09/07/2024 - Second day in Nuuk

It is 7:30 a.m. and the alarm clock goes off. Our tour to the local mountain is supposed to start at 10 a.m. The view from the cabin window indicates that the weather has improved. There is a bit of sky visible, the clouds are not hanging very low, and everything seems to be in order. A few minutes before ten, we head to the meeting point on the ship. Thorsten suddenly feels the need to use the toilet. Since the "public" ones on the deck are not open and we are only two decks below our cabin deck, he quickly goes back. When he returns, he has a note in his hand (which must have been slipped under the cabin door a moment ago) stating that our booked tour must be canceled. Allegedly for weather-related reasons. The stones on the path to the mountain would apparently be too wet and therefore too slippery... Well, you can believe it or not. We probably won't find out the real reason (rumor has it that not enough people signed up for the tour). However, we will receive a refund of 220 euros on our onboard card. And once again, the communication here is abysmal. Did they really only find out ten minutes ago that the excursion can't take place?!

Oh dear, here we go again: what should we do with all the money? This time, we don't feel like drinking it all or spending it in the onboard shop... Hopefully, we will find a solution by the end of the trip, or we will let the credit expire.

Actually, the canceled tour suits us quite well. The weather has become so nice (compared to the previous day) and we decide to redo yesterday's tour, which we did in cold and windy rain, today, and to extend it a bit. Hopefully, we will be able to take more colorful pictures this time.

We set off again and pass by a house in the city center where there is a crowd of people. Initially, we thought this was the "Nuuk Sign" or the payout location for pensions or where you can pick up Greenlandic citizen money 😊... But as we get closer, we realize that everyone there is holding a mobile phone. Ah, there is free internet available here (it's a library), for whatever reason, since there is no McDonald's or Subway nearby.

We continue walking and visit the sights from yesterday, now with (unfortunately) many other ship guests. But the further we stray from the main paths and the more remote our route becomes, the more "lonely" it becomes around us. Both of us find this refreshing, and we discover beautiful spots that offer a wonderful view of the vastness and the residential areas. We climb over the rocky hills and wade through the marshy meadows, sinking in as if walking on a sponge. The water is only visible when we step on the ground.

We pass houses in various colors. There must be some kind of system, right? Later, we learn from the internet that, as we suspected, the colors of the houses must have something to do with the occupants. Blue houses belong to fishermen, red houses are community houses, such as schools and kindergartens, green houses are retail stores and home to business people, and yellow houses are occupied by school staff or people who work in social institutions.

On our way through the city, we once again wonder where the people are who live in the countless houses. At least there should be women and children to be seen, right? We also miss grocery stores and shops that are necessary for everyday life. In addition, the houses somehow look uninhabited. But there is a lot of construction going on here. So, this is where the promised social housing construction takes place... So, it's a big question mark for us...

At the very end of our path, we reach a spot on the shore where there is a sauna in a barrel-like structure. The side facing the sea is glazed, giving the sauna the best view... Cool idea!

On the way back, something curious: there is a device for dog poop bags installed on a street lamp, just like we have at home. But the crazy thing is that it has a German description of how to use the poop bags provided there. Is this a new project by Svenja Schulz, our Minister for Development Aid? Similar to the bike lanes in Peru? Now brand new: We are now showing the Greenlanders how to deal with dog waste in Germany... Great, unfortunately, we only saw one dog once during the two tours. Are there more perhaps? Maybe later, once people know how to handle dog poop...

After a good 15 kilometers up and down in Nuuk, we pass by our "local" iceberg, which is docked in the harbor, and take a photo of it. We hope to see icebergs on the open sea in the next few days. That would be more impressive...

So, enough about Nuuk - Tomorrow morning, on 10/07, we will arrive in Paamiut. There, the cradle of sperm whales and other marine animals is supposed to be... let's be surprised.