8/11: On our last morning in Ilulissat, I persuaded Steven to join me on a return trip to the Inuit Artists' Workshop, just a short walk away. We had fun picking out two more tupilaks, bringing our collection to nine, selected from several communities throughout western Greenland.
I've mentioned in other posts that both air and boat travel in Greenland are at the mercy of the weather gods, far more so than any other place we've been. We had booked a short flight in the early afternoon with Air Greenland south to Nuuk, the country's capital, where we'd planned to stay for 48 hours before flying to Iqaluit in northern Canada for the first time. Aha - the plans of mice and men are but a folly in Greenland!
Seeing all the delayed and cancelled flights in our hotel lobby made us think of the stories we'd heard of tourists being marooned in Ilulissat for two entire weeks because of adverse weather conditions. There was a limited supply of hotel rooms in Ilulissat, and our hotel was booked solid. We weren't looking forward to the prospect of sleeping in the school gym for nights on end, as others have had to do!
I admit we heaved a massive sigh of relief when our plane finally departed more than seven hours late.
However, rather than our nonstop flight to Nuuk, we were diverted 30 minutes later to Kangerlussuaq for refueling. Strangely, we had to deplane; more disconcertingly, there was no security at either the Ilulissat or Kangerlussuaq airports, no TSA-style checks, etc.
En route to Nuuk at 9:30 pm, finally:
The sun was setting as we finally arrived at 10:30.
8/12: Fortunately, we got a good night's sleep in our massive suite, which was a sea change from our poky room in Ilulissat!
Like so many towns and settlements along Greenland's western coast, Nuuk had an interesting art trail. We'd searched out many of the works on our previous whistlestop visit when the Sarfak Ittuk ferry stopped for the day en route from Qaqortok to Ilulissat. This piece was located in front of our hotel, Hotel Nordbo, so we didn't have to search long and hard for it, unlike the others we had earlier!
Nuuk is a relatively compact capital city, so it wasn't a long walk to the harbor where we were looking forward to going on a three-hour whale watching tour that morning.
The port, Greenland's largest, has recently been expanded to accommodate the increasing volume of container traffic
Apparently, it wasn't unusual to come across men selling sea mammal meat on the quay.
About to board our whale watching boat:
Nuuk's Tidewater Stairs, from where some boat tours left, was in the older area of the port.
Two days earlier, on our return from a boat ride to the Oqaatsut Waterfalls outside of Ilulissat, we'd also caught sight of the Sarfak Ittuk ferry that we'd been passengers on ten days earlier. Here it was again, in Nuuk! It had been fun following its journey up and down the coast since then!
We had a splendid view of the Nuuk Boardwalk, which we hoped to walk along after the cruise. It's also the feature photo.
If you have been following the Greenland posts for a few weeks, you likely remember the images of Nuuk's Colonial Harbor I included in older posts. It had once been the center of the settlement.
As we left the harbor, we had another vantage point of the statue of Hans Egede. He was a Danish-Norwegian priest who traveled to Greenland in 1721 to re-establish contact with the Norse settlements and spread Protestantism.
The photo of Nuuk's colorful houses would have looked the same of the homes along the shore of any west coast Greenlandic community!
As we ventured further out into the fjord, the mountain views became impressive. However, we didn't see any whales spouting or any glimpses of them, period.
I enjoyed chatting with Bernhard and Diane; she had moved from Brazil to Vienna where she met Bernhard.
Even though the whale watching was a bust, we couldn't fault the striking scenery and the very enjoyable company.
Another of the capital's sculptures that was part of the Nuuk Art Walk:
Of considerably less interest was the partially boarded-up apartment building near the waterfront that we walked past on the way to the boardwalk.
One of Nuuk's highlights was walking the entire length of the extensive boardwalk. What a shame, however, that so little regard had been given to its access.
Looking forward and ...
and glancing back!
On a pleasant day, I could imagine spending a long time in this spot, admiring the view and watching boats entering or leaving the harbor.
The other end of the boardwalk dropped us off in Nuuk's charming Colonial Harbor, which we'd explored at length when the ferry stopped for a day in Nuuk on its voyage north.
The Cooper Museum:
Hans Egedesvej, the main street of the Colonial Harbor, was named after its founder, Egede, who had established the colonial settlement in 1728.
