On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Elma
Our second Greenland day was spent in Qaqortoq. We had received information about points of interest and hiking routes. A Canadian couple from our dinner table group took a boat trip out to get up close and personal with the ice bergs. Unfortunately, we are not so young and spry anymore, so contented ourselves with walking up to the Qaqortoq Hotel and Conference Center in hopes of finding some locally brewed beer. Alas, no local brew was on tap; but we were told we should be able to get it in Nuuk.
It was at dinner that evening, as we sailed away from Qaqortoq that the Captain announced we were ditching Nuuk because of threatening weather reports. So we never got any Greenlandic beer. The Captain did appease the disappointed but adding Halifax as substitute port. In Halifax, we shared a flight of 13 locally brewed beers. It was a good thing that the brewery was directly opposite the gangway of the ship
With a reported 3,050 residents in 2020, the size of the town almost doubled when the Serenade of the Seas dropped anchor.
There are no roads connecting Qaqortoq to any other part of Greenland. All transpiration is by sea or air. We saw a LOT of helicopters coming and going from the local heliport.
In winter, you better have a 4-wheel drive or snowmobile
Although it was then end of August and summer was fading fast, some flowers were still showing.
About 40 to 50 cruise ships of all sizes call into the port of Qaqortoq each season. Some local artisan set out their goods on these stands. This was also a building off to the right where there were more stalls. I bought a polished stone pendant and my sister bought a pair of earrings, supposedly carved from 3 billion year old stone, from the man in the yellow jacket
From 1993 to 1994 Qaqortoq artist Aka Høegh and 18 other artists from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Greenland carved 24 sculptures into the rock faces and boulders in the town. Today there are over 40 sculptures in the town, all part of the Stone & Man exhibit.
I don’t know if there were originally attributions for the carvings, but now there was nothing to identify the individual artists. Maybe that was the point.
Notice the lone narwhal ahead of the pod on the far right.
A polar bear facing out to sea.
BretH
Thanks so much for taking me to a place I’ve never thought about visiting. I love your commentary – I’d definitely join you on that quest I find local beer!
There go two miscreants
Love the rock cavings and the colorful houses!
arrieve
I love those rock carvings! Maybe summer of 2026….crossed fingers.
jame
Narwhals have a single spiral tusk. Those are wonderful whale carvings, but they don’t have tusks.
The round smiling faces remind me of some of the petroglyphs found in New Mexico.
Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@jame: The lead one does have a single tusk as Elma said.
Interesting place! Thanks for sharing it with us Elma.
SkyBluePink
Very interesting place- great pics!
stinger
Wonderful photos and stories!
Wag
Very cool photos. Thanks for sharing.
dnfree
There was an article about Greenland and climate change in a recent New Yorker. One takeaway is that we do not know how human-caused climate change may interact with “normal” planetary changes over time, as revealed in ice cores.
https://www.newyorker.com/newsletter/the-daily/a-climate-harbinger-in-greenland
KatKapCC
Ooh, those rock carvings are really cool.
Chigail
You must go back and see more of the country. Next summer there will be direct flights from Newark to Nuuk. A beautiful land with amazing people.
way2blue
An Icelandic Poppy! Or perhaps a Greenlandic Poppy?. In its native habitat. Very cool. Love the stone carvings too. And the fact that people keep adding to the gathering of faces. (In 2022, I visited a coastal town near Venice, Italy which had a collection of carved limestone rip rap along the promenade. Also very cool.)