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First Impressions of Greenland

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We were groggy when we arrived in Iceland at 6:30 AM (2:30 AM EST) after our 6-hour flight from New York JFK. We had a 3-hour layover before our flight to Greenland departed, so we grabbed some breakfast and found a bench where my wife took a nap and I read an article about Greenland in the latest addition of Rolling Stone magazine of all places. What a coincidence.Iceland was pretty much the same as I remembered it when we last visited in 2003. The weather was chilly, windy, and rainy as we walked across the tarmac to board the 50-seater IcelandAir Dash-8 prop plane. It was a 3-hour flight between Keflavik, Iceland and Nuuk, Greenland. As I gazed out of the window, I sa...Read More

We were groggy when we arrived in Iceland at 6:30 AM (2:30 AM EST) after our 6-hour flight from New York JFK. We had a 3-hour layover before our flight to Greenland departed, so we grabbed some breakfast and found a bench where my wife took a nap and I read an article about Greenland in the latest addition of Rolling Stone magazine of all places. What a coincidence.

Iceland was pretty much the same as I remembered it when we last visited in 2003. The weather was chilly, windy, and rainy as we walked across the tarmac to board the 50-seater IcelandAir Dash-8 prop plane.

It was a 3-hour flight between Keflavik, Iceland and Nuuk, Greenland. As I gazed out of the window, I saw nothing but white. I assumed I was looking at clouds since the weather was so crappy when we left Iceland. However, as we were making our descent on Nuuk, I realized I had not been looking at clouds our entire flight. I had been looking at Greenland's massive ice cap that covers 80% of the island.

Now that we were no longer over the ice cap, I could see brown snow-capped, rocky mountains and dark blue bodies of water. Descending lower still, I began to see the brightly colored buildings clustered on a stretch of brown-grey land almost as if someone had spilt a box of Skittles. The buildings were red, yellow, blue, green, purple, and other colors.

The Nuuk airport is very small. There were no visible customs officers or security checkpoints. There wasn't even anyone to stamp our passports. We just picked up our luggage and headed towards the young Greenlandic man who was holding a sign with our names written on it. His name was Peter. I was surprised he spoke English so well. He told us that all students in Greenland are required to learn Greenlandic, Danish, and English in school.

During the ride to our hotel, we couldn’t help but notice the bold colors of the buildings. Peter told us that there used to be a color code for building identification many years ago but these days, people paint their houses any color they want. It helps break up the monotony in winter when the city is snow-covered.

We also noticed a lot of construction both to the roads and buildings as we were being driven around. Peter told us that living this far north, the people have to take advantage of the short summer season to get all the construction done before the harsh arctic winter sets in.

After checking into Hotel Hans Egede, my wife and I headed out for a walk. Our hotel was located on a busy 2-laned street. There was a steady flow of cars and buses as well as people. As my wife and I walked the streets, I did notice a few double-glances. After all, there was no one who looked like us. However, I was struck by the friendliness of the people. They would smile and nod. A few curious people approached us with questions. One young lady, who spoke English very well, wanted to know if my wife braids hair. We met some other Greenlanders who didn't speak much English but wanted to know where we were from and what we like to eat. I think my most memorable conversation was with some older people who were trying to speak to us in Greenlandic. It didn't seem to matter that my wife and I didn't speak their language. The conversation was accompanied with a lot of handshaking, smiling, and Charades. I still have no idea what we were talking about.

We spent the rest of the day taking a city tour, visiting the Greenland National Museum, and dining at the Charoen Porn Thai Restaurant. All of these activities, except the restaurant, were a great introduction to Greenlandic culture - past and present. The next day, we boarded the flight to Ilulissat where we would experience Greenlandic societies above the Arctic Circle.
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Nuuk City Tour

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Colorful Suburban Houses Photo - Nuuk, Greenland

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My wife and I were the only clients on this tour. The tour is offered by Nuuk Tourism, who also took care of our transfers to/from the airport during our stay in the city.Our guide was Danish but has lived in Greenland for a long time. She began our tour at Nuuk's old Colonial Harbor. It didn’t look very impressive but there is a lot of history here and several interesting attractions in the vicinity. Before diving deep into all the historical stuff, our guide drew our attention to one of Nuuk’s light-hearted attractions, a big red mailbox. Apparently, Santa Claus has expanded his operations since his days of living at the North Pole. He is now said to have a home in North Pole...Read More

My wife and I were the only clients on this tour. The tour is offered by Nuuk Tourism, who also took care of our transfers to/from the airport during our stay in the city.

