It is cold and there is snow on the ground …just what you think Greenland might look like. This is just the start of the winter and we have been told that this snow will probably go and then there will be rain before the snow stays. And cold is minus 3-10 during the day. Fortunately it was a calm day and the sun shone so it didn’t feel to chilly.

Nuuk is a town of about 16500 inhabitants and is split into 3 districts connected by bus routes. There is a lot of new housing and building is still going on. There is an old town with more traditional buildings and also a commercial centre. It is the capital of Greenland and so has the government, university and natural resources institute.

The walk from our airbnb in to town took about 40 minutes and we were struck by how many people were out and about on a Sunday morning. Walking, jogging, cycling, sledging and, of course, driving. It is possible to drive only 12km in a straight line here but there are lots of cars. The exhaust emissions were quite noticeable as we walked on paths by the road as the weather was cold and still.

The commercial centre of Nuuk has a small shopping mall, the government buildings and a cultural centre, the Katuaq. It is not extensive but was a pleasant walk and we also went to the old district with the cathedral and statue to Hans Edeges who founded Nuuk.

Sunday shopping seems to be a social activity like everywhere and the shops were busy. There are several supermarkets where we could see the influence of danish foods as well as the local meats of fish, whale, reindeer and musk ox. The supermarkets had a greater range of products than in Iceland and the prices are a little lower. There were also two buildings where we saw hunters selling meat. Freshly butchered and lying out for people to choose. The reindeer meat looked very lean and much like the venison we get at home.

The Cultural centre has a cinema showing major films and currently has a Japanese film festival.

The night was clear and so we saw some Northern Lights. Not too vibrant but , like at home, long trails of white light with a tinge of green.