On August 28, when the PA system woke us up, it was 8:00 am and we were anchored off Nanortalik, Greenland, another tiny little place of fishing and fur trading.  It was very cloudy and very cold, like about 5 degrees C.  I took my time having breakfast and going to the gym and doing just a little paperwork.  It was 12:30 pm, when I left my stateroom, and still cloudy.  When I reached the tender platform, I was met by a tender load of frozen people, muttering about the cold.  By the time I was on the tender the sun had come out.  I was about to have a much better experience than they did.  If I live to be a hundred, I will never figure out why so many people have to get off the ship as fast as they can.  They queue up for tender tickets as soon as they are announced, at 8:00 am.  I’m just rolling out of bed at that point.  By noon, they have seen it all and they’re frozen.  Here was me, having a fine time.

The town is a couple of hundred years old.  The original houses were of stone and look like our Quebec houses.  The new ones are colorful affairs in wood and corrugated tin.  They look very gay.  I checked out the souvenir shop and I could have got my slippers about $15 cheaper but I’m not sorry I didn’t wait.  I could have missed them.  It’s not like they had a complete size range or anything.

I didn’t need to go in to the general store, as it had the same sign as the one in Qaqortoq, and doubtless the same merchandise, only half as much.  I kept walking until I came to the museum and paid it its five bucks.  This one was well worth it.  It was pretty much all the old stone buildings, and a couple of wooden ones.  They have been or are in the process of being lovingly restored and stocked with treasures donated by locals.  The kayak building was particularly interesting, as was the one in which I found this:

And, no, it’s not a wine press, although it sure looks like one.  It’s a whale blubber press.  That was another big deal here, once upon a time.  The catching of a whale was a cause for much feasting and rejoicing, and I am sure they found something to get drunk on, but it wouldn’t have been wine, for lack of grapes.

I crawled all over every single building, and I mean that literally.  The ADA will just have to turn a blind eye on this place.  They are doing the best they can.  When I was done, I walked back to the pier, in time to be treated to what the locals do on a beautiful day like today.  The kids go swimming, right there in the harbor.  That’s one of our tenders coming in in the background, probably the one I took to get back on board.  It was a very good day in Greenland and I was glad to get my feet into my reindeer and fox slippers.

We had another DV group dinner and it and was fun, again, although not as uproarious as the first time. The show was The Knights again, and they are good.  I must tell one of them that they need to take their cellphones out of their pants pockets.  They have such nice bods, it’s a shame to spoil the look with bulges.  One of my people had seen Northern Lights around eleven-thirty from her stateroom on Starboard, when we came through here the first time.  I’m on port, so it should have been my turn, but I checked at 11:30, 12 and 12:30 and saw nary a one.  I couldn’t stay up any later because the clocks were going forward.

I woke up on the 29^th with mountains and glaciers in my window, as we had been in Prince Christian Sound since 6:30 am.  It was another gorgeous sunny day.  A lot of people will get a lot of wonderful photos, but I am happy with the one I woke up to.

I went to my desk, for an hour, then left to enjoy the view from my balcony, while I did my paperwork.

Our magic table from the first night came back together, on purpose this time, and it was nice.  The entertainer was an Irish Flautist, who was funny to boot.

August 30 was another sea day.  I went to the desk a little early.  Then I went to the Mariner’s reception and lunch.  It started at 11:00 am.  When they had done giving away medals and all, we went to the Dining Room for the Mariner’s Brunch.  Then I printed and delivered a reminder for our tour tomorrow and went to the gym.  The old bod needs work, always.