Egede's modest house, the oldest in the coutry, was still standing. The ceremonial home for the prime minister is used for wining, downing, and entertaining visiting dignitaries.
More views of the colorful Colonial Harbor:
Views of row upon row of ugly apartment blocks were unfortunately, the norm in Nuuk, as they had been in Ilulissat and Aasiaat. We couldn't help but see these every time we walked to or from town.
Raven Wife was the artistic creation of Liz Kreutzmann in 1921.
I couldn't help but marvel at these intricate pieces.
If I were a chess player, I'd like a set with pieces like these carved with Greenlandic flair!
The militaristic-looking poster that says "We Protect You" wouldn't assuage my concerns!
This was one of the most powerful works of art I remembered seeing anywhere. Unfortunately, I forgot to take note of the artist's name or the title of the work which apologized profoundly for being a Dane and how the Danes treated the Greenlandic people as a colonial power. I urge to click on the image to make it larger.
Next door were animal skins drying in the rafters.
Hans Egedesvej, the main street of the Colonial Harbor, was named after its founder, Egede, who had established the colonial settlement in 1728.
Egede's modest house, the oldest in the coutry, was still standing. The ceremonial home for the prime minister is used for wining, downing, and entertaining visiting dignitaries.
More views of the colorful Colonial Harbor:
Note the statue of Egede high on the hill overlooking the settlement that we'd just viewed from the water a few hours earlier.
Views of row upon row of ugly apartment blocks were unfortunately, the norm in Nuuk, as they had been in Ilulissat and Aasiaat. We couldn't help but see these every time we walked to or from town.
On our way back to our hotel, Steven and I headed to the Nuuk Art Museum, located in a former Adventist Church. The building and a collection of works of art were donated to the city by art collectors, Svend and Helene Junge, in 2005. As the museum was described as probably the best art gallery in the country, we'd purposely set it aside to view on our return trip to Nuuk.
In the main hall was a collection of ulu, traditional knives used by Inuit women to scrape seal skin from the meat. Now normally used in the kitchen, many were available for sale to tourists.
Raven Wife was the artistic creation of Liz Kreutzmann in 1921.
I couldn't help but marvel at these intricate pieces.
If I were a chess player, I'd like a set with pieces like these carved with Greenlandic flair!
The militaristic-looking poster that says "We Protect You" wouldn't assuage my concerns!
I was confused by the appearance of many Inuit children, impelling them to "Serve Your Country" in the adjacent poster.
An entire room in the museum was devoted to tupilaks; before becoming souvenirs, the unique carved figures were considered to possess magical powers to annihilate enemies.
This was the style of tupilak that was more common and that we had purchased elsewhere in Greenland.
This was one of the most powerful works of art I remembered seeing anywhere. Unfortunately, I forgot to take note of the artist's name or the title of the work which apologized profoundly for being a Dane and how the Danes treated the Greenlandic people as a colonial power. I urge to click on the image to make it larger.
Photo courtesy of B. Plessberger as my photo had too much glare.
Lynne and Diana: Do these paintings remind you of Lawren Harris's paintings as much as they did me?
After seeing almost only low-rise buildings throughout Greenland, it felt odd to see so many modern high-rise buildings in Nuuk!
The painting Fisherman Blues, created in 2015, reminded me of American Gothic.
Lynne and Diana: Do these paintings remind you of Lawren Harris's paintings as much as they did me?
The red gate at the entrance to the martial arts studio close to our hotel resembled the many Shinto shrine gates, known as torii, we visited last year in Japan.
After eating by ourselves for the last month in both Iceland and elsewhere in Greenland, it was a tremendous treat dining with Bernhard and Diane that night! We hope that they will visit us when they're in our neck of the woods one day.
Next post: More of Nuuk's sights & almost flight to Iqaluit in Canada's North!
Posted on November 14th, 2025, on yet another picture-perfect day in Denver's suburbs. With near-record heat, Denver remains on track to see one of the latest first snowfalls and one of the most extended snowless stretches on record! Even though many people are wearing shorts and T-shirts and some men are going shirtless while out on the trails, I still can't bring myself to wear anything but pants and long sleeves come November. Wherever you are, stay warm and loved with family and friends.
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