Nanortalik

Despite being the most southern of our three Greenland stops, Nanortalik was the coolest and windiest weather-wise, though beautifully sunny. It's also the only place where we've seen icebergs and bergy bits.

 The scenery is SPECTACULAR!

Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq is a picturesque little town in southern Greenland. With a population of only about 3,400, they were overrun today with the ship's passenger complement of almost the same number. Good thing we had to be tendered into port in small groups!

Weather was a little bit cloudy and a little bit cool, but much more comfortable than what we experienced in Nuuk.

Qaqortoq is the only town in Greenland with a fountain in the town square.

And in the early 90's, a Qaqortoq artist and other Nordic artists chiseled designs in the rock faces in town. 

And through the miracle of modern technology, I was able to go into the bank in Qaqortoq and use the ATM there to withdraw 500 Danish Krone from our bank account in Victoria!  Wish we'd got a picture of that!

Nuuk, Greenland

It was a beautiful sunny day in Nuuk, though a little on the coolish side.

For some reason, I expected Greenland to be flat. Not so. It reminded us of Newfoundland and Iceland. Not surprising, I suppose, given that all three places are "north", built on rock, and surrounded by ocean.

Brightly coloured homes offset the gray and brown landscape.

In the centre of Nuuk there was a state-of-the-art cultural centre, a shopping mall, and a market selling fish and seal meat.

Oh, and Greenland has "free" medical and dental care, paid through taxes. Civilised ...

North of 60

We sailed past the 60th parallel north about 6 am today.  We are now in polar waters.

Northeast of Labrador

Only 9C outside, but nothing that pizza, beer, and a Broadway show won't fix ....

All aboard!

We made it ... finally!

We arrived in Halifax by air yesterday, and checked into our third hotel in as many days, The Prince George. We've never stayed there before but, I confess that I googled "Best hotels in Halifax" and chose it from that list, determined to make lemonade.

It turned out to be a great choice. The hotel has this fabulous patio off the lobby that is just perfect for relaxing. So that's what we did. We spent several hours just chillin' in the warm shade, having a couple of drinks and some snacks, before settling into our last night in transit.

 
This morning the hotel staff picked up our luggage, told the cabbie our story while we checked out, and then settled us into the cab for the short ride to the cruise ship dock.

Our cabbie, following Amanda's directive, stopped the first security guard he saw at the dock, and gave him the scoop. The security guard radioed his supervisor who radioed his colleague, George, and the ship. George looked after us until three (three!) porters arrived to manage our two suitcases and assist Tom up the boarding ramps.

At the security checkpoint, a rep from Passenger Services met us, took our passports to the Security desk for clearance, and gave us our medallions. We are in!

(As Tom says, the regular cruise check in isn't this efficient!)

So here we are, once again relaxing in the warm shade, on the balcony of our cabin, drinking our traditional (for us) first drink of the cruise, Dos Equis. Clothes are unpacked and I have completed by self-directed orientation tour.

The only fly in the ointment? Those of us who boarded the ship today still have to do that damned lifeboat drill.

And those medallions are the bomb! I can carry a plate of food and two beers and not have to put anything down to unlock the cabin door.

Life is good.

Thanks, Amanda. 

The best laid plans

We arrived in Montreal yesterday on the first leg of our trip to Greenland.  We are still here ...

Because of a weather event in New York, our connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport was cancelled.  Air Canada rebooked us on a flight today but, unfortunately, it arrives too late to allow us to board our cruise.

Enter our intrepid travel agent, Amanda.  After texting her, she spent hours on the phone with Princess and Air Canada trying to make the best of a bad situation.  Our entire trip was in jeopardy. 

With some fancy footwork, Amanda has worked it out.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, we fly to Halifax, and join the cruise when it docks in Halifax on Wednesday. 

And, in the meantime, we are enjoying martinis and smoked meat sandwiches in a number of Montreal airport hotels. 

And for those of you who don't think a travel agent is necessary, well, you're on your own.

Greenland, here we come!

Thank you, Canada

My sister just posted the following on Facebook.  It bears repeating ...

2 emergency visits-different hospitals
8 days in hospital
5 ultrasounds
2MRI's
3 CT scans
24 hr nursing care
4 ECG's
Intravenous antibiotics
Numerous other incidentals I can't even think of.
Price: $0
Thank you Canada ❤❤

66th anniversary

Tom and I are going to be in Montreal for a few days in September, and I was arranging a trip to see my mum.  The best day for us was September 6th, so I checked with Mum to see if her calendar was clear that day.  It was, and, she reminds me .... September 6th is the day we arrived in Canada, 66 years ago.

And that reminds me that I've talked about this before: how wonderful to see her husband for the first time in 6 months; what a relief to have help to care for two small children; and how terrifying to have left everyone she knew so far behind.


And an update: 6 kids, 12 grandkids, 7.5 great grandkids.

Gutsy lady.

Epiphanies

I had an epiphany while in the shower this morning.

This is not the first time for such an occurrence.  After decades of showering every morning, muscle memory has taken over and my mind is free to disengage from the routine steps of washing, and can wander at will.  In such a state I have solved world problems, and remembered where I put that damned thing I have been looking for all week. 

Come to think of it, the same thing can happen when I brush my teeth.

Let's hear it for routines!