving two years ago. Please make sure to take care of yourself and your loved ones.

8/14-16 /25: Even More of Nuuk & Goodbye Greenland!

8/14: It was hard for Steven and me not to be disappointed when our flight to northern Canada from the Greenland capital of Nuuk was turned back the previous night due to a heating element issue. We were, however, extremely fortunate that Air Greenland put us up again in a suite at a very decent hotel and provided extraordinarily generous meal vouchers at almost any restaurant in town. We also lucked out meeting Rab and Jessica, math teachers at the same high school outside Hamilton, Ontario, while we'd waited hours for the flight. It was an unusually dreary day in Nuuk, so Steven and I just hunkered down in the hotel all day. But our newfound friends joined us for drinks and cheese in our suite for a few hours, regaling us with stories of their travel adventures. 

Lucky us, Rab and Jessica had already scoped out the food scene in Nuuk and asked us to join them for dinner at Cafe Esmeralda that night.

At 46, Rab has visited 148 countries and territories, and Jessica, a later convert to travel, wasn't far behind! Unlike us, however, they only head out on the road for a maximum of three weeks at a time. They then head home to be with their pets for a week or so, before going back on the road again for another far-flung adventure!

If you've been following our adventures in Greenland over the last month or so, you likely recall the weather issues we've had, which have resulted in cancellations and delays. However, we counted our lucky stars as our mishaps were minor compared to Rab and Jessica's. I've forgotten the exact details now, but I think they were stranded in Ilulissat for 10 days, unable to move on, because weather conditions prevented plane or ferry travel. As they were in the same boat as hundreds of other travelers, their lodging included the local school's gym, since available hotel rooms were nonexistent!

They had also spent far longer than they wanted or planned in Nuuk because of other travel misadventures! As a result, Steven and I gladly gave our "guaranteed" Nuuk Fjord whale-watching tickets to them, hoping they might be more successful in finding whales than we had a couple of days earlier.

Jessica and I feasted on mouthwatering lamb chops, sauteed mushrooms, and divine potatoes - all of it was a taste treat, accompanied by a glass of Spanish red wine, courtesy of Air Greenland! I couldn't have imagined a more sublime meal anywhere - plus the company was great!

Steven devoured his shrimp pasta, but I can't remember what Rab enjoyed, except I recall he had enough of the voucher left to bring back slices of apple pie.

Another unusual bathroom sign to add to my collection!

Walking back to the hotel we all shared was more of an adventure as we battled some fierce winds! 

8/15: Once again, you may recall from our first stop in Nuuk, while on the Sarfak Ittuk ferry trip from Qaqortoq in southern Greenland to Aasiaat on the south tip of Disko Bay, that we had stopped at Dooit Design, a fabulous glass shop. There, I was immediately taken by a stunning piece Dorit Olsen, the store's owner and artist, had created of an umiak, a boat used by Greenlandic women when moving among settlements. Steven persuaded me it didn't make "sense" to buy it because it was very fragile, and we still had a long way to travel in Greenland and then in Canada before heading home.

 

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After regretting that choice a few days later, I emailed Olsen to purchase it and have her put it aside until our return in 10 days. Much to my dismay, however, the umiak had been sold. When we returned to Nuuk from Ilulissat, I told Steven I wanted to return to the shop. There was a much larger, significantly more expensive umiak that Olsen had also crafted that we'd also admired on our initial stop. I loved it, but the price seemed out of reach. 

But when our flight to Iqaluit, in northern Canada, was canceled, one of the first things I said to Steven was that if the larger umiak were still available, I would buy it. I figured that we had "saved" so much money from our canceled flights, meals, and accommodation in Canada, we could afford the umiak, and it was meant to be! I was so relieved to find it was still available when I called the day before and purchased it immediately over the phone. Sweet Christa, whom I had gotten to know from my multiple visits, wrapped up the precious cargo to ensure it would make it home to Denver in one piece.

