Well, the trip has just begun, and we are already behind. Show of hands, who is surprised by this? So, time for a succinct synopsis. Greenland is great. Done!

Until tomorrow!

Oh, wait. You want details? Demanding, aren’t you?

So, Day 1 doesn’t really count. That was just flying to Greenland. The flight itself was only 4 hours from Newark. But this new airport is too small! There are no landing bridges, so you will always have to climb down stairs like you are in the tropics or Air Force 1 regardless of winter weather. Good thing we are here in July. Also, the passport control line was out of control. They did not build the waiting area big enough for a plane full of people to fit inside. We were queuing up outside the building! It was wild. Again, I don’t know what you would do in bad weather.

After we made it through customs, it was off to the hotel. We had seen a café 2 doors down and were heading there for dinner, when out of the corner of our eye, we spied a glorious sight: Thai Food! Yep! Our first meal in Greenland was Pad Thai. It was so good, I could have eaten 2 plates.

After stuffing ourselves full of Pad Thai, we strolled around Nuuk. It was 9 o’clock at night, and the sun was shining bright. We needed to stretch our bones (is it possible to stretch bones?) and get a few steps in before bed because we had an early morning wake-up call to look forward to. The airport shuttle was coming for us at 5am. Of course, breakfast wasn’t until 6. So, once again, we got cheated out of an included meal and had to settle for airport breakfast fare.

However, these early morning shenanigans meant we got into Ilulissat at 8am! The hotel was like a 5 minute drive from the airport. But, we go to check-in, and the lady told us we had to wait until 3pm because that’s when they start check-in. She told me to sit down and wait. I asked her what I was supposed to do, and she just shrugged. Luckily, the other receptionist told us there’s free Wi-Fi and the restaurant opens at noon. I stared at her blankly and asked what we could do instead. Then she told us about going to town on the “City Bus.” It runs every 30 minutes, and one of the stops is the hotel parking lot. It costs 15 kroner (about $2.34 c/urrently), and they only take credit card. She told us to get off in the city center, which we will know because there’s a “blue building.” But, umm, every other building is blue. At least 3 stops in a row were at blue buildings. And nothing looked promising. We finally got off in front of a grocery store, which was also blue. We went inside and got some snacks! Then we started wandering. Fellow bus riders suggested we get off at that particular blue building and head for a view of the Icebergs. So, we did!

Along the way, we found the sled dogs. Gonna throw in some details I have gleaned since then. There are 5,000 people in Ilulissat and 3,000 dogs. These are working dogs. Never pets. Never do they get bomb pops or to go for car rides for pup cups at the coffee shop, or to recycle glass. These dogs are chained up and separated from one another. Per Greenlandic law, all dogs over 6 months must be chained. Puppies are allowed to roam free, but they just lay there and sleep. Some have dog houses. Some have pallets. Some have nothing. They are purebred Greenlandic Huskies. To protect the breed, no dogs can be imported. That means there are no labradoodles, no chihuahuas, no pugs, no Artichokes… And if the dogs leave Greenland, it is permanent exile–they can never come back. You aren’t allowed to pet the dogs, but really, they stink. Not to mention, they need a good brushing and a bath. But, if one of them bites you, they have to put down the whole pack. They are worried that YOU might pass disease to the dogs and wipe them all out. And, rumor has it they only eat 1 -2 times a week in the summer! All they are doing is laying around in the summer, not burning calories. Can you imagine if Artie Girl was fed 2x a week instead of 2x a day?! She starts following me around the house at 3:30, giving me the eye at 4:00, and pawing at my leg at 4:27. Meal time is serious business in our household!

Ok, sorry. Easily distracted by dogs. Anyways, there is a lovely boardwalk trail that meanders through some verdant marshes. You have to stay on the path to avoid killing the native plants, grasses, mosses, and other flora. They have a short growing season, so flora needs all the help it can get. And, the best part? It is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight! (I know this because there was a plaque in the boardwalk that said so.) We knew that we had a tour to walk the same path the next day, but figured this way we could at least get our pictures and selfies done in advance without annoying people getting in the way and so that we wouldn’t be rushed on our tour. It was a great plan. Because, you all know, I love a good selfie! Planning the perfect photo and relaying your vision to your sister takes time. A whole lot of precious time.

