Nuuk

Colorful houses, strong winds, and 2 days in Greenland

Heading to Iceland tomorrow! Here is a stock photo of our plane. Wish us luck.

We had a fabulous couple days in Nuuk. Originally we planned to stay three nights, but traveling to Greenland this time of year can be a little tricky. I mentioned on my Day 1 article that we had to fly through Copenhagen, which is one of the few ways to get to Nuuk. There are frequent flights between Greenland and Copenhagen, but options elsewhere are limited. Between Reykjavik and Nuuk are one of those limited options, so we shifted our departure from Nuuk to a day earlier.

As much as we would have liked another day here, we’re trying to limit transit time and spend more time actually seeing places and having experiences. The alternative would have been flying five hours east to Copenhagen only to turn around and fly three hours west to Reykjavik.

One surprise was the size of the plane from Copenhagen to Nuuk (especially compared to our plane heading to Iceland): an A330 with seating for about 305 passengers. And it was fairly full. When we arrived in Nuuk we stopped on the tarmac and watched as they wheeled stairs up to the door. We realized we weren’t quite prepared for the idea of walking outside to the terminal. We had deliberately dressed for Copenhagen weather — pants, sweaters, wool coats, and light gloves — expecting a quick transition from warm plane to warm terminal, then to a warm car and a warm apartment before changing into proper Nuuk gear. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad it looked from inside the plane: about 20 degrees with very little wind.

So why Greenland?

I’ve been obsessed for years with the colorful houses along the water and wanted to see them for myself. I probably didn’t fully think through the weather aspect, but I was willing to take the risk.

We wanted to make the most of our 2 day, so we spent an afternoon and a morning exploring the town and doing some grocery shopping. The weather didn’t encourage long stretches outdoors. The temperature itself wasn’t terrible, but the winds were around 25 mph with gusts up to 40. The weather here can change quickly.

At one point we ducked into a small café serving local fare, which was the right decision. Halibut and salmon sandwiches along with a glass of red wine hit the spot.

We stayed in an Airbnb apartment — partly for the extra space and partly so we could cook a bit. When we stopped at the grocery store we noticed something surprising: plenty of meat and other proteins, but almost no fish. Then I had a bit of a mental head slap. Why would Greenlanders buy fish at the grocery store when they can go down to the pier either catch their own fish or buy directly from the fishermen? Our Airbnb host confirmed this in his welcome guide, where he explained where to buy fish locally. He also confirmed something I suspected about the tap water: it’s glacier melt and completely delicious. His comment was perfect: “There is no reason to buy water in the shops — remember that the companies selling water do not make water, but only plastic bottles.”

Our AirBnB is on top of a hill and on the 7^th floor (actually 9^th floor, it’s European numbering and the lobby is level -1). We have an incredible view of the main town, the airport, and the ocean.

We were a bit shocked at the blue ice floe. We’ve seen them before, but never this blue. Keep reading for an even better photo of one of these floes.

Today was much better than yesterday. It started out overcast and windy, but improved during the day. We started out with a venture into Old Nuuk then to Center Nuuk, followed by a coffee break. Even with “better” weather, it was still 12 degrees, so frequent breaks in warm environments were necessary.

The afternoon was a fishing charter. Fishing isn’t on my dream list of things to do, but getting on a boat to take in the view from the water is. There aren’t any just “boat rides” this time of year, so if I wanted that, it was going to coincide with a fishing venture. There was just one other couple with us, Kristina and Frederick, a young couple from Denmark. Between all of us, we caught about 15 fish. Almost all cod, but John managed to catch a redfish.

At the end of the tour, we got a ride to the Nuuk Hostel on the waterfront where the chef prepared an amazing meal that centered around our catch!

Would I put Greenland on a must-see list? Probably not, unless you have some burning desire to visit. I thought 48 hours would be too short, but it was enough. We got to see the historic area, take in the views from the ocean, and eat some great fish. Geographically it’s fascinating to us.

The population of Greenland is about 55,000, with fewer than half of that in Nuuk. While they deem it a city, there’s not a lot to it. A few restaurants. A few grocery stores. A few specialty stores. I don’t regret including it in our big trip, but I don’t see us returning. We absolutely maximized our time here.

Onto Reykjavik!