Here it is at home, surrounded by nine tupilaks we purchased in Qaqortok, Aasiaat, and Ilulissat! The beautiful 15" wide x 6" high umiak was perhaps the best thing to come out of our canceled flight.

On our two previous visits to Nuuk, Steven and I had already toured and seen everything that we'd wanted to see and explore. As a result, left with two more days there, the pickings were slim! An invigorating walk sounded appealing, especially if we could catch a glimpse of a massive sphere I'd spotted days ago. From our recent visit to the Nuuk Local Museum, we'd learned that there was an antenna park in the capital city, so the sphere was likely part of it.

The fog was so dense that it was challenging to spot anything in the distance. We didn't give up, however, and kept walking up and up Nuuk's hilly streets above the town, hoping that one of them might lead us to the sphere.

We hadn't known that there was a music school in Nuuk before! In Greenlandic, it was called Sermersuumi Nepilersornermik Ilinniarfik.

Our long walk also took us past the contemporary Nuuk High School for the first time. One of only four high schools in Greenland, it was a three-year grammar school, with the education consisting of half a year of basic training and two and a half years of specialized classes. 

The far more traditionally designed building was Ilinniarfissuaq, or Greenland's Teaching Seminary. It was established in 1845 to educate teachers and catechists for Greenland. 

Its roofline made me think of the prow of a Viking ship.

Nearby was the former secondary school, known as Eskimolottet or Eskimo Castle. It was odd to see the word Eskimo on the building, because I grew up understanding that the politically correct term was Inuit.

Nuuk's Colonial Harbor or the old part of the city:

Aha - once the fog cleared, the sphere was finally visible, peaking behind more buildings belonging to the seminary.

Steven and I had enjoyed one of our best meals anywhere at Cafe Esmeralda the night before, so it was a no-brainer to return there for our last dinner in Greenland! And yes, our meals were just as perfect as they had been with Rab and Jessica.

Later that night, we successfully (hooray!) flew from Nuuk to Reykjavik, Iceland, where we'd started our summer vacation five plus weeks earlier, arriving at a hotel in Grindavík, the closest hotel to the airport that had a room, at 2am! It was the first leg of our journey back to my hometown of Ottawa, where my family and I were burying my brother Paul's ashes in a few days. 

8/16: After just a few hours' sleep, we were on our way back to the airport near Reykjavik to catch a flight to Dulles Airport in DC and then on to Ottawa after a long layover. Our taxi driver told us that after a volcanic eruption in November 2023, the Icelandic fishing town of Grindavík, home to 3,700 people, was evacuated overnight. Shortly after the earthquakes began shaking the town, great fissures opened just outside Grindavík, and lava began flowing from a nearby volcano. Houses were destroyed, and the streets shifted as the ground heaved up and down. 

The highway we were on was covered by lava three times. She told us that the government relocated and bought the homes of everyone who wanted to move. Fortunately, there was no loss of life, and it wasn't much worse than it was, according to our driver. Though it was declared a "ghost town," Grindavík was coming back to life, our taxi driver said. 

However, I remember receiving emails from friends in Denver who were concerned about us when the town was evacuated again, and we were in the area! It was a tad spooky, only being able to find a room in the exact location that we'd been warned to stay away from so recently.

As you may recall from some of my posts on Iceland, the Icelandic people are big believers in trolls and other fanciful lore. Our driver promised to send me pictures of the trolls that she insisted lived in this terrain, but sadly, I never got any!

Homeward bound at long last, after a thrilling time exploring a vast chunk of exciting Greenland:

Next post: Greenland Impressions.

Posted on November 20th, 2025, from Denver, where our smile for the day was that a winter weather advisory was issued as snow fell on Hawaii's Mauna Kea summit before any had fallen in Denver! Even so, Steven's been shopping for a snowblower, as it's just a matter of time before we see the white stuff. As always, make sure to take care of yourself and your loved ones.