8/29/2023 Qaqortok

 

        

 

It was an early day as our “tour” organized at 7:30 AM.  I use quotes, because it was a self-guided walking tour around Qaqortoq – the second largest town in Greenland.  They have fishing, fur and ship repair businesses going on and, of course, tourism.  We tendered to the pier where we perused a gift shop and commenced to walking around.  Qaqortoq is Greenland’s art capital.  And we did see a lot of art in various venues.  One of the most interesting was the rock art.

 

    

Paul and Shirley (who is pointing at the Narwhale)

Nikki explaining Aka's art

Bob and Ann by the fish 

 Aka Høegh as a young girl always saw faces in the rocks.  As an accomplished artist, she conceived of the stone project in Qaqortoq.  A local guide, Nikki (or maybe Niqii) explained the art along the path and answered the standard tourist questions – (like what is Pissifik – which turns out to be a grocery wholesaler) as well as population, demographics, and what do you do in the winter (live … duh).  The art depicts the culture and activities of the Inuit – fish, whales, kayaks, and faces.  The faces in back of the picture of Nikki told the story of the women who waited for their husbands to come back from fishing and you could see the emotions of fear (if they didn’t come back), anticipation, relief, etc.  This is the best of the port.

 

At another stop the guide told of the old fountain – the first in Greenland dated to 1775.  It was made with sand stone of a peculiar color and pattern.  She made us guess its name – we couldn’t – but when she said “salami stone” it clicked and we had a good laugh.

 

                        

 

As we walked along, we met many locals.  All had a smile for us.  The little ones must have been in school, as the youngest we saw were teenagers.  One group of teen girls were quizzing a Viking passenger; it seemed like they were conducting a school assignment. We took a left at T+18 street.  (Some outlanders who find the names a challenge simply refer to the first letter and the number of subsequent letters.)

 

 

And saw a few more sites:

 

A creek through town - note the clear water

The Rock House - I don't think we could purchase any rocks here

The harbor area - note the mural

                                  Ice Breaker (a necessary addition to the harbor)

                     

Bob and Ann hunting bargains - (there was a cool moonstone at that stall and the dude won a Geology prize at the local show with it.)

Paul and Ann on a rock bench near the rock sculpture walk

            

                                                        A salami stone building

 

On the way back to the ship we were scolded by the largest Raven this side of Valhalla.

 

                    

                                                             The giant Qaqortoq Raven

 

This raven must have weight 25 pounds and its “caw” was deep and ominous.  We turned and dutifully went back to the ship, nevermore to return.  