Our guide was Danish but has lived in Greenland for a long time. She began our tour at Nuuk's old Colonial Harbor. It didn’t look very impressive but there is a lot of history here and several interesting attractions in the vicinity.

Before diving deep into all the historical stuff, our guide drew our attention to one of Nuuk’s light-hearted attractions, a big red mailbox. Apparently, Santa Claus has expanded his operations since his days of living at the North Pole. He is now said to have a home in North Pole, Alaska; Lapland, Finland; and Greenland. Although his Greenlandic residence is located in the town of Uummannaq in North Greenland, Santa's post office is right here in Nuuk. Letters from children all over the world are received and answered at this location. By the way, we didn't see the old man and we definitely didn't see any of his reindeer. Reindeer is a popular menu item in this part of the world:).

We continued the tour up a hill where a bright red Lutheran church sits. It was built in 1849 and its name translates to Our Savior's Church. Outside the church on a mound of rocks stands a statue of Hans Egede looking out over the harbor. Hans Egede founded Nuuk, Greenland's oldest city, in 1728 when he came from Denmark as a Christian missionary. Inside the church are portraits of Hans praying. The church interior is simple but elegant with its grey and gold decor. There are candles attached to the end of each pew. A ship hangs from the ceiling at the entrance. We spent about 15 minutes inside while our guide told us about history and religion in Greenland.

With nearly 16,000 residents, Nuuk is the Greenland’s most populated city. Even though Greenland is still a territory of Denmark, it became a Home Rule nation in 1979 to handle internal affairs. We were driven past Greenland's parliament building, court house, and other official buildings.

Our guide took us to the industrial harbor. The major industries in Greenland are shrimping/fishing, services, and tourism. There has been an increase in cruise ships visiting Greenland. At the time, our guide told us her company was trying to work out the logistics issues brought on by the largest cruise ship to date scheduled to pull into port in Nuuk in a few days. The ship would contain nearly 3,000 passengers. Nuuk Tourism does not have enough shuttles to accommodate that many people; therefore, they would most likely enlist the help of the city's fleet of public buses.

As more people move to Nuuk in search of employment, the housing situation is becoming strained. The large grey concrete housing blocks in the city's center are at their limits. Therefore, the city is expanding outwards. Nuuk now has a suburb. We were driven through these burbs where brightly-colored single-family homes and apartment complexes exist.

Our tour continued through various parts of Nuuk where we visited the tiny University Of Greenland consisting of one building and about 350 students. We visited Malik, one of the two swimming pools in Greenland. There were many other places we saw during the 2-hour tour. It was a very insightful tour.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on August 24, 2008

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Greenland National Museum & Archives

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How to Eat an Auk Photo - Greenland National Museum & Archives, Nuuk, Greenland

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After our city tour, we had our guide drop us off at the Greenland National Museum. We only had an hour before the museum closed for the day. There are displays that explain Greenland's history of the Inuit who migrated from Asia through northern Canada and into Greenland 4,500 years ago. The far northwest edge of Greenland is only 15 miles from Canada. The Norse showed up in the south in 982 AD when the Viking, Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He named the island Greenland to encourage his fellow Vikings to settle there. His trick worked but the Norse population in Greenland mysteriously vanished 500 years later.The Danes began coming to Greenland i...Read More

After our city tour, we had our guide drop us off at the Greenland National Museum. We only had an hour before the museum closed for the day.

