Yesterday was spent in Reykjavik waiting to hear if the plane would fly to Nuuk. Happily we were off to the airport at 1pm and flew at 6. Much to the relief and delight of our fellow passengers.
It was a long 3 day wait for the flight, but having lived on the Isle of Mull for 16 years, travel delays and the resulting ” hingin’ aboot” were something I was used to. So we made the best of the time and walked around some more of Reykjavik.
Our fellow passengers were very interesting and friendly. Chatting to them has definitely been one of the best insights into Greenlandic life.
Anemarie, passionate about preserving the Greenlandic culture and language through her role as an actor, tour guide and teacher. She had only gone to Reykjavik for a short meeting! Lisbeth and her bookkeeping staff had gone for a celebratory shopping trip and were concerned that they were missing business and for one of them, the birth of her first grandchild. Students had been at the Arctic Circle meeting. Fishermen were returning from 5 weeks on a boat near the Faroes. An arctic politics professor had to abandon his plans as his meeting was on Friday in Nuuk and he had to be in Helsinki tomorrow. And others just wanted to get home after a trip.
They were all quite stoic about the situation as it is not unusual, and the younger ones took full advantage of the opportunity to have a Friday night out in Reykjavik!!!
Air Iceland still didn’t have enough planes so we were fortunate as they chartered a plane from Air Greenland. An excellent flight, smooth and with a very efficient flight attendant. We were fed and enjoyed the view as we flew towards the sunset. Coming in to Nuuk the light was still enough to see the fjords and the ice floating in the sea. The landscape was completely white and almost luminous.
As we landed, there was a lot of cheering to the bemusement of the Canadian mine workers also on the flight!
It was snowing quite heavily so we were glad to be given a lift to our very cosy and comfortable airbnb apartment.
In Greenland at last!
Morning in Nuuk. We woke up to the sunlight on the mountains opposite and the snow lying. Minus 10 so chilly! Good chance to wear our winter gear!
Sounds like a very interesting and informative trip.
Congratulations on some splendid photographs.
We will add Iceland and Greenland to our ‘bucket list’ though still not convinced about blubber.
It is worth the long journey to get there and the local people are very hospitable and interesting.
Blubber made the dried cod a bit more palatable!