Greenland – Day 7 can be found here.
Hello Nuuk!
Another early day – 6:20 am wakeup, La Terrazza buffet, sunscreen, coats, and then off the gangplank at 7:40 am for our Strenuous Hike.
Our expedition team loaded us up onto a bus, and then it was a brief drive to the starting point for the hike that will require over 350 metres of vertical climb from our initial starting point.
We started at the outskirts of the Nuuk International Airport – which has somewhat less reliable service than the other Greenland airports, but growing all the same due to demand – and started up the slopes of the Sisorarfiit ski resort on our way to the top of Quassussuaq.
We got a few skeptical looks – as we often do – when our kids set out for the strenuous hike, but they managed it well and we continued to enjoy progressively more breath-taking vistas as we made the ascent.
The kids particularly enjoyed the opportunity to throw snowballs at one another, and to make miniature snowmen.
After almost two hours of climbing, we reached the summit and this incredible view.
We then began the descent back down the hill – which went much more quickly than the initial climb, as you might expect.
A few guests were slowing down by the end, but by and large we finished as a group without much difficulty. A huge accomplishment, considering the scale of the climb.
When we reached the bottom, we realized that we weren’t the only ones climbing Quassussuaq – the first ever ‘Tour de Nuuk’ was underway, in which participants would see how many times they could climb the peak in a four-hour span.
No word on the winner yet, or how many times they summitted the hill. I will keep an eye to the internet and let you know what I find out. By the 90 minute mark someone had already completed 3 laps.
We then rode the bus back into town, and asked our driver if he knew where we might be able to find some ice cream – one of the kids’ favourite travel activities. He pointed to the Grill and Pizzabar across the road – Grill & Pizzabar | Facebook – which apparently had really good softserve.
We were initially dubious, but the girl working the counter was so incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic, and just went so far above and beyond to make the kids excited about the whole experience.
And the kids had very good reason to be excited, as the experience went something like this –
– Select the size of cone – small or large;
– Choose the flavour of the ice cream – raspberry or vanilla;
– Select the type of sauce used in the cone – which I believe included strawberry, caramel, chocolate, “golden” and bubble gum;
– Select the sprinkles used in the cone – which included 5 different options, though all I can remember are chocolate, multicolour and ball sprinkles;
– Watch as cone is filled with sauce and cone is covered in sprinkles;
– Cone is filled with ice cream – marvel at the size of the cone;
– Ice cream is covered in sprinkles;
– Another layer of ice cream is added to the cone;
– Another layer of sprinkles is added; and finally
– A spoon is used to create a hollow in the cone which is then filled with sauce.
The end result is this:
An absolute delicious monstrosity of an ice cream cone that will undoubtedly prove to be the highlight of the kids’ trip.
We then went out to explore some more of Nuuk. With 20,000 residents, Nuuk is Greenland’s most populous city, and is considered a prime example of how an indigenous-led city can thrive and flourish.
This stands in contrast to Greenland in the 1970s in which the Inuit were unfortunately treated like second-class citizens – this according to Kristian Pederson, who lived in Greenland during that period.
There were signs of construction everywhere in Nuuk, and Kristian noted that the city is expected to increase in size by 50% to 30,000 residents within the next few years.
Understandably, not everyone is thrilled by this development:
I think I could have spent a full day just trying to capture the more vibrant pieces of Nuuk’s street art, but time was limited so we headed on the National Museum of Greenland.
One of the exhibits I found particularly fascinating explained how wooden carvings were used as maps of Greenland’s fjords.
We also saw the famous Qilakitsoq mummies, which are over 500 years old: The Qilakitsoq mummies show life and death – [Visit Greenland!] They were found in a cave in 1972 by a pair of brothers who were out hunting.
The mummies are considered to be one of Greenland’s most famous treasures and their discovery provided vital new insights into the Inuit way of life, particularly their clothing.
Understandably, no photographs were allowed of the mummies themselves. But I will say that it was a haunting exhibit, and very much worth visiting.
It was then time to head back to the ship for a late lunch. We went to the cultural centre to catch the bus, which was circulating continually, rather than operating on a fixed schedule. It arrived 10 minutes later – just long enough for the kids to play on a nearby climbing structure – and we were soon back aboard the Cloud.
The Restaurant closed at 1:30 pm, so I took the kids to the Grill while my wife got laundry underway. I decided to switch it up this time and have a Silversea hot dog with the sauerkraut from the Reuben. It was really, really good.
My wife’s chicken Caesar salad
Back to the room for a powernap, then off to trivia. Again we found ourselves in a shootout for second place and again our ambitions were foiled by our bete noire, the tie-breaking question. (When was Sleeping Beauty released? We confused it with Snow White, so our answer was in the late 30s rather than the late 50s, where it should have been.)
But our son still took home some more prize points, and another guest passed along some of his, so he was happy with the overall outcome.
We then went to the expedition briefing where we learned that the pack ice has made it’s way to near Evighedsfjord, our next stop on the cruise. Winds are also expected to build to 40 knots later that evening.
Darryn’s hoping that we’ll be able to make it into the fjord, but thought it unlikely that we’d be able to make it on to Kangaamiut. But no certainties for either destination right now. There’s also the question of whether we’ll be able to carry on to Sisimiut or Kangerlussuaq, where we’re scheduled to fly home in two days time.
With this gigantic question mark looming over us, we returned to the explorer’s lounge for the Captain’s Farewell – a night earlier than usual, but we expect that he’s going to need all hands on deck for later nights.
No Captain’s Dinner this evening (maybe tomorrow?). Instead, we went to the Grill to enjoy another round of cooking filet mignon on lava stones. The food was delicious, as always – the weather, less so. Our beautiful sunny day in Nuuk had quickly turned to wind and rain. We hope it’s not foreshadowing for events yet to come.
It was too cold on the deck for ice cream, so we went down to the Restaurant for dessert. The kids had their usual ice cream concoctions, while my wife and I both had the English trifle. Or should I say English-ish trifle? They seem to have run out of raspberries, and instead substituted peaches and… kiwi?
Bit of an interesting choice, but we ate around the stranger pieces and found it to still be quite good. And it certainly paired nicely with a warmed snifter of cognac.
Back to our rooms, and then to bed – hoping we wake to calmer waters.
Chronicles for Evighedsfjord:
Continue reading Greenland – Day 9 here.