There are displays that explain Greenland's history of the Inuit who migrated from Asia through northern Canada and into Greenland 4,500 years ago. The far northwest edge of Greenland is only 15 miles from Canada.

The Norse showed up in the south in 982 AD when the Viking, Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland for murder. He named the island Greenland to encourage his fellow Vikings to settle there. His trick worked but the Norse population in Greenland mysteriously vanished 500 years later.

The Danes began coming to Greenland in the 17th century for trading and to do Christian missionary work. Although the museum contains exhibits of all three cultures, most of the exhibits deal with the historical aspects of the Inuit culture. Their clothing, homes, tools, and craftwork are on display. The postings describing the museum exhibits are in Greenlandic, Danish, and English.

The most famous exhibit in Greenland National Museum is the Qilakitsoq Mummies. These are the remains of Inuit women and a child who died in Northern Greenland in the 15th century. Because of the cold climate and other factors, their bodies, clothing, and other belongings remained fairly well intact. The mummies were featured on the cover of National Geographic magazine. They are located in a dimly-lit room in the rear of the museum. We were allowed to take pictures as long as we did not use flash. This exhibit might seem creepy to some since the skeletons of two of the mummies are visible. On the other hand, some may find the baby disturbing since it is very well preserved – skin and all. The child seems to stare blankly through the glass case in which it is enclosed with an adult mummy. If you can get past the creepiness, it is actually interesting to take a close look at the clothing worn by the Inuit back then.

We were able to make it through the entire museum in 45 minutes. It is definitely worth a visit when in Nuuk.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 24, 2008

Greenland National Museum & Archives
Hans Egedevej 8
Nuuk
+299 32 26 11

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Hotel Hans Egede

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Our accommodation for the Nuuk leg of our trip was the Hotel Hans Egede. We had a nice, modern room that faced a busy street. Our room was a double but instead of one bed it had two twin beds. The room had dark curtains that did an excellent job at blocking out the 24-hour sunlight. We were also happy that the room had an iron and ironing board. We needed to insert our key into a slot near the entrance of the room to turn on the electricity. Doing this prevents wasting energy while not occupying the room. On the other hand, you run the risk of locking the key in the room if you forget to remove it from the slot when you exit.There was a flat screen television mounted on the wal...Read More

Our accommodation for the Nuuk leg of our trip was the Hotel Hans Egede. We had a nice, modern room that faced a busy street. Our room was a double but instead of one bed it had two twin beds. The room had dark curtains that did an excellent job at blocking out the 24-hour sunlight. We were also happy that the room had an iron and ironing board.

We needed to insert our key into a slot near the entrance of the room to turn on the electricity. Doing this prevents wasting energy while not occupying the room. On the other hand, you run the risk of locking the key in the room if you forget to remove it from the slot when you exit.

There was a flat screen television mounted on the wall. It contained Greenlandic, Danish, and English-speaking channels. I have traveled outside the U.S. enough times to realize that other countries tend to be less restrictive when it comes to nudity and sex on TV. However, Greenland has taken this to another level. Among the free channel line-up containing channels like CNN, Discovery, and the Cartoon Network, there is a hardcore pornography channel!

The hotel is located on a busy street which actually has a traffic light. This is significant since there are only three traffic lights in all of Greenland. There is a Pisifik grocery store next door where I was able to use one of the ATMs to get local currency (Danish Kroner). There is another grocery store called Brugsen which is located across the street. There are several stores and restaurants on this same block.

The Hereford Beefstouw Restaurant is a steakhouse located on the top floor of Hotel Hans Egede. We did not eat there for dinner since my wife does not eat red meat. Besides, we were looking forward to trying the local seafood since fishing and shrimping is the city’s main industry. We had no idea it would be so difficult to find a seafood restaurant. After visiting a handful of places near the hotel and having the wait staff translate the menu to English in some cases, we ended up back at our hotel asking for advice. We were told our best bets would be to try a restaurant called Nipisa or try the Thai restaurant. Since, I didn't have reservations for the former; we decided to walk two doors up from the hotel to the Thai restaurant, Charoen Porn. We enjoyed our meals - sweet and sour fish for my wife and spicy curry seafood noodles for me. The only turn-off for us was the smoking that is still allowed in restaurants in Greenland. The staff did their best to separate smokers and non-smokers but we were all essentially in the same room.

