Voyage of the Vikings Cruise - Cruise Day 8 – Qaqortoq, Greenland

Val opted to get up before 8:00 this morning as she wanted to watch us arrive in Greenland, but I didn’t sleep very well so I stayed in bed until 9:00. We couldn't leave the ship until they announced the ship had been cleared by the local authorities, which is the way it works at every port.  We hung around the room for a while and then finally the announcement came that we could leave the ship and we were off to the tenders as this was a tender port.

We saw more icebergs as we sailed into Qaqortoq.

 

Our first look at the town of Qaqortoq.

 

As we came into Qaqortoq, Val and I looked at each other and couldn’t believe we were actually in Greenland – it’s a place we never thought we’d get a chance to visit.  The temperature was in the 50’s, but it was sunny and clear and felt very comfortable.  Greenland is the largest island in the world and is considered part of North America.  It covers 836,000 square miles and has a population of only 56,500.  It is mostly uninhabited in the north and the interior, and is mostly covered in ice. In fact, it is second only to Antarctica in the size of its ice sheet.  Qaqortoq is the largest town in Greenland with a population of just over 3,000.  Although Greenland is self-ruled, it is actually part of Denmark and the currency is Danish kroners.

Qaqortoq is mostly rocky and hilly, only the area around the harbor is flat.  Homes dotted the hillsides and were painted in very bright colors.  There is not much to do in town so we wandered around for a while exploring the town.  

Those are fish drying, not clothes.

 

Can you pronounce the street name?  You may have to enlarge it to read.

 

This seemed like a handy way to dry your clothes without having to leave your house, especially in the winter.

We found the people to be very friendly, and they even let some of the school children out to see what was going on in town.

Val bought this drawing done by this lady's father who was in the hospital.

 

We visited the local museum and bought some postcards to send home and then located the post office to buy some stamps and send our cards.  Unfortunately, Val had left an address on the ship so we couldn’t send one of the cards.  We decided to return to the ship, eat and then catch the tender back and mail our last card.  There are only two places to eat in Qaqortoq and we only found one of them so it seemed easier just to eat on the ship.

Val writing postcards behind the museum.

 

 Qaqortoq in known for its rock sculptures and carvings.

After lunch it was back to shore to mail our postcard and then we spent some more time exploring the town.

On our way to the post office.

 

Finally by late-afternoon we had seen as much as we could see and returned to the ship.  Today has turned out to be a perfect day with beautiful weather and a fascinating place to visit, what a wonderful place Greenland is.

A couple of last looks at Qaqortoq as we sail away.

 

We spent the time before dinner relaxing and I downloaded the many pictures we took today.  We have added a trip to the Crow’s Nest for our unleaded margaritas and appetizers to our evening routine.  After our drinks, it was off to our usual dinner and casino before calling it a day, but it didn’t feel like the end of the day as it was still light outside.  The days have been getting longer and longer as we have sailed north with sunset today around 10:00 PM and sunrise tomorrow being at 4:00 AM.  It never really does get totally dark and looks like twilight all night long.  Tomorrow will be a sea day, but we will be cruising Prince Christian Sund which is supposed to be very beautiful.