After our
cruise through Prince Christian Sund yesterday we were quite close to
Nanortalik so we spent the night slowly cruising in circles until it was
time to make port this morning. Our
scheduled arrival was 7:00 and not surprisingly we were there right on
time. When I got up early to look out
the window this morning I saw blue sky, but when we got up it had turned
cloudy. Nanortalik is a tender port so
just after 8:00 we made our way to the tenders and we were soon back on Greenland soil (rock is a better description). It was very cold this morning so we bundled
up in our winter coats and we were very glad we brought them.
Nanortalik
has a population of around 1,300 and is much smaller than
Qaqortoq, our first stop
in Greenland. Nanortalik is actually an island and like most of Greenland we've seen, it is a very rocky and mountainous area.
Once on land, our first stop was the Visitor’s Center to try to find a
Greenland t-shirt, which I failed to find in Qaqortoq. We heard that the local people were going
to be doing a show of traditional Greenland singing and dancing so we made our
way to the Culture Center to watch. It
was a very simple show, but we appreciated the opportunity to see and
hear the traditional music of Greenland performed by the people who live there.
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| A tender heading to the dock. |
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| The Culture Center |
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| We heard traditional songs of Greenland from the local choir. |
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| Some young locals. |
The town
isn’t very big so it was easy to walk around and see most of it. We visited a supermarket, which looked very
much like a small supermarket that we might have in our own town. We continued walking around the harbor and
town and found an open air museum where old homes and buildings had been preserved. It was also very interesting and we spent
quite a while walking around it.
After we
finished seeing most of the town we headed back to the tender dock to return to
the ship. There were some tables where
local arts and crafts were being sold, but Val didn’t find anything
interesting. Before going to the
tenders, we returned to the Visitor’s Center so Val could buy a sweatshirt and
it was time to leave. There was a long
line for the tenders, but it moved fairly quickly and we were back on the ship
by noon. The last tender was at 12:30 as
the ship was leaving at 1:00 so we had made the most of our time on shore.
We put
our things in our room and then headed for Lido for lunch. After lunch we went back to the room and
watched the incredible scenery go by from our balcony as we left Nanortalik. Greenland is such a beautiful country with it's
high snow capped mountains and rugged coastline.
As we left we passed quite a few icebergs, but most of them were relatively
small to medium sized. We did see one
huge one off in the distance that looked as big as a large building and were glad the
ship wasn’t heading in that direction (think Titanic).
The cold got to me and I went back inside, but Val stayed out quite a
while longer photographing the passing islands, mountains and icebergs.
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| We sail away from Nanortalkik and Greenland. |
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| A very isolated fishing camp or village. |
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| There were lots of icebergs as we left. Off in the distance on the right side is a huge iceberg. |
There
was a slot tournament today so Val and I went to the casino to
participate. We had coupons where
we could buy two entries for the price of one so we both did that, but we
didn’t come close to qualifying for the finals.
After that it was time for Val to head for her team trivia and I went
back to our room to work on the blog.
After
Val returned from trivia we spent the rest of the afternoon reading and relaxing until it
was time for dinner. Tonight is another
formal night so it took a little longer to get dressed, but we made it to the
MIX for trivia before dinner, and after dinner finished the evening as usual in
the casino. Tomorrow is a sea day so it
will be another day of relaxation.
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| Glen and Richard our dining room neighbors. |
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| Ken and Mary Beth our other dining room neighbors. |
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| Val and I |
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