Our stay at Hotel Hans Egede included a Scandinavian breakfast buffet at the restaurant Hereford Beefstouw on the top floor. The breakfast included cheeses, cold cuts, bread, scrambled eggs, bacon, Vienna sausage, Danishes, yogurt, and cereal. All the hotels at which we stayed in Greenland included this type of breakfast.

The hotel has internet terminals but they are expensive ($14 for 30 minutes). You can probably find a cheaper rate at a local internet café.

There was a 10 AM check-out at the hotel. We were pleased with our stay at Hotel Hans Egede. The staff is fluent in English and is friendly and helpful.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 24, 2008

Hotel Hans Egede
Postboks 1049 - Nuuk
Nuuk

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Getting Around: Nuuk is a small city. This makes it convenient for tourists since most of the attractions are within walking distance. When walking is not desirable, there are taxis and public buses. In fact, there was a bus stop across the street from our hotel, Hotel Hans Egede. Vehicle rental is also an option but we were told by a tour guide that many of the rental vehicles are old and not in the best condition. Additionally, driving is only possible within the city since no towns, cities, or settlements in Greenland are connected by roads.Getting To Nuuk from the U.S.: Although it was not well publicized during the planning stage of our trip, there are seasonal IcelandAi...Read More

Getting Around: Nuuk is a small city. This makes it convenient for tourists since most of the attractions are within walking distance. When walking is not desirable, there are taxis and public buses. In fact, there was a bus stop across the street from our hotel, Hotel Hans Egede. Vehicle rental is also an option but we were told by a tour guide that many of the rental vehicles are old and not in the best condition. Additionally, driving is only possible within the city since no towns, cities, or settlements in Greenland are connected by roads.

Getting To Nuuk from the U.S.: Although it was not well publicized during the planning stage of our trip, there are seasonal IcelandAir flights between Keflavik, Iceland and Nuuk. This route eliminated the need to fly to Denmark and then to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland before flying to Nuuk.

Passport Stamp: Our arrival in Greenland at the Nuuk airport was the most laid-back foreign arrival we’ve ever experienced. There were no security checkpoints or customs officers. Consequently, there was no one to stamp our passports. We were told we could get our passports stamped at the post office if we desired. We didn’t bother to do it.

Make Dinner Reservations Early: We were hoping to try some local Greenlandic seafood for dinner during our only evening in Nuuk. We were told that the Nipisa Restaurant would be our best opportunity to do this. Unfortunately, we did not have reservations and the restaurant was booked solid. We ended up eating at the Charoen Porn Thai Restaurant instead since they had an open table. The food was good but reservations are recommended at this restaurant as well.

CITES Requirement: Common souvenir items in Greenland are rugs and clothing made from furs such as seal, fox, reindeer, and polar bear. There were also carvings (tupilak) and jewelry made from animal bones and tusk. Some of these items such as those made from walrus, polar bear, and whales are prohibited from being brought into the U.S. unless you show proof that the animal was not poached. Therefore, if you are considering purchasing these items, ask for a CITES certificate at the shops to verify the product will pass U.S. customs. There are some items made from certain species of whale that are flat out banned. The CITES documentation can help you determine which ones.

Language: The official language of Greenland is Greenlandic; however, since Greenland is a territory of Denmark, Danish is also widely spoken. Fortunately for us Anglophones, most of the people I met spoke English well. In addition to Greenlandic and Danish, English is a required language in the Greenlandic school system.

Currency: The local currency is the Danish Kroner (DKK). There are ATMs inside the Pisifik grocery store next to Hotel Hans Egede that dispense this currency. Just be aware that the ATMs are only available during store hours. Although I used the ATM to obtain petty cash, I used my credit card for all my purchases in Nuuk.
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First Impressions of Greenland

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