Where does this amazingly well-maintained, Unesco-protected boardwalk go you ask? Well, to those icebergs floating around in the icefjord. And they were amazing and beautiful and all the things. The only bad part was the mosquitos. Sorry to offend your beloved beliefs of entomology, but yes, there are indeed mosquitos in Greenland.

We had read about the mosquitos and added mosquito head nets to our Amazon cart months ago. We even brought them to Greenland, but had no idea we should have dug them out from the depths of our suitcases before leaving them in the luggage storage room. Those mosquitos were fierce–swarming around my face and flying up my nose.You can’t even imagine the sheer quantity of bugs flying around. It’s unfathomable.   Miracously, I have yet to get a bug bite. I get more bug bites on a Monday night watering my mother’s flowers.

 This is not short, sorry. I’ll do better.

Lunch: Pizza. Not brave enough to try the reindeer pizza. Got Hawaiian and New York instead.

Afterenoon: City walking tour. Walked around the town.  Our guide is just here working for the summer from Denmark. He suggested we google things for more information, so you can do that too. 

Finally, able to head back to hotel since it is well past 3pm now. Short nap because so, so, so sleepy.

7pm alarm clock wakes me up. Time to prepare for evening icefjord cruise. Hit snooze several times.

8:11 pm catch City Bus back to town.

8:30pm meeting time for icefjord cruise

9pm departure

Might need a few more words to adequately describe the majestic, awe-inspirigness of the icefjord. Or a ghost writer. I have been watching instagram videos of big words that I should work into my everyday conversations but can’t think of any at the moment.

The boat was fully covered, but you could also go outside on the deck. I had thought we were travelling far afield, but we just hung a quick left and meandered through the icebergs that we had seen earlier in the day through a mist of mosquitoes. There were so many icebergs! Just, like, floating there in the ocean like they aren’t some kind of pre-historic monstrosity. Each one more craggy and jagged than the last. But some looking super smooth like the edges were cut with a cheese slicer. They say it will take the really big hunks of icebergs about 5 years to melt into nothingness, but I don’t know about that. Some of the icebergs are brown and dirty looking, but that is not from pollution. Nope. That is from the sediment of the ocean bottom. When they get top heavy and start doing backflips and cartwheels and fighting with their neighbors, they scrape along the bottom of the seabed and get all dirty. Of course, some could also be sediment lines indicative of volcanic action eons ago. I really don’t understand the minituae of all that, but I am like a sponge, just sucking up all the knowledge that I can and relaying it to my faithful readers.

And, of course, this was a midnight cruise. We are above the Arctic Circle. In the summer. There are 24 hours of daylight. I had to wear my sunglasses at midnight because of the strong glare of the sun off the surface of the ocean and the icebergs. I just kept snapping pictures. And more pictures.

You know the problem with a midnight cruise? It ends at midnight. And, guess what? At midnight there is no City Bus to take you back to the hotel. No shuttle. Not a taxi to be seen. Good thing I took that power nap! And it was broad daylight. Because, you got it, I started walking back towards the hotel. There really was no other option. Luckily, about 3 minutes in, lo and behold, a taxi came flying down the hill. I waved my hand at him so fast, but he just kept on going. Boo hiss. But, I think his reflexes were delayed. He slammed on his brakes so hard. We jumped into that taxi, and 3 minutes and $12 later we were back at the hotel. Best $12 I ever spent!

Of course, I am like a little kid–can’t go to bed if it isn’t dark yet. I was ready to party! Well, at least play on my phone for hours. 24 hour daylight is havoc on the sleep schedule.

Ok, this was supposed to be brief and cover days 1-3. Oops. Not brief. Nor did we discuss day 3. Saving that for the next installment.

Toodles!

thetwinsontour

PS. Forgot to mention that we are staying in the only 4 star hotel north of the Arctic Circle in the whole world.