Cock-er-tock

Qaqortoq, you’ll always be

Home, sweet, home to me.

Good ole Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq by the sea!!!

We docked in a very interesting port today – Qaqortoq, Greenland – where it is anything but green. The terrain consists of massive hills and mountains of rock covered in moss. There are no trees, and very little vegetation. Qaqortoq, pronounced “cock-er-tock” means “White Palace” in Greenlandic. There are three languages spoken here – Greenlandic, Danish, and English – although most of the natives speak Greenlandic.

Qaqortoq has a population of 3,400, so when our ship docked today, the town almost doubled its population. Most of the natives are Inuits, like the Eskimos in Alaska. The houses are all painted bright colors – reds, blues, greens and yellows. Our theory on the bright colors is because of the dull terrain during their short summer, and the snow in the winter. The people are very friendly and welcoming.

We stopped in the New Choir Church and their small choir of nine people sang a’capella in their native language. Amazing Grace and Nearer My God to Thee were both recognizable songs in a language we’ve never heard. This sanctuary was small, but the sound was amazing. With no microphones to enhance the sound, the acoustics were perfect.

It was quite chilly today with a high of 41 and a low of 39. We have yet to see the northern lights, but with the clear skies today, we can only hope that when we get out to sea tonight, we’ll be able to see them.

By the way, I must give my friend, David Bohan, credit for the words to the song at the beginning of this post. He never strays far from his roots in Tennessee.

Welcome to the Bergs!

The Goldbergs and the Icebergs, that is…

Today has been most interesting as we cruised the waters off the coast of Greenland. First, there was a wonderful documentary on TV called Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, which was about the 1950s TV series called Meet the Goldbergs. This was TVs first sitcom. What an incredible show! How I wish TV programming today had more shows like this one.

Then, there were the icebergs. We were so surprised today to awaken to bright blue skies and calm seas – so smooth, in fact, that it was like sailing on a lake instead of the ocean. There were whales playing along the side of the ship and seals slipping on and off ice floes. We saw numerous icebergs and small towns along the route. Relaxation was the name of the game today.

The temperatures have been in the low 40s and with the wind from sailing, it was quite brisk to be outside on our balcony, but outside we were. Hopefully, tonight, the skies will be clear enough for us to finally see the northern lights. With any luck, tomorrow, we will dock at Qaqortoq (cock-er-tock). I really think the Greenlanders need to add a few letters to their alphabet. Have they never heard the rule that a “u” should follow a “q”? More